In order to prepare effective writing teachers, teacher educators need an understanding of how preservice preparation programs, inservice professional development, and the policies and practices of K-12 schools work together to influence teachers' writing instruction. This qualitative case study uses complexity theory (Davis & Sumara, 2006) to…

In this article, we share findings from our process of "reading the past, writing the future" of elementary research in NCTE's journals. Our analysis focused on major domains of the field, including literature, writing, reading, language, and multimodal literacies, and spanned "Elementary English Review", which first appeared in 1924, was renamed…

Elizabeth Dutro and Kathleen Collins have written a fascinating and broad-ranging review that captures the richness of perspectives and findings in elementary literacy research, based on an examination of roughly 7,700 titles published in NCTE journals. This daunting figure provides an indication of the productivity and extensive contributions of…

Outlines the beginnings of a political economy of the children's literature publishing industry. Focuses on the ways that changes in the ownership and structure of the industry are altering the underlying culture of the book publishing industry and concomitantly, the ways that books are conceived, commissioned, and marketed. (SG)

Considers how gender, identity and literacy are entangled and mutually constitutive. Concludes that social experience, desire, proximate others, and the ways in which children can draw upon these in the classroom are aspects of the situated condition that deserve more prominence in literacy and identity research. (SG)

Reports on a three-year inquiry into intertextuality in early grade classrooms. Identifies intertextual conflicts during teacher-class interactions where teachers are reading texts and guiding children to read. Concludes the greater power of mandated syllabi over teachers and the greater power of teachers over children make intertextuality a…

Examines how 10 kindergarten through fourth-grade teachers shared poems and stories with their students. Notes that readings of poems were characterized by expressive reading style, multiple readings in one sitting, and children's active participation. Concludes poetry has the potential to draw children's attention to the resources of literate…

Investigates the possible link between a classroom teacher's implementation of alternative literacy assessment and her classroom instruction. Illuminates the role that alternative literacy assessments can play in the classroom in terms of reflecting literacy task performance, presenting information on students' strengths and weaknesses, and…

Examines the discourse in an English as a second or other language (ESoL) classroom in a best-case scenario that contrasted dramatically with more typical school settings. Samples student critical turns (SCTs) across a six-week literature-rich science unit. Shows that the teacher played a crucial role in extended dialogue among students. (SG)

Describes the intermediate forms of children's informational and story composition across the elementary grades. Finds that even the youngest children differentiated between the genres with over half of all kindergartners and first graders producing texts classified at some level of organizational complexity above labels and statement, and by…

Considers the importance of materials from popular culture in children's literate activities. Emphasizes the dynamic ways in which children adapt symbols from popular culture for their own academic and social purposes. Argues for the need to view popular culture more respectfully. (NH)

Explores the potential of hybridity for supporting critical pedagogies that seek to transform the knowledge, texts, and identities of the school curriculum. Draws on microanalyses of oral and written texts constructed by a Latina student perceived to be struggling academically. Shows the student interweaving home, school, and peer language…

Investigates elementary school teachers' beliefs and classroom practices about reading. Describes how three of the teachers experimented with new language, beliefs, and/or practices, juxtaposing them with current beliefs and practices. Considers how, at the end of two years, two teachers had altered their beliefs and transformed their practices,…

Examines the author's daughter's experiences of being socialized into the language of Iceland through the eight-year-old's immersion in Icelandic culture. Shows how play-based activities with native-speaking peers was critical to her language and literacy development. Argues that authentic activity in social life is the key to learning literacy…

Investigates, in a longitudinal study, the spelling development of young deaf children in the context of an integrated process writing classroom. Identifies/categorizes the spelling strategies employed by deaf writers as print-based, speech-based, and sign-based. Provides insights into the nature of cognitive processes in the deaf child. (PA)