The purpose of this article is to inform teachers about the ways technology can be integrated to add value to literacy instruction. Artistic technology-integrated literacy and disciplinary instruction in preK through grade 4 classrooms is described through the stories of five teachers who were identified as both strong teachers of literacy and…

Classroom-based assessments are important resources for teachers and reading specialists for informing instruction. Their benefits can be enhanced by designing measures that assess more than single skills, that follow formative assessment principles, and that involve multimodal formats and student responses. Because of the diversity in K-6…

Digital storytelling is a viable tool to help struggling writers resist the social position of struggling writer that is often exacerbated by state-mandated writing assessments. While some writers may struggle with traditional literacy, tapping into new literacies may boost their motivation and scaffold their understanding of traditional…

The development and use of a research tool to guide fourth-grade students' use of information sources during a research project is described in this article. Over a period of five weeks, 21 fourth-grade students in an international school in Singapore participated in a study investigating the extent to which the use of a "research resource…

Relates how student writers learn from one another when they share their writing with classmates in the "Author's Chair." (MM)

This study indicated that a reader should be allowed to reread or reinspect the passage before answering comprehension questions, suggesting that testing children with informal reading inventories seems to be more a test of memory than of reading comprehension. (HOD)

Describes a pen pal experience between a third and fourth grade class and some local senior citizens. (MM)

Describes how performing Shel Silverstein's poems is an effective method to practice oral expression. Notes that although this activity was used in a fourth grade class, it could be adapted to any grade level. (MM)

Describes "cooperative poetry," a group poetry-writing exercise combining brainstorming, rehearsing, choral reading, assisted reading, memorization, sequencing, and vocabulary development, as well as providing an opportunity for group cooperation. (MM)

Describes how semantic webbing exercises are useful for activating background knowledge, increasing organizational skills, focusing on the topic, and notetaking. (MM)

Examines language and literacy practices in first- and fourth-grade classrooms in two schools in a small town in central Mexico. Explores how educators can expand their own understanding of reading and writing--and how to teach them--by considering the literacy practices of other countries. Uses Mexico, the country of origin of many students and…

Describes the literature-based process approach used in a fourth grade remedial reading program. (MM)

Examines how both good and poor spellers approach a spelling task. Concludes that good spellers use more spelling strategies and more visual imagery than do poor spellers. (FL)

Concludes that using a reading plan sheet and prompting cards helped fourth grade students increase their literal recall. (FL)

Reveals that fourth-grade children were able to tell the differences between expository and narrative text but still needed guidance in how to read the two types of materials best. (FL)