How do fifth-grade students in a gifted class construct understandings of the opposite sex? In what ways do these constructions manifest in the visual texts created in literacy and language arts classrooms? This qualitative study integrated visual arts to understand how fifth-grade gifted students represented and perceived gender roles. Using…

The purpose of this interpretive case study is to explore--through a close analysis of one fifth-grade class project--teacher's scaffolding and students' use of visual and linguistic modes when composing multimodally. Using Kress and van Leeuwen's multimodal theory of communication as a framework, this case study examines why teachers, whose…

This article problematises a broad consensus in favour of importing popular culture into classrooms as a means of engaging pupils, transforming interactional norms and facilitating pupil understanding. A literacy lesson in which an English primary school teacher invoked the televised talent show, "X factor", in organising the class to…