Studied reading comprehension demands in a seventh-grade social studies classroom to reveal existing classroom cultures and complexities surrounding expository text comprehension. Found that in the particular classroom, the textbook determined knowledge exploration and had a damaging pedagogical effect on the students' literacy practices.…

Describes whole language reading workshops used in eighth grade classrooms. Notes that workshops consist of three components: time to read, ownership through self-selection, and opportunities to respond to the reading through dialogue journals. (MG)

This study examined the ways in which eighth grade girls in an urban middle school constructed social identities through their experiences with literary texts. It focused on what sociocultural representations about female identity and gendered expectations emerged in the transactions in the literacy events these girls experienced in English class.…