Interactive writing is an instructional practice widely considered effective and most appropriate for emergent writers. This article asserts that it is a valuable method for more fluent writers in grades 2-5. It outlines the basic lesson sequence and proposes four key shifts to adapt interactive writing for older, more fluent writers: 1) The…

Wordless picturebooks may be better defined by what they do contain--visually rendered narratives--rather than what they do not contain. This column challenges traditional ways of looking at wordless picturebooks and offers a few approaches for integrating wordless picturebooks into a wider range of classrooms, preschool through middle school.

This article explains how to create and use a daybook in the literacy classroom. Readers learn what a daybook is, how the daybook in one fourth and fifth grade classroom is structured, and how students in this classroom use that daybook during reading instruction to engage, record important information, and discuss a text.

Digital storytelling has emerged as an innovative practice that allows students deeper engagement with content while encouraging the use of critical thinking and technological skills needed to navigate the ever changing digital terrain of the 21st century. The integration of traditional and new literacy practices is evident throughout the process…

An instructional focus on critical literacy (CL) encourages students to become active readers and writers of cultural texts so that they can create their own meanings in order to shape and transform their social conditions (Lankshear & McLaren, 1993; Shor, 1992). It is, however, seldom pursued with English learners (ELs) because teachers assume…

Using primary sources with students has untapped potential for expanding and deepening the reading experiences of elementary and middle grade students. Primary sources expands teachers' palette of reading materials, allows students to connect more closely to topics for learning, and deepens their understanding of the past. This article argues for…

This article uses Dresang's dimensions of radical change to call attention to the evolving structures and features of novels for young readers being published today. The controversial topics and elaborate design features contained in contemporary novels, for example, the expansion of dystopic fiction, the disruption of traditional narrative…

Constructing meaning from science texts relies not only on comprehending the words but also the diagrams and other graphics. The goal of this study was to explore elementary students' perceptions of science diagrams and their skills related to diagram interpretation. 30 students, ranging from second grade through middle school, completed a diagram…

Students' reading achievement is influenced by the amount of reading they actually do. In this column we present a workable and engaging model to increase the volume of student reading at home. A detailed outline of how teachers and schools can work with parents to implement the model is presented. (Contains 1 figure.)

This column brings to the attention of "RT" readers the hot topic of redesigning teacher education programs. Featured are interviews with professionals involved in a statewide redesign initiative in Tennessee, the Ready2Teach (R2T) program. The interviews highlight major changes in how teacher education programs are being transformed to prepare…

In urban middle schools, educators find it challenging to meet the literacy needs of the many struggling readers in their classrooms, including language-minority (LM) learners and students from low-income backgrounds. One strategy for improving these students' reading comprehension is to teach essential academic vocabulary in a meaningful,…

The reading workshop approach has been found to successfully improve students' reading comprehension and attitudes toward reading. "Reading workshop" is a term that initially referred to reading sessions that encouraged and supported the independent reading of literature, and it traditionally included reading minilessons, independent silent…

The Text Feature Walk is a structure created and employed by the authors that guides students in the reading of text features in order to access prior knowledge, make connections, and set a purpose for reading expository text. Results from a pilot study are described in order to illustrate the benefits of using the Text Feature Walk over…

The purpose of this article is to assert that there are classic African American children's books and to identify a sampling of them. The author presents multiple definitions of the term classic based on the responses of children's literature experts and relevant scholarship. Next, the manner in which data were collected and analyzed in regard to…

Response to Intervention as a model for an elementary or middle school reading program is predicated on the idea that effective instruction will prevent most reading difficulties from ever occurring. The frontline of prevention is Tier I or the general education classroom. The classroom is also where students should receive high-quality content…