This dissertation comprises a set of three connected articles framed by a narrative inquiry methodology, which explores the literacy practices of a teacher and her students in an English Language Arts middle school classroom at a midwestern urban public school. Part one investigates teacher practices and discourses that led to creating an inclusive classroom community in order to prepare the students for a peer-led fishbowl discussion. The teacher built an inclusive teaching and learning community through the use of classroom design, norms, strategic language, and transparent teaching. Part two explores how a teacher uses a Scaffolded Reading Experience approach to teaching short stories with students who were struggling to finish a full-length novel. In this case, short stories were a solution for struggling readers, and a teacher who wanted her students to have time to participate in peer-led discussions in spite of shortened schedules due to standardized test preparation and other challenges. Part three uses in-depth interviews to focus on three African American adolescent girls' personal literacy choices, and the roles that meaningful reading and writing play in their lives. The study found that the girls used literacy for creative release, as way to cope with different stresses, and as a means to gain membership to certain communities. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]