This teacher research study took place in a bilingual second-grade classroom in the southwestern United States. The study investigates the "cuentos" told during "platicas literarias"/literature discussions and explores how five young Latinas used their cuentos to communicate meaning through intertextual connections. These…

Divakaruni reflects on her path to becoming an author for children, including her formative encounters with stories told by her grandfather in her native India, and experiences as a mother and as an Indian woman in the post-9/11 context of the United States.

The parameters set by official stories tend to be more oriented towards a social or political agenda and the children and their families can oppose these parameters in order to implement the alternative discourses based on their own experiences. Currently, it is seen that with regards to the official stories and the alternative discourses, change…

Presents a case study of one child's narratives and of the teacher's efforts to change sharing time in a first grade classroom. Demonstrates the social nature of the classroom language community and provides an understanding of how children and teachers can work together to understand and support each other's stories. (PRA)

Explores aboriginal discourse styles in a public context, their presentation of knowledge and experience through stories, and the mismatch between discourse styles of aboriginal people and what is expected in classrooms. (MM)

Shares the story of how dance and writing brought together a group of elderly and high-school-age women, through a 12-week program that used dance and writing to draw from personal stories and to inspire personal expression. (SR)