21st century learners arrive at school with technological knowledge and skills that necessitate the need for educational systems to transform instructional practices to meet learners' needs. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) developed ISTE Standards for students, teachers, administrators, coaches, and computer…

For all students, a high-quality early education is critical to ensuring their long-term academic success. Early learners need to understand why people read and write in order to be motivated to excel in their own literacy development. Through active engagement in the reading process, children learn ways to use their growing knowledge and skills…

Teaching with song lyrics has many popular variations. The Common Core State Standards discourage pre-teaching, leaving students somewhat adrift. Song lyrics possess the potential to scaffold students' schema in select social studies topics. Using reciprocal teaching (Palinscar & Brown 1984) within the reading workshop students ponder…

This article addresses the need for teachers to use observational tools to identify and understand their learners' cultural backgrounds and literacy skills, including the importance of preparing teacher candidates to become culturally responsive educators. This topic is critical because one of the new teacher certification exams in New York…

Given the increased diversity of students within the regular, general education classroom, this article explores the importance of differentiated instruction to meet the needs of all learners in this age of Common Core State Standards. Using digital literacies that engage students, the authors showcase apps and web tools they have used in…

The structure of lessons where teachers integrated the digital literacies is examined here. Twelve graduate teachers participating in an after-school practica were observed over a six-week period. This manuscript identifies the structure of their lessons and describes the kinds of digital literacies children learned when completing them. Teachers…

This article moves beyond the common core and leveled literacy instruction to demonstrate how diverse learners in one fourth grade classroom, challenged teacher authority in an effort to position themselves as capable readers. In doing so, they implored the teachers to consider the social context of reading as an essential component to the ways in…

With our expertise and experiences in teaching language development and early literacy instruction courses at a teacher education college, we argue that it is imperative to find ways to integrate learning standards with developmentally appropriate play-based methods. We examined what literacy coach candidates found in their classroom observations…

This article argues that literacy educators must take time to advocate for research-informed instructional responses in this age of Common Core State Standards and Race to the Top mandates. To that end, it offers four key ideas regarding: (a) what we know about instruction, (b) the need for long-term, continuously revised planning, (c) literacy in…

The authors of this article describe their inquiry into implementation of the writing-focused Common Core State Standards in a co-taught English 9 class in an urban school. They describe instructional moves designed to increase student success with an assignment called the Gift Essay, with particular focus on planning and other organizational…

The Common Core Learning Standards set forth learning goals for all students, including English learners, but this document does not provide information on effective literacy instruction for English learners or unpack the specific resources and challenges that bilingual students bring to the classroom. Language Standard 4 addresses morphological…

While conducting a content analysis of award-winning, middle school fiction, I indentified a number of episodes and characters that might be used as models for students' writing. Research suggests that teachers can motivate students (Bruning & Horn, 2000; Codling, Gambrell, Kennedy, Palmer, & Graham, 1996) to respond to character-writers (Van…

A balanced literacy program provides students with opportunities to interact with texts from a variety of genres. The dawn of the New York State Common Core Learning Standards has paved a natural gateway for students and teachers to regularly engage in reading, discussing, and writing nonfiction. This shift in the standards has inspired educators…

"The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance." Change can be scary. Quite often people find themselves venturing down an unknown path, unsure of what twists and turns will come their way. This uncertainty brings about questions, anxiety, and for some, a sense of panic. Similar emotions emerged as…

The implementation of the Common Core Standards has just begun and these standards will impact a generation that communicates with technology more than anything else. Texting, cell phones, Facebook, YouTube, Skype, etc. are the ways they speak with their friends and the world. The Common Core Standards recognize this. According to the Common Core…