Today's students are surrounded and inundated with pop culture at almost all times every day. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exasperated this influx of pop culture saturation as students stayed home, learned online, and for better or worse turned to television, the internet, and other popular applications to deal with isolation and have some form…

In this article, the authors discuss polyvocality, which is the equitable presence of multiple voices engaging in a humanizing dialogue, to facilitate literacy growth, nurture relationships, and build students' confidence in K-12 classrooms. Making classroom talk an integral component of small- and whole-group discussions allows students to hone…

An achievement gap exists in the United States between children of color and their white peers. This gap is most prevalent in literacy. Achievement in literacy is pertinent to student success in other content areas. To address this problem, educational researchers have identified a conceptual framework, culturally relevant pedagogy, that provides…

Instructors teaching during this unprecedented time in history must find ways of engaging students from behind the mask. As a result of the pandemic, my colleagues and I have discovered that students do not respond or participate in the ways they once did. In the classroom, students have become silent spectators, hiding behind the mask, making it…

Teachers constantly struggle to get students actively engaged and invested in their own learning. It can be even more difficult to engage those students in critical thinking and 21st century skills. Problem-based learning (PBL) provides a student-led format with real-life learning experiences, offering a purpose for instruction. By relinquishing…

In today's primary grades, school districts are focused on having students reading on grade level by the end of the school year. To help support this goal, there are a range of strategies school districts use to attempt to meet this goal. These strategies may not promote joy in reading instruction. Primary grade teachers want students to fall in…

Writing is a mighty way to communicate, express, question, synthesize, persuade, and teach (Fletcher & Portalupi, 2001). Hence, growing strong writers is crucial for all students. A writing workshop approach allows teachers and students the essential elements needed to perfect their writing. The author seeks to provide relief to teaching…

According to Ruetzel & Cooter, "… writing and reading are mirror processes with reciprocal benefits" (2019, p. 316). When teachers provide opportunities for reading and writing practice every day, children flourish. What better place to infuse this practice than through children's play. As children play, they think critically, answer…

The authors, university instructors, when confronted with extreme time constraints in a summer course during the COVID-19 pandemic, redesigned their course structure prioritizing their values and goals. Intentional choices provide teacher candidates with time together to slow down and interact more fully in a read-aloud centered, writer's…

The authors examined secondary English teachers' values and beliefs about text selection (canonical versus modern and young adults) when working with emergent bilinguals. Findings showed that the tensions teachers identified were focused on whose literacy actions the teachers wanted to prioritize in the classroom: those of the students or those of…

This article emphasizes the power of the words we use as educators by shining a light on the work of Peter H. Johnston. The author offers timely and pertinent ways to engage students in effective and respectful academic discourse and writing. She also stresses the importance of modeling for students and letting them see our struggle with writing.…

Teaching with digital resources can seem overwhelming. Teachers and students sometimes struggle to use online materials, but potential solutions can be found in federated databases and curated eBook collections specially chosen for Texas teachers and students. This article assists educators as they locate and use TEKS-aligned digital resources and…

Academic language is the formal language that is common in books and at school, but that students are unlikely to encounter in everyday conversations with friends and family. Not only is academic language critical to school achievement but it is also foundational for the true comprehension of contentrich subjects. Academic language should permeate…

In 2016, with mounting pressure from parents, educators, and other stakeholders around the state pushing back against the volume of standardized tests students are required to take, the Texas Education Agency introduced the Texas Writing Pilot. This pilot was designed to study the feasibility of creating an alternative writing assessment that…

Increasing numbers of children in Texas communities and across the U.S. are immigrants. One way to support students in exploring the history and contemporary topic of immigration through literacy is with inquiry, a teaching method that centers around students' questions, incorporates informational and narrative texts, and creates opportunities for…