NCTE's Framework for 21st Century Literacies (2008) prompted collaboration between a university professor and classroom teacher resulting in a professional inquiry project utilizing a Web 2.0 tool, Scrapblog, with fourth-grade students. This article describes implementation of this project, including both challenges and positive outcomes. The…

In this article, the authors propose a revised way of thinking about reading levels, one that promotes a wider and more flexible view of teacher decision making about the use of leveled texts in classrooms. They share five key principles to consider when looking at the use of instruction that involves matching leveled materials with readers.…

Describes an informal classroom research project that explored how children perceive the changes they make in their writing and what they think about when they write. (HTH)

Interviews Jan Turbull about her work with writing teachers in the St. George Writing Project in Australia. (HTH)

Argues that James Moffett's influential model of a young writer's development is flawed, because it depicts beginning writers as being far more limited than they are. (HTH)

Explores the patterns in children's talk about their writing, by means of transcribed conversations during daily writing/sharing sessions in a first grade classroom. Discusses the importance of this kind of talk. (HTH)

Notes that lesson plans in English classes are unlike those in many disciplines, because the human factors involved often cause unpredictable elements. Points out that fantasy and spiritual inspiration often come into play when teachers put together language arts lesson plans. (SKC)

Highlights children as a source of information about curriculum development. Observes how and why some first grade children write, and how this may affect teachers' instructional assumptions. (HTH)

Reviews recent research suggesting that teachers may unintentionally perpetuate social class stratification during reading instruction. Explores possible solutions to the unequal treatment of social classes during reading instruction. (HTH)

Discusses the use of collaborative writing for children who are resistant to schooling--who are delayed developmentally for social, psychological, or biological reasons. Provides examples of collective writing centered around a novel created by a junior high school remedial class. (SKC)

Discusses materials in the ERIC system that deal with the concept of scaffolding, building on children's natural language, and ways teachers have translated the concept into instructional strategies. (HTH)