A first-grade teacher used comic books as read-alouds during her implementation of a reading/writing workshop. The students, primarily English-language learners, were able to make use of this medium in order to learn new reading practices. The teacher used the comics to teach multiple aspects of various reading processes such as reading with an…

This study looks at a specific application of Ainsworth's conceptual framework for learning with multiple representations in the context of using multiple sequential graphic organizers that are student-generated for a process-writing task. Process writing refers to writing that consists of multiple drafts. It may be a process of re-writing without…

This study explored, with both experimental and correlational designs, the roles of (a) authentic, communicatively functional reading and writing and (b) the explicit explanation of genre function and features on growth in genre-specific reading and writing abilities of children in grades two and three. The genres used for this exploration were…

Practical and engaging, this book contains 21 case studies that help students apply curriculum theory to classroom reality. Each case is authored by an in-service teacher, reflecting on ways to improve instruction by making changes to various aspects of the curriculum. These real-life examples investigate up-to-date curricular issues ranging from…

This article is a descriptive account of a professional learning community established among university professors, university teacher candidates, a school district instructional supervisor, the high school principal, a high school literacy coordinator, and teachers of a Mid-Atlantic high school in the United States. This learning community…

The study uses Foucault's framework of governmentality to understand the impact of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) on teachers' writing instruction and attitudes toward writing in high- and low-income schools. Using interviews and observations of 18 teachers, the study identified four themes: emphasis on testing, curricular effects, awareness of…

The overarching pedagogical goal of this formative experiment was to facilitate engaged reading and writing in a language arts classroom of seventh- and eighth-grade native Spanish speakers who were assigned to a team composed solely of second-language learners for the entire school year. Fourteen students participated in the study. An…

McGinnis draws on the idea of engaged learning as critical and illustrates how school literacy practices do not provide urban Khmer youth (and by extension, other groups whose backgrounds are linguistically or socioculturally distinct) with deep levels of engagement in literacy activities. By looking at the types of writing experiences these youth…

On-line writing can disrupt conventions; it can challenge the way writers write in the classroom; however, after logging off, the writer re-enters the academy and its more traditional ways of inscribing student subjectivities. The question is asked if educators, when arguing for the freedom of electronic classrooms, are taking into consideration…

The effects of a writing-across-the-curriculum program on graduates 2 to 9 years after program completion at Saint Mary's College (Indiana) were studied. A survey of 656 graduates (over one-third of the sample) from 8 graduating classes gathered data regarding the types of writing being utilized by the graduates, and the effectiveness of their…

Primary teachers who were nominated by their supervisors as effective in educating their students to be readers and writers responded to two questionnaires about their practice. Subjects were 23 kindergarten, 34 first-grade, and 26 second-grade teachers. As expected, there were shifts in reported practices between kindergarten and grade 2,…

Developed and put together by the Department of Humanities at Umpqua Community College (UCC) in Roseburg, Oregon, this booklet is intended to clarify (for students, faculty, staff, advisers, and community) the specific function and scope of the writing courses offered in the department. The booklet offers an overview of the department's general…

Focusing on issues that define the multicultural society and intended to help students become alert readers, more purposeful and effective writers, and thinking members of the larger community, this book is built around selections by committed writers who demonstrate the power of the written word to record, interpret, and change today's social and…

Unfortunately, students with emotional and psychological disorders are not uncommon on campuses anymore. In fact, along with the increase in the number of physically disabled students on campuses (now 6%), professors face new challenges, especially from those high-risk students suffering from hidden psychological disorders like schizophrenia,…

Data on the writing achievement of 11th-grade students in 1990 on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) may help answer the question of who is right: employers and educators who say students are poorly prepared in writing, or parents and students, who are more positive about the results of the writing preparation students receive…