This study developed an analytic framework consisting of four patterns of talk and writing that can support students' engagement in construction and critique: "Talk only," "writing only," "use of talk and writing in sequence," and "use of talk and writing simultaneously." This study aimed to examine how each…

Print in the environment is typically posted in early childhood classrooms. However, the print that exists is often not meaningful to children, and teachers rarely engage children in using the print. This is a missed opportunity to support children's writing. This article presents research-based ideas for how to create and engage children with…

Every teacher knows the challenge of trying to engage reluctant readers and struggling writers--students whose typical response to a writing prompt is a few sentence fragments scribbled on a sheet of paper followed by an elaborate shrug of the shoulders. The best way to engage less confident readers and writers is to give them something powerful…

This article presents strategies for using two types of essay-writing rubrics in a developmental English class of students transitioning into college-level writing. One checklist rubric is student-facing, designed to serve as a guide for students throughout the writing process and as a self-assessment tool. The other checklist rubric is…

Poetry is one of the most feared and least understood literary genres in our public schools. Boys, in particular, are frequently perceived to be resistant to poetry instruction; a view that often stems from a limited vision of what poetry is and a misread of masculinity. Nevertheless, the study of poetry provides many benefits in the journey to…

This study examined gains undergraduate students made in their communication and collaboration skills when they served as peer teachers, i.e., laboratory instructors (LIs), for a General Psychology laboratory. Self-ratings of communication and collaboration skills were completed before and after teaching the laboratory. When compared to before the…

We investigated changes across grades in the cognitive demands associated with the organizing subprocess of writing. A total of 85 fifth (age M = 10.8), 88 seventh (age M = 12.9), and 79 ninth (age M = 14.6) graders composed either a procedural text or an expository description on a digital tablet, on the basis of a "scrambled ideas"…

Students typically create concept maps while they view the material they are trying to learn. In these circumstances, concept mapping serves as an elaborative study activity--students are not required to retrieve the material they are learning. In 2 experiments, we examined the effectiveness of concept mapping when it is used as a retrieval…

The emphasis on improving writing instruction, especially the writing of non-narrative texts, may lead some teachers to seek effective ways to teach students. The IMSCI model, a scaffolded model for writing instruction, is useful for planning effective instruction. This article describes a research project conducted in a 4th grade classroom…

This article will explore the intersection between "literature" and "science" in one key area, the botanical poem with scientific notes. It reveals significant aspects of the way knowledge was gendered in the Enlightenment, which is relevant to the present-day education of girls in science. It aims to illustrate how members of…

Researchers have largely ignored students' creative works as a source of insight into their everyday experiences. This study is a hermeneutic analysis of 23 works written by talented writers on the topic of academics. The findings include depictions of students as detached from their teachers and their curriculum. In these stories and poems,…

This paper will give a step-by-step demonstration on how to create MP4 files to video-grade undergraduate writing assignments. The process of using prepared rubrics to guide video and audio feedback will be presented and examples shown. This assessment method provides students with personalized video-feedback as a re-usable learning object. The…

"The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research" presents a comprehensive overview of the field of qualitative research. It is intended for students of all levels, faculty, and researchers across the social sciences. The contributors represent some of the most influential and innovative researchers in the field as well as emerging scholars.…

This essay argues that multiculturalism-inflected composition classrooms often "flatten" or efface radical alterities with which students--and teachers--should be encouraged to grapple. The authors demonstrate some of the limitations of such pedagogies, offer examples of provocative texts that celebrate difference--not identity--as a…

This article presents a pilot interdisciplinary project for middle-school students including visual literacy, studio art, English-language literacy, geology and the study of indigenous groups. The location of the pilot was in the upper Midwest, along the Mississippi river bluffs of St. Paul, Minnesota. English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) students…