This case study investigates a migrant adult's identity work in playful talk occurring spontaneously in a classroom for Literacy Education and Second Language Learning for Adults (LESLLA). Based on 12 hours of video-recorded interactions among four learners and their teacher, I identified five playful episodes. This paper focuses on two episodes…

Word reading and word spelling are important processes of literacy acquisition for children. The longitudinal relationship between reading and spelling is still unclear, especially among bilinguals and biscriptals. In the present study, we compared the longitudinal word reading-spelling relationship in L1 (Chinese) and L2 (English), together with…

This theoretical article reflects on a recent development in adult literacy studies: transnational adoptees relearning their heritage languages. Literacy and adoption scholars have studied the replacement of the heritage language with a second language and reported it as a permanent loss. Returning to the country of origin, return adoptees…

Purpose: This paper aims to examine unexpected arrivals of adult-oriented digital media in the playful storied environments of Grades 1 and 2 classrooms and the possibilities such unsettling literacies may offer. Design/methodology/approach: Posthuman perspectives provide this study's theoretical grounding and methodological approach.…

Purpose: Videogames are complex, meaningful and multimodal texts. This study aims to explore how students could learn about narratives from, and be engaged by, playing a videogame and how a teacher adapted their pedagogy to incorporate the young adult videogame (YA game) "What Remains of Edith Finch" into an English Language Arts…

When Noline Martin became assistant principal at Thurgood Marshall Elementary, a pre-K-6 school in Richardson, Texas, in 2017, the school was working its way up from being declared a failing campus two years earlier. It had recently improved to a "met standard" rating, but Martin knew the school could do more to help its students. Her…

Through teaching and research, the authors have seen the magnificent ways that Black people use language to connect people, families, and communities across the Black diaspora. When students come to school using African American English, they know that many of their relatives, friends, and neighbors speak like them. They may also know that many of…

Recognizing the importance of information literacy in defining the primary focus of library instruction, this paper suggests the potential utility of a complementary principle of information creativity. Employers and educators now increasingly stress creativity's value and teachability; this paper turns to the work of John Dewey to suggest that…

Physical manipulatives (PMs) are concrete objects used during hands-on learning activities (e.g., building blocks, fraction tiles, counters), and are widely used in primary-school teaching, especially during maths instruction. This scoping review collated studies that have examined the effectiveness of educational PM interventions with pre-primary…

In this multiple case study, the researchers examined the impact of a short-term canine-assisted literacy program on reading engagement and literacy growth for seven second-grade students. Current research findings on canine-assisted literacy programs are promising. Reading to a dog is perceived as an enjoyable and motivating experience for young…

The article addresses diversity issues related to language, gender, and culture. Topics include fundamental areas of research essential to the discussion on language diversity in the context of education with respect to equity, poverty, stereotype threat, Pygmalion Effect, non-sexist language, and Matthews Effect. The discussion on diversity and…

The term "balanced literacy" was popularized in the mid-1990s to describe a middle ground in terms of text selection, instruction, skills, and strategies. The intention was to merge the promising elements of whole language and phonics. Interactions with educators and literacy leaders across the country currently suggest that a term that…

Explore how to provide equitable literacy instruction and assessment so every student masters essential standards. The authors help K-6 teacher teams navigate the teaching and learning of reading through the lens of Professional Learning Communities at Work®. Learn strategies for utilizing data as collaborative teams to answer the four critical…

In the summer of 1978, at Church Teachers' College in Mandeville, Jamaica, a class of advanced students participating in the Jamaica Movement for the Advancement of Literacy (JAMAL) wrote, cast, rehearsed, and performed a play that satirized several major institutions--the family, the church, and the business sector--as well as class and gender…

Students entering Kindergarten need to obtain readiness skills to make their first year of school a successful one. Many students may appear overwhelmed with the activities and expectations that are placed on them in a kindergarten classroom. Many families and teachers would like for kindergarten to be conducted the way it was many years ago, but…