While research unequivocally points to the need to teach the language that supports participation in reading and writing activities in middle-grade classrooms, many educators grapple with how to create the instructional conditions that promote equitable and just opportunities for students to learn the Language of School Literacy (LSL). In this…

When working with bilingual readers, teaching for equity means building on students' linguistic strengths. To do so, we must provide intentionally designed holistic literacy instruction that encourages students to use their full literacy and linguistic repertoire. This article describes an asset-oriented approach called "Transliteracy"…

Classroom discussions are regarded by both practitioners and researchers as an essential pedagogical practice for fostering students' high-level comprehension of text yet cultivating a dialogic classroom culture conducive to supporting students' productive talk can be a delicate undertaking. In this article, using a series of transcripts from one…

Reading involves and is influenced by many factors, which makes reading difficult to understand, teach, and explain to parents, policymakers, and other stakeholders. A metaphor of driving, which likens reading to an everyday practice, demystifies complexities inherent in reading. Both reading and driving are active, strategic processes. Just as…

This teaching tip shares a research-based instructional model that uses translation to improve the English reading comprehension of English Learners. Within this instruction, English learners work collaboratively in small groups and use translation to facilitate understandings of their required English language arts curriculum. Students are taught…

Dialogic teaching--a pedagogical approach that involves students in a collaborative construction of meaning and is characterized by shared control over the key aspects of classroom discourse--has been largely advocated by contemporary research and theory. However, studies in the US and UK continue to document the persistence of monologic…

Defines the notion of literacy scaffold and explains why literacy scaffolding applies to both first- and second-language learners. Offers criteria for teachers to apply in developing scaffolds. Illustrates the model with scaffolding activities used with elementary children, emphasizing the kinds of social contexts that optimize learning. (MG)

Discusses a model of the reading process drawn from ideas used in foreign language instruction and resting on the distinction between reading acquisition and reading learning. Explains how the model can be applied in the classroom. (FL)

Describes a model that can be used to integrate computers into the language arts curriculum. (FL)