This dissertation delves into the dynamic interaction between picturebooks, culture circles, and social justice discussions in a second-grade classroom. Rooted in Critical Pedagogy, Transactional Theory, and Indigenous Social Justice Pedagogy, this study investigates two pivotal aspects. Firstly, it explores the issues raised by students in…

Educators have long known that the Paideia Seminar format, an approach for close reading and class discussion, promotes critical thinking skills in young people and improves writing. Terry Roberts, director of the National Paideia Center, shows--with examples of actual Seminar dialogues--that these types of seminars also inspire creative and…

The WWC practice guide "Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade" presents a set of evidence-based practices that teachers and other educators can use to successfully teach reading comprehension to young readers. The guide, developed by a panel of experts, presents a set of evidence-based practices that teachers…

Background: To succeed in school, young children must acquire the domain and vocabulary knowledge needed to read complex texts. Despite the growing literacy demands in the 21 century, fewer than 5% of US school children in the early elementary grades can evaluate complex nonfiction texts and there are larger gaps based on family income and student…

This article explores how a second-grade teacher's strategic talk moves supported her multilingual students, many of whom were designated as English Learners (ELs), to engage with complex content using purposeful, authentic communication during a 14-week read-aloud unit focused on historical changemakers. Collaborative coding of whole-class and…

Although scholarship in New Literacies increasingly emphasizes multimodal reading, some traditional perspectives on comprehension pedagogy continue to advocate for focusing discussion on linguistic content of texts, concerned that allowing students to discuss illustrations could siphon attention from the words (linguistic content). Largely absent…

This article explores how a second-grade teacher challenged and supported students of varying language and literacy abilities to engage with complex material during a 14-week read-aloud unit focused on historical change-makers, and how engagement and comprehension through talk and writing changed for five purposefully selected students.…

This classroom-based case study examines how Spanish-English emergent bilingual children in a second grade one-way immersion classroom draw on prior knowledge and experiences and use comprehension strategies to discuss and comprehend three texts with different levels of cultural relevance. Through an examination of the rich range of cognitive,…

In theory, engaging students in discussion helps them learn how to understand and think critically about texts. Researchers have sought to identify effective features of teacher-led text-based discussions by designing specific discussion-group programs and investigating their influence on students' comprehension in upper elementary classrooms.…

Ever-growing expectations exist for educators to use assessments to collect, analyze, and interpret data, but how, if at all, are these processes affecting instruction? This descriptive case study of one team of second grade teachers offers an analysis of the links between teachers' use of data within their collaborative team meetings and…

In this article, the authors show how groups of 2nd- and 4th-grade students in an urban school district responded to a postmodern children's book, The "Three Pigs" by David Wiesner (2001). The students came to the project from basal-based direct instruction, and here they were offered a more constructivist opportunity to engage with a…

Bullying prevention starts with helping young children understand and accept diversity--the earlier the better. That's why your school team needs this ready-to-use resource, a simple, fun, and effective way to promote social acceptance in the critical early years of attitude development. Perfect for K-2 classrooms, this book presents the…

This teaching tip details one teacher's implementation of student-led book talks in her primary-grade classroom. The author describes a simple gradual-release method that she has successfully used with her students in order to get them talking about the books that they are reading independently. She found that when used in the readers' workshop…

Gabriela Montserrat (pseudonym) is a Mexican-American child classified by her school district as an "emerging bilingual" and is the focus of this qualitative case study that took place at a public elementary school located in a suburban community in the southwestern US in Mrs Pérez's (pseudonym) second-grade classroom. The student's use…

"How to Assess While You Teach Math" is the ideal resource for further understanding the process of formative assessment in addition to improving your teaching of mathematics. All lessons are correlated to the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and Standards for Mathematical Practice. In this multimedia resource, award-winning teacher…