Much attention has been paid to the introduction of a culturally responsive curriculum in early childhood education in our increasingly globalized society to support young children of diverse cultural and linguistic (CLD) backgrounds. With the rise of twenty-first century concepts of what literacy means in the digital age, traditional literacy…

In this article, we provide an overview of the ways one ecosystem-based literacy program uses high quality racially affirming picturebooks with kindergarten-third grade teachers within communities of practice to develop racial literacy and enact more effective and equitable reading practices. Racial literacy here refers to teachers' ability to…

Language separation policies in two-way bilingual education (TWBE) reflect ideologies of double monolingualism (Heller, 1995) and ignore the sociolinguistic realities of bi/multilingual students (García & Lin, 2017). This case study investigates the design and implementation of collaborative multilingual identity text projects (Prasad, 2018)…

The texts students encounter are becoming increasingly complex and multimodal. There remains a need to understand the semiotic resources students draw upon to make meaning with these multimodal texts. This study draws on social semiotics as a frame to explore the ways in which eight first graders with a wide range of literacy proficiency levels…

Disparities in school discipline data indicate that children of color, particularly boys, receive more frequent and harsher disciplinary actions than their white peers, and this begins in early schooling. Within today's print-centered, bodily restricted school curricula, literacy instruction is often reduced to highly controlled, leveled readers…

Increased emphasis on standardization in primary grades can stifle spontaneous literacy play. The authors argue that allowing playful, collaborative, multimodal literacies into primary classrooms and specifically in writers' workshop can expand and enliven the way we see students' literacy strengths. The authors look closely at the unique…

With a shift towards 21st century literacy practices and a greater variety of literature, the mere definitions of literacy and text are shifting. The focus on traditional text that heavily relies on words and supporting pictures to convey meaning has changed to text of multiple modes. Teachers are now charged with fostering new skills in students…

This article examines how one educator embraced Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) while using drama to scaffold learning about Dr. Seuss's "The Lorax" for first-grade students. This learning event is interpreted with reference to the ZPD and the New London Group's pedagogy of multiliteracies. The author asserts…

Due to globalisation and rapid technological change, today's educators need to help students develop multi-literacy competencies to enable them to function successfully in our culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) and increasingly connected global and digital society. A qualitative, longitudinal case study attempted to uncover the…

Literature holds the potential to significantly influence the lives of readers, but what is the nature of this influence for very young readers? This study investigated the question: What are the relationships between beginning readers and their personal literature? A first grade class of 18 students individually assembled a collection of personal…

Reading projects that integrate technology engage today's students and prepare them to be literate in the 21st century. In this article, we describe in detail successful podcasting and wiki projects conducted with NYSRA Charlotte Award nominated books. We also explore additional digital literacy projects that teachers can use in their literature…