In a time of increasing plurality in today's public schools, it is essential that students become critically competent citizens by examining current and historical social justice issues. The purpose of this manuscript is to provide the research, theory, and practice for teachers to help students take a critical stance as they read and respond to…

Although scholars have long advocated the use of informational texts in the primary grades, gaps and inconsistencies in research have produced conflicting reports on how teachers used these texts in the primary curriculum, and how primary students dealt with them during instruction and on their own (e.g., Saul & Dieckman, 2005). Thus, to add…

Today's K-12 classrooms are increasingly comprised of students who accomplish much of their informal learning through digital media and technology. In response, a growing number of educators are considering how they might draw upon these informal learning experiences to support student engagement and learning in the classroom through technology.…

As part of its proposal to the U.S. Department of Education, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) committed to developing Kindergarten through Grade 2 Model Content Frameworks for English language arts (ELA)/literacy (K-2 Model Content Frameworks) to serve as a bridge between the Common Core State Standards…

Changes in the teaching of reading during the past decade include a shift away from a previous emphasis on "one-to-one" learning experiences to a focus upon more communal forms of learning which place the teacher center stage. With the teacher's role thus highlighted, teacher-pupil interaction in practice has come under the spotlight, with a…

The basic skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic are necessary, but not sufficient for participation in a world that demands independent and cooperative problem solving of its citizens. Young children come to school with an interest in the community and the world outside their own. Social studies curricula can affirm the child's immediate…

This article explores a teaching approach that aims to engage learners more fully in the deep learning process that is characterised by the development of critical thinking skills. The concept of critical thinking skills is reconsidered in the context of the need to shift focus away from teaching teachers about learning to teaching students about…

Discussions of intellectual property are often the focus of rhetoric and composition research, and the question of textual origins grounds these discussions. Through an examination of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia anyone can edit, this essay addresses disciplinary concerns about textual origins and intellectual property through a discussion…

An idea to bring ethnically diverse authors to Southeast Idaho to promote reading and cultural understandings was conceived 24 years ago. The Visiting Author Series resulted from a committee's dream and resulted in new understandings of the literacy process as well as bringing the world to this region.

Recent years have witnessed an upsurge in the therapeutic use of books. With its initial roots in psychodynamic theory, available models emphasize features of the relationship between the personality of a reader and the cognitive and affective experience offered through literature. This article explores the historical development of bibliotherapy…

It is hard to imagine a world without books. Reading represents a mode of thinking and being that may be overshadowed in a contemporary world of web sites, movies, TV shows, CDs and video games. Ultimately, the author concludes that the percentage of serious readers has probably not changed significantly during the past century: what has changed…

Drawing on our experience of working in Sweden and seeking to help colleagues enter the prestigious culture of Anglophone academic text production, this article explores the landscape of academic writing and publishing. We first provide an account of the birth of academic writing and the gradual emergence of its present forms. We then explore…

This study stemmed from a concern of the perceived decline in students' reading motivation after the early years of schooling. This research investigated the effectiveness of online eBooks on eight grade 1 students' reading motivation. Eight students were given ten 25-minute sessions with the software programs over 15 weeks. Qualitative data were…

This article presents a thread of discussion posted to a web-based forum in the context of a children's literature course in one teacher education program in the USA. Participants in the virtual discussion include three preservice elementary teachers and the course instructor (author) on the subject of bringing lesbian, gay, bisexual and…

This article reports on the use of a text-based verbal protocol (Afflerbach, 2000) situated within individual interviews to elicit secondary English teachers' perspectives on new literacies (Albers & Harste, 2007; Coiro, Knobel, Lankshear, & Leu, 2008). Ranging significantly in their teaching experience and comfort with new media and…