This article centers the stories of two eighth grade students in the context of a social action literacy project. Their teacher designed curriculum that scaffolded opportunities for them to address English language arts standards while speaking out for social change. The students' responses to the project reveal their civic literacy practices, as…

The article examines third graders who use reading, speaking, writing, gestures, and visual representation strategically in their inquiry research and to share what they learn. Examples of their speaking, writing and drawing shows their developing skill in choosing semiotic meaning-making systems appropriately for the purpose of developing their…

This article presents a story of Han, a Vietnamese kindergartner, during her first year at East Elementary School. A classroom environment that supports learner-generated inquiries gives her the self-confidence to inquire freely into a second language and culture. Her inquiries enable her to develop her oral and written English language as she…

The purpose of writing is to communicate with an audience. Teachers need to move heaven and earth to be sure that every child knows what it is to become a published author. Criteria for selecting a piece is important. In this article, the author explores why the criteria that children use for selecting poetry to share with an audience differ from…

A research is conducted which lays emphasis on how teachers can use bilingual student's writing as a springboard for deeper exploration into societal inequities in particular by paying attention to both the ideas and the voices revealed in their written words. The goal is to create an empowering learning environment in which students are able to…

Cauley's books about snakes demonstrate intentional and interesting decisions by a beginning writer. The conclusion states that learning to choose topics for writing in thoughtful ways is an important part of the curriculum in writing workshop.

How can teachers help their students write effectively and purposefully in a variety of genres despite the challenges of increased testing and curriculum mandates? Working within the writing workshop framework, a group of elementary school teachers participated in The Zine Project, a personalized approach to writing, in which they created their…

Notes that finding time for skills instruction without replacing literature discussion and writers' workshop requires a strong organizational framework for literacy instruction. Suggests that teachers need principled, conceptual frameworks to guide their thoughts and actions. Describes a framework, Book Club Plus, designed by a practitioner…

Describes five specific tools that provide the author's seventh-grade students with a set of easily accessible options for revising their writing. (SR)

Discusses the benefits of having elementary school students do nonstop writing for a few minutes. (DD)

A comparative study of students' scores in mechanics and usage on standardized tests and ratings of actual writing samples. (DD)

Describes a literature unit in which students write stories about imaginary characters after they have heard and discussed several narratives. (DD)

Discusses the ways in which children's writing benefits when children read good books. (DD)

Describes measurement instruments for language development, literature, reading, English as a second language, and writing. (DD)