It has been suggested that culturally relevant literature can be beneficial to elementary school students' learning. Yet, less research has focused on African American students' perspectives of that literature, including aspects of that engagement that may benefit their learning. Therefore, the main goal centred on US elementary school students'…

Learning Mandarin Chinese as a heritage or additional language at Chinese complementary schools has long been a tradition for many Asian Canadians. However, research that looks at teachers' experiences and perceptions in Canadian settings, especially the power dynamics embedded in biliteracy development at complementary schools, is scant.…

Research indicates a powerful correlation between students' reading enjoyment, motivation and achievement. This Australian case study investigates how reading for pleasure (RfP) approaches are demonstrated in the teaching of reading in a Stage 1 (6-year-old to 7-year-old students) classroom. The methodology was designed to mirror aspects of…

Spelling is a key transcription skill for writing. While little is understood about the particular challenges some students experience when learning to spell, explicit instruction is known to improve spelling performance. The study reported in this article draws on eight case studies from a larger Australian mixed-methods study examining spelling…

While qualified school librarians can have a positive influence on children's literacy attainment, very little consideration is given to the educative role of librarians in schools. Lack of attention on these librarians' educative capacity may be due to a devaluing of the educational contribution of school librarians, and it can be argued that…

In this paper, an Anishnaabe educator and university researcher/former primary teacher make a case for viewing children's dramatic play as multimodal identity texts. Indigenous children in our research study take up an agentic role and construct positive identities in dramatic play, creating narratives that reflect Indigenous cultural practices,…

This article analyses the experiences of teachers of literacy working in underprivileged communities in the Western Cape, South Africa. The purpose is to provide teachers in poorly resourced schools within economically deprived areas an opportunity to voice their experiences of teaching literacy. The article is based on an empirical study using…

Reading aloud to children is considered one of the most highly effective strategies for fostering a range of literacy skills, both at home and within contemporary classrooms. However, little is known about teachers' attitudes toward reading aloud, their self-reported frequency of engagement in the practice and what may pose as contemporary…

Grammar is a key focus of current UK national curriculum policy, at both primary and secondary school level. But grammar policy across these levels is incongruous: at primary level, policy is largely prescriptive, framing language as a system of constraints and rules, whereas at secondary level, policy is much more geared towards descriptive,…

The teaching of writing has been a relatively neglected aspect of research in literacy. Cultural and socio-economic reasons for this are suggested. In addition, teachers often readily acknowledge themselves as readers, but rarely as writers. Without a solid grasp of compositional processes, teachers are perhaps prone to adopt schemes that promote…

This article examines data gathered in a broader study of a school-based reading challenge to children aged from 8 to 14 to read science information books, centred in their school or class library. A survey was conducted before they embarked on the reading challenge to establish the children's reading habits. After the period of time allotted to…

This collective case study explores the strategies history, science and math teachers use to conduct close readings in their disciplines. Through qualitative analysis of forum posts and lesson plans submitted to a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) designed as professional development (PD), this study examines the strategies history, science and…

Young children today have greater access to culturally and politically sensitive information than at any other time in history. Although there are many positive aspects of children having greater access, negative consequences can also result, especially when they do not have sufficient structured and supportive opportunities to question, discuss…

Multimedia literacy practices in the homes of young children are changing rapidly, but the use of them in the early years of education is moving slowly. This research was aimed to find out what teachers of 5-year-olds, in their first 6?months of compulsory schooling, think about the children's literacy practices at home, including the…

Evidence suggests (Ofsted, 2007) that the role of the Subject Leader is crucial in how well poetry is taught in schools. This paper attempts to provide some insights on "what it is like" to coordinate poetry teaching in a primary school. Some of the data confirm elements of the findings from earlier research on the state of poetry in…