This study looks at a student writing culture in a fifth grade English language arts classroom through the lens of Foucauldian power dynamics to examine the power relationships in the classroom and curriculum. The research questions were: (1) What is the nature of a writing culture in a fifth-grade writing classroom?; (2) What are students'…

Successful implementation of academic standards depends on teachers' understanding of the intended policy and their interpretation of what the policy means for their instruction (Spillane et al., 2002). This study examines the writing tasks fourth- and fifth- grade teachers understand as being aligned with the CCSS [Common Core State Standards],…

Fifth graders responded to a video of a picturebook,"The Red Tree" by Shaun Tan. They had not experienced explicit instruction in visual literacy and their responses served as a foundation for basic understanding of their analysis. We learned that they focused on four major areas: emotional aspects; visual qualities, summaries of the…

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…

This action research project report summarizes the methods used to reduce boredom and frustration and increase students' academic motivation in three mixed-ability classrooms. This action research project included 21 third grade students, 23 fifth grade students, and 28 eighth grade students (n=72) during the dates of September 10, 2007, through…