In this qualitative, descriptive case study, we examine how elementary emergent bilinguals (EBs) use disciplinary language as they engage in integrated science and engineering instruction. Instruction incorporated language and developmental scaffolds corresponding to EBs' language and content learning needs. Oral production of EB kindergarten to…

In order to investigate the impact of science drawing instruction in a first-grade unit on carnivorous plants (CPs), we analysed student-produced drawings after explicit instruction in drawing scientifically (n=38), as well as compared their drawings with students in a previous implementation (year 1) who did not experience explicit drawing…

The use of different registers to represent mathematical concepts enhances understanding. For example, rational numbers can assume pictorial, symbolic and natural language representations and this kind of change improves learning. Based on these assumptions, a teaching experiment for the learning of rational numbers by 2nd grade students was…

Recent educational policy documents have encouraged engaging students in mathematical argumentation via discussion and writing. Most recently in the U.S., the Common Core State Standards recommend that children "construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others." One often advocated means of engaging students in this…

Mathematical argumentation and proof has long been identified with algebraization. Much literature discusses the relationship between the two, but with little specificity on how particular semiotic features in argumentation relate to coordination in early algebra. Further, there is a particular lack of research on this topic in the…

There is an urgent need for more ethical and equitable approaches to reading instruction for young emergent bilingual children in English medium classrooms. Translanguaging pedagogies are one approach that may address this issue as they encourage emergent bilinguals to use all of their linguistic and semiotic resources during reading. This study…

The 21st century marks the digital era which is characterised by advanced technology and witnesses the increasing use of visual design in the realm of education. Despite various studies addressing the roles of visual design, there is still limited understanding of its roles in electronic educational materials, especially for language learning and…

The data featured in this article were collected during a classroom-based study with seven- and eight-year-old children in British Columbia, Canada. The multiple purposes of the research included exploring how the development of the students' understanding of elements of visual art and design would affect their subsequent application of these same…

There is a need to gain insight into the ways technology positively impacts the literacy development of young children learning English as a new language given public scrutiny about the use of technology in early childhood classrooms. When thinking about the future, being multiliterate is important and requires learners to make, remake, and…

This dissertation presents three papers centered on understanding how we might learn using the body to learn. The data for these papers is drawn from classroom data where 2nd graders (N = 17) learn about particle behavior by engaging with the Science Through Technologically Enhanced Play (STEP) simulation. The first paper focuses on how two…

This dissertation research is a longitudinal classroom ethnography in a second-grade classroom in a public Northeastern suburban school. It is a story of surprise for me as researcher, as I discover the multiplicity of how engagement can be conceptualized in this English-medium classroom with emergent bi/multilingual children. As tensions flowed…

The idea that mathematical knowledge is embodied is increasingly taking hold in the mathematics education literature. Yet there are challenges to the existing conceptualizations: There tend to be breaks between (a) the living and experienced body (flesh) and linguistic forms of thought, (b) individual and collective forms of knowing, and (c) the…

Access to digital technology in the classroom enables the composition and organization of ideas on screen with a variety of semiotic systems of different modes and media. This study explores patterns of communication and preference of design in digital meaning-making of twelve 7-8 years old students. Meanings were shaped in complex uses and…

The aim of this study was to determine the role of semiotics in assisting young Indigenous students to engage with and identify the general structure of growing patterns. The theoretical perspective of semiotics underpinned the study. Data are drawn from two Year 3 students, including analysis of pretest questions and two conjecture-driven…

Research and pedagogical information provided to teachers on implementing explicit strategy instruction has primarily focused on teachers' speech, with limited attention to other modes of communication, such as gesture and artefacts. This interpretive case study investigates two teachers' use of different semiotic resources when introducing…