In today's diverse and global world, the importance of disciplinary literacy is rapidly increasing. Thus, elementary educators must consider ways to incorporate disciplinary literacy into their instruction. Elementary educators often implement the transactional theory of reading to enhance comprehension and evoke aesthetic responses to fiction…

The combination of print materials and augmented reality in education is increasingly accessible due to advances in mobile technologies. Using familiar paper-based activities overlaid with digital items, also known as interactive print, educators can create a custom learning experience for students. There is very little guidance on the design of…

A model-based approach for matching language learners to texts of appropriate difficulty is described. Results are communicated to test takers via a targeted reading range expressed on the reporting scale of an automated text complexity measurement tool (ATCMT). Test takers can use this feedback to select reading materials that are well matched to…

This personal reflection looks at the benefits of using performance pedagogy in the Shakespeare classroom, both in terms of a general understanding of the period and a student's personal connection to the text. Though the essay acknowledges our profession's ongoing dialogue in this area, it mostly seeks to look at how a student may change once she…

12 teachers were interviewed and observed as they engaged students in close reading. We analyzed their responses and instruction to determine the scaffolds that were used as well as the contingency teaching plans they implemented when students were unable to understand the text.

This teaching tip highlights a strategy that assists teachers in structuring classroom discussions about texts. Specifically, this conversational technique helps students think and talk about a text beyond its literal meaning. During classroom conversations that employ this strategy, teachers help students extend their overall understanding of a…

In this "prosumer" era in which people seem always to be producing and consuming texts, words matter as much as--or more than--they ever have. Learning how grammar works in the texts they read and write is essential to students' literacy. It is time to reframe English teachers' view to include both writing "and" reading as contexts for grammar…

In this column, readers are asked to reconsider several traditional instructional strategies, in particular predicting and picture walks, and the role these practices play in the elementary reading curriculum. In addition, what happens after a book has been read must be reconsidered in light of the activities in which life long readers engage. To…

After teaching in rural North Carolina for about six years, the author was on the verge of giving up on teaching Shakespeare to her students. Although they seemed to enjoy the action and the drama of Shakespeare's plays, the lack of connection between the students and the language and culture of the plays interfered with her ability to generate a…

Meaningful conversations are a powerful tool to help students understand what they read and make text-to-self connections. This simple lesson, which is designed for repeated use with both fiction and nonfiction, provides students with strategies to support conversations about texts. Students will learn how to determine which ideas work best to…

Though its popularity has waxed and waned, cloze continues to be regarded as an instructional strategy for the fostering of reading comprehension. This article takes the view of cloze as one tactic in support of strategy instruction, rather than a strategy in its own right. In contrast to the formulaic applications of cloze for assessment…

In the first year of a pilot program, 18 New York City schools are digging into new ways to accomplish two objectives emphasized in the common-core standards: (1) engage students in increasingly complex texts as they move through school; and (2) help them conquer literacy skills specific to disciplines such as history and science. Spearheaded by…

Understanding bonding is fundamental to success in chemistry. A number of alternative conceptions related to chemical bonding have been reported in the literature. Research suggests that many alternative conceptions held by chemistry students result from previous teaching; if teachers are explicit in the use of representations and explain their…

In this paper, we argue that current instructional ESL resources must be supplemented to facilitate the effective development of learners' oral fluency. We summarize some of the pertinent literature on L2 fluency and report the results of a survey of fluency activities (free production, rehearsal/repetition, consciousness-raising, and use of…

This article briefly addresses the theoretical underpinnings of comprehension strategy instruction for both proficient and struggling readers before going on to explain how the external features of expository text serve as an ideal foundation to learn how to determine importance in nonfiction. Specific methods for utilizing the text features of…