This article presents an arts integration program that uses drama and dance to promote foundational literacy skills, with an emphasis on the oral development of English Language Learners (ELLs). Previous research indicates that arts activities afford a beneficial opportunity for young students to practice language skills, but many teachers have…

The primary focus of this piece is the fundamental need to read to children to set the scene for their literacy development. It is asserted, reading to all children should happen daily for the first three years of their schooling. The reasons for this assertion are explored and explained: a vast vocabulary is gleaned, learned and used; the simple…

Adopted by 45 states, the Common Core State Standards are now in full implementation throughout the country. Parents need to be informed about these new rigorous, college-and career-ready standards in order to support their children's learning and development. As critical partners in children's education, this article highlights some of…

The Common Core State Standards place unprecedented emphasis on visual text--appropriately so, as visual components are increasingly ubiquitous in many kinds of text. This shift in emphasis requires substantial changes in our teaching. Concepts of print need to be expanded to include concepts of graphics, and specific graphical devices, such as…

Anecdotal records have long been used as a means of formative assessment. This article explores how traditional anecdotal records can be enhanced with digital technology. Using a portable device and one of many available note-taking applications, teachers have the opportunity to create a richer picture of the student. Highlighted in this Teaching…

Beginning with a brief rationale for selecting quality digital picture book apps for beginning readers, the authors describe the elements of digital picture books and provide a brief review of the instructional benefits of digital picture book use for beginning readers. They then present a detailed taxonomy for selecting quality picture book apps.…

The challenges associated with boys and reading are focused on such factors as society's lack of focus on literacy skills, parents failings to inspire reading in boys, and internal motivational factors rather than looking at the environments created for reading in and out of school. In this column, several ideas for helping boys develop a…

As teachers work to move their writing workshop into the 21st century and to help students meet new standards expectations, they are ramping up their use of technology. This article lays out a set of guiding principles (E-BEST) to help teachers make reflective choices, so that the digital technologies in their workshops will enhance and extend…

This article describes a year-long reading intervention with a first-grade English-learner who began the year as a non-reader. Systematic instruction from a literacy specialist and her classroom teacher included familiar re-reading, word study, and teacher-guided reading with carefully matched texts, within the context of English language and…

Books meant for young readers did not appear until scholars such as John Locke began to suggest a more modern concept of childhood. Though the eighteenth century saw the establishment and growth of children's book publishing, it was as late as the nineteenth century when children's literature truly came of age. This article traces the…

Canine-assisted reading programs show promise as an innovative method for engaging reluctant readers and motivating them to practice. In such programs, specially trained dogs visit classrooms and libraries, and children read to them. Children who struggle with reading may be motivated to read more because they find dogs to be calming and…

Students must be taught to write and then be expected to write for a variety of purposes to a variety of audiences, including in mathematics, science, and social studies. As part of building the writing prowess of students, they must write routinely, both short and long pieces. As part of a comprehensive writing curriculum, students' writing…

Discussing and exploring concepts is an important element of literacy and mathematics instruction in elementary classrooms. Read-alouds provide an opportunity for teachers to engage students in meaningful discussion. This article describes a quick three-step process for mathematizing books, that is, weaving together read-alouds, discussion, and…

A question being asked by teachers across the country is, How can I teach students to acquire both the skills and knowledge demanded by the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) while simultaneously guiding them to read challenging texts such as those presented in Appendix B of the CCSS? Answering this invites the integration of ideas and the…

Successful implementation of the Common Core State Standards (2010) will require an alignment between learning standards, effective instruction, and the new assessments designed by the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) and Smarter Balanced (SB) consortia. Both the CCSS and the new generation of assessments…