To improve literacy achievement, the authors developed consensus scoring and peer planning as a process of professional development and school improvement. This process allows teachers to (1) gain an increased understanding of the content and performance standards that guide their instruction; (2) work together to assess student work; (3) work…

Read-alouds are a common component of literacy instruction. However, research on the method for providing read-alouds is limited. To determine if there was a common set of implementation practices, the authors examined the read-aloud practices of 25 teachers who were nominated by their administrators as experts. From these data, the authors…

Looks at first graders enthusiastically writing their autobiographies. Describes an environmental and instructional model called the Center Activity Rotation System. Discusses its three phases and how children rotate through seven centers in the classroom, which allows for a variety of grouping patterns that invite children to work on skills as…

Describes how one fourth-grade teacher used television, videos, computers, classroom guests, and lots of reading and writing to engage his students in their language-arts unit, focusing on the book "Shiloh." Discusses how such "intermediality" (using multiple media) increases students' comprehension and understanding of text, capturing their…

Describes two hours in the life of an eight-year-old to demonstrate that children acquire information and develop language skills from multiple sources. Argues that the conceptualization of literacy must be broadened from reading and writing skills to a definition that recognizes the layering of information and that includes all forms of the…

Disagrees with an earlier article in this journal about the dispute among reading-instruction specialists as to how phonics is best taught. Argues for direct and systematic phonics instruction. Presents a response to Groff, agreeing that children need explicit phonics instruction but arguing that an instructional approach that acknowledges the…

Describes the collaborative listening-viewing guide, a lesson framework for promoting students' visual literacy. Notes that an important feature of the guide is the use of flexible grouping, where students are encouraged to share what they see and recall, to contribute their personal experiences, and to build more elaborated constructions of…

Argues that the Internet is a valuable information source for teachers. Demonstrates this by presenting an online Internet conversation between three teachers using a teacher "chatroom" to explore an educational issue (how to help students learn to read and appreciate informational text) with other like-minded educators. (SR)

Describes a reading lesson for first graders in which phonics is taught both explicitly and contextually. Discusses three prerequisite understandings about print that make learning to read much easier for children. Advocates a balanced approach toward literacy instruction that helps children integrate what they already know with new strategies,…

Offers a four-step procedure that can be used to help upper elementary school students learn to write a well-structured expository paragraph. Suggests that the writing experience is a bridge to understanding more difficult text structure. (FL)

Describes conceptual mapping, a technique that is useful in helping poor readers overcome the difficulties they face when they read content area texts. (ARH)

Explains how a comparison portfolio can illustrate a student's progress by contrasting performances from the beginning and end of the school year. Notes that the portfolio should include standardized test scores, informal assessments, student writing samples, voluntary reading program reports, self assessments, and samples of class reading…

Concludes that standardized tests do not always reflect children's actual reading achievement and that the tests may not measure performance on the same types of material emphasized in basal series. (FL)

Argues that children need to be taught how to extract, synthesize, organize, and integrate important information from texts into their own knowledge structures and describes some techniques that can be used to activate prior knowledge. (HOD)

Illustrates how teachers can use flexible grouping to help all children experience success in reading and writing. Notes that, because flexible grouping is relatively new, more research will need to be conducted to further clarify its strengths and weaknesses. (PRA)