This article describes an instructional model for integrating children's literature and language arts into the elementary school science curriculum. This science-literacy instructional model is an adaptation from the original 5E model of scientific inquiry. The model demonstrates how reading, writing, listening, and speaking can be incorporated…

In Texas, it's an era of uncertainty: new TEKS, changes to STAAR, school finance. What's a teacher to do? How can teachers avoid reinventing the reading curriculum every time a change rolls around? Reflecting on the foundations of reading instruction--time, choice, relevance, talk, and rituals and routines--offers a way to answer these challenging…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English Language Arts seem to relegate fiction and poetry to the back shelf. This change in emphasis, favoring nonfiction, has an impact in the classroom. After districts and schools realign the curriculum, many English teachers feel compelled to put away some of their fiction and poetry units. One way to…

This article highlights the learning that took place among teacher candidates as they taught Generation 1.5 students during a yearly writing camp. The article also offers suggestions for supporting this group of adolescents.

The author describes her two-year experience of living in China and how this molded her attitudes about English language learners in Texas. Examples drawn from the Nanjing International School show how one school worked to meet the needs of a diverse group of students, with more than 70% learning English as a second language. The practical…

This article shares the experiences, tips, and passion of an English I teacher who teaches English language learners (ELLs) who have been in U.S. schools for at least one year. She provides information about various teaching strategies that have been effective in her classroom over the past few years. The article addresses student grouping,…

This column is a review of three areas of interest to Texas ELAR educators: the ELAR/SLAR TEKS revision, recent news from the Texas Education Agency, and the status of several bills relating to assessment. Included is a summary of the past two years of the ELAR/SLAR TEKS revision process and information about next steps in that process.

In the past, literacy was defined as the ability to read and write. According to the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE, 2013), this definition has evolved and expanded to now include the ability to effectively utilize technology, build cross-cultural relationships in order to solve problems, multitask, use multimedia texts in a variety…

Within the context of a first-person account of pedagogical growth, a social studies methods professor describes three pragmatic ways to bring literacy-based instruction into a history class. The three ideas are supported by current research on content-area and disciplinary literacy, and the rationales for increasing student engagement and…

In spite of high-stakes testing that challenges teachers to think about classroom decisions, the authors believe teachers can promote classroom practices that provide opportunities to develop the reading and writing identities of their students while also preparing students for required assessments. Using teacher writing as mentor text, showing…

Multigenre writing projects contribute to the use of out-of-school literacies, multiple modes of meaning, and writing from several perspectives to aid their audience in comprehending the material being presented. Students are able to write using real-world examples of writing pieces and are required to think critically when melding the pieces of…

In this article, the author describes teaching a Spanish lesson to non-Spanish undergraduate students. This lesson contained instructional strategies identified as effective practices: physical involvement with language, multiple media to present language, and opportunities to demonstrate language comprehension through physical expression.…

Novice teachers often walk into a classroom with very little knowledge of how to conduct lessons and keep students engaged. In this article, student teacher Ashley and veteran teacher Sara share their experiences as Ashley learned how to use drama pedagogy in a secondary English classroom. Using the ideas and activities originally taught in…

Author visits in schools promote students' reading and writing growth and enhance their engagement through lifelong connections to books and their authors. The first author of this article, a preservice teacher, describes her multi-tiered experience as she sought to connect with the book "Brown Girl Dreaming" and its author Jacqueline…

The unique challenges (and promises) teachers encounter today can be informed by the past. What literacy and language education mean for Mary Stewart, assistant professor of bilingual and English as a Second Language (ESL) education at Texas Woman's University, is a product of what it has meant for educators like her grandmother and mother. In…