Postmodern picturebooks do not follow the established norms of traditional picturebooks and instead invite readers to navigate nonlinear structures and attend to metafictive devices, including counterpoint and multiple narratives, experimental typography, nonlinearity, intertextuality, and ambiguities in meaning. These qualities challenge readers…

This dissertation study explores the emergence of off-task engagement, in which three Chinese first-graders write mathematically. It seeks the solution to the conflict between the intended mathematics writing and the realized mathematics writing, which ties to the Cartesian rationality dominating mathematics classrooms--that tends to ignore…

We examined spelling errors patterns, cohesive ties, and syntax features in English and Spanish essays written by Spanish-English emergent bilinguals in Grades 1, 2, and 3 (N = 278; 51% female) enrolled in either English immersion or English-Spanish dual immersion programs. In Study 1, we addressed whether students made consistent spelling errors…

This program evaluation took place in Harnett County Schools, North Carolina. This study evaluated two common reading intervention programs currently used in the Harnett district. This evaluation compared and examined the effectiveness of Reading Recovery and Leveled Literacy Intervention on a subset of students at Highland Elementary School, a…

This six week study investigated six urban elementary teachers' educational beliefs in regards to teaching writing, comparing their personal histories as writers with their self-reported beliefs on writing and teaching writing, with that of their teacher practices. A further analysis examined how closely aligned their teacher practices were to…

This participant observation research study explored relationships between the role of guided reading and in-school writing of three proficient first-grade literacy learners during the first eight months of the 2007-08 school-year. Portraits of each student as a literacy learner were developed through case studies. Those individual case studies…

The purpose of this study was to explore the process and product of African American First Graders as they participated in digital storytelling. Of interest was the role digital tools played in the creation process. Eight participants participated in 18 study sessions during which they composed, recorded, and then shared their digital texts with…

While several models of adult writing have been proposed and studied, the development of writing skills in young children has only recently garnered attention. Using measures of fine-motor, language, working memory, and attention/executive functions, the current study explored motor and cognitive skills that may contribute to writing skill in…

Traditionally, K-5 students' writing has had a primarily academic aim--to help students master concepts and express themselves. Even if students take a professional writing course later, they typically do not have the opportunity to practice--over the long period of time mastery requires--the non-academic writing skills they will be required to…

The study documented the experience of a classroom teacher and an intervention coach as they collaborated to implement writing workshop with first grade students. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected using a pre-post design to study the impact of intervention coaching on the teacher's knowledge and the students. writing development. A…