Bandura's (1986) theory of self-efficacy suggests that efficacy may be most malleable early in learning; therefore, some of the most powerful influences on the development of teachers' sense of efficacy may be the experience of teaching during field placements and student teaching. Unfortunately, pre-service teachers may not be exposed to good…

Prosody is a means for "reading with expression" and is one aspect of oral reading competence. This theoretical inquiry asserts that prosody is central to interpreting text, and draws distinctions between "syntactic" prosody (for phrasing) and "emphatic" prosody (for interpretation). While reading with expression appears as a criterion in major…

This article describes a pilot study conducted with 10 identified avid adolescent readers who completed the Adolescent Motivation to Read Profile (AMRP) (Pitcher, Albright, DeLaney, Walker, Seunarienesingh, & Moggie, 2007) that includes both a survey to determine students' self-concept and value of reading and an interview that sheds light on what…

Reading fluency is the ability to read orally with speed and efficiency, including word recognition, decoding, and comprehension (Chard & Pikulski, 2005). Able readers achieve fluency as they recognize words with speed and build upon them to aid in comprehension (Pumfrey & Elliott, 1990). One way to help students achieve fluency is through the use…

This article addresses critical factors that impact learning for a growing population of students in American classrooms, the English Language Learner (ELL). Even in the smallest school districts, it is common for teachers to have one or more students with limited or no command of the English language in their classrooms. Many students in schools…

Educators in many disciplines recognize interdisciplinary teaching as effective for student learning. This article provides a model for developing an interdisciplinary literacy and science study with states of water as the core scientific study with corresponding literacy strategies. Authors have included suggestions for children's literature as…

Ms. Martin (a pseudonym) is preparing to teach her new group of students this fall. This is her ninth year teaching second grade, so she knows much about the complexities she faces. The professional development focus in her district this year is differentiated reading instruction and she knows from experience that the twenty-two children who will…

This is the story of one middle school teacher's journey of implementing literature circles with English language learners. Theory and research suggest that literature circles are valuable and important for young adolescents yet many teachers are still skeptical about implementing them. During this three-month study 22 sixth graders, 12 of them…

Learning to read and write and achieve good conduct are crucial in the primary grades. One teacher from a state in the Midwest implemented poetry with her second grade students to guide classroom conduct and improve literacy. This article discusses poetry as a literature genre, the benefits of poetry, and poetry curriculum where children read and…

This article describes how young children's early relationships with caregivers and other significant adults, such as teachers, do far more than introduce and mediate their literacy experiences. These relationships are the experience, and only with time and development do young children differentiate from these experiences the signs and symbols as…

This article addresses the International Reading Association's foundational knowledge requirement that educators recognize historical antecedents to contemporary reading methods and materials. The historical overview presented here highlights the ineffective methods and restrictive materials that have been discarded and the progress that has been…

In December of 2006 and again in February of 2007, fifty Literacy Professors representing almost every college and university in Michigan met in a collegial forum to discuss and advocate for all students involved in reading instruction/education. This advocacy spans students from prekindergarten through college undergraduates and graduates. The…

This paper discusses the shift from a clinic model to a community model for the practicum experience for literacy education graduate students. The traditional program for the remediation of struggling readers followed a deficit model. Therefore, the reading specialist would pull out the child from regular classroom instruction to isolate a reading…

This manuscript provides a rationale for classroom libraries and the need to include nonfiction with them. Guidelines for effective libraries, selecting nonfiction books, and strategies for promoting them are also shared. (Contains 2 figures.)

In today's diverse schools, meeting individual literacy needs of students is one of the most challenging aspects of teaching. Instructional scaffolding is a powerful tool that many literacy teachers use to meet the challenge. While the term denotes a wide array of strategies, most teachers use scaffolding in some form or another in their…