An increasing amount of attention has been paid to the ways in which classroom discussions shift in response to varying contextual conditions (Allen & Moller, 2009; Morrow & Smith, 1990) and group composition (Allen & Moller, 2009; Evans, 1997). Recently, researchers have suggested that the classroom might be a place to explore and…

Schooling can play a role in bolstering a sense of community, but research suggests that curriculum may serve to isolate teachers and students from their rural surroundings. In this qualitative case study, we asked if the literacy curriculum and instruction supported readers to make connections to their rural setting. We analyzed curriculum…

In this article, three educators share case studies describing racial biases and segregationist practices in early schooling. The authors draw upon critical race theory as a lens and employ critical discourse analysis to uncover classed and raced biases within and across three early childhood contexts. While the cases are situated in specific…

Reviews perspectives on how children's literature is used in the classroom, and how literature contributes to a broader conception of literacy. Deals with literature as a tool for the development of various sorts of literate abilities, and literature as the enabler of literary understanding. Offers a concrete example involving first and second…

A multiple case study of literacy acquisition in three preschoolers with deafness is presented. The study involved the introduction of story book reading by numerous adults in the preschool and demonstrated the improvements that children made when simple changes were made to the nature of the interactions around books. (Contains references.) (CR)

Discusses how three girls take up competing social messages about gendered identity in the different kinds of texts they read. Explains that it is in the complex transactions between the reader's prior lived experiences and the language of the text where meaning is shaped. Contends that when girls are encouraged to consider the actions of female…