This paper addresses the question of how classroom-based peer assessment practices can be improved in relation to student interpretations of subjective assessment criteria. To achieve this, this research study considers the possible pedagogic benefits and implications of using a comparative judgement (CJ) approach to the peer assessment of GCSE…

The concept of place is more than where people reside. Places are important in shaping the identity and experiences of people. Exploring the idea of relationships with place creates a context that ignites transformative thoughts and actions. "Place' is formed out of the particular set of social relations which interact at a particular…

This article presents a preliminary study of an urban school district, and its use of a scripted middle-school language arts and literacy curriculum. The majority of students served by this district are African American. By interviewing a small sample of four teachers and one literacy coach, gathering preliminary data, and observing students…

Purpose: This study took place in an elementary English language arts classroom during a comics writers workshop unit and focused on one fourth-grade author. This paper aims to explain how a fourth-grade student receiving special education services positions himself and is positioned by others as an expert during a unit on comics. When students'…

In 2009, The Common Core Standards shifted the English language arts focus from narrative to expository text, arguing that most texts read in college and workforce training programs are informational. By the time students are in twelfth grade, they are expected to read informational text 70% of the time. This can be challenging for English…

This paper defines the notion of "dialogic local space" and highlights its importance to teaching and learning. A dialogic local space values multiple local realities as it invites us to listen to, take up, and have confidence in our own local everyday and personal realities, and to listen to, consider, and respond to other local…

In this article, the authors share what they learned from their study of writing communities, which they refer to as writing groups, during the 2017-18 school year. The authors propose a conceptual framework for writing groups that engages students in the process of designing and participating as writers with their peers. The framework emphasizes…

Based on research conducted in a fourth-grade classroom, the author describes one teacher's process for integrating social studies and English language arts using a writers' workshop approach. Furthermore, the fourth-grade teacher was able to provide students with an opportunity to engage in multimodal composition. After conducting research…

Creative writing encourages imaginations to take flight, and when adults use the right approach, building literacy skills becomes a form of play that gets kids excited to create their own stories. Packed with ready-to-use lesson plans designed for kindergarten- and early elementary-aged children, this book will help librarians add creative writing…

A techno-rational perspective of teaching and learning is common as teachers are increasingly inundated with messages of measurement, standardization, and accountability. Within this perspective, teacher development is seen as mastery of skills, teachers' learning is conceptualized as linear with a predetermined and predictable trajectory, and the…

School administrators have the challenge of providing high-quality education in all subject areas. Along with this task, administrators must wade through countless programs, curriculums, while ensuring that student needs are met along with required state and local test scores. While the focus on reform has been in math and science, writing…

This article proposes ways to authentically amplify writer's workshop for emergent bilinguals. Through the study of one bilingual teacher's mediation in teaching, we examined the affordances that translanguaging and transmodal practices have for emergent bilingual students' writing processes. In this case study, we focused on a writing sequence…

In this article, we examine how young writers and their teachers transformed the language arts curriculum by asserting their power within a familiar framework--the writer's workshop. We present three narratives in which multiple pre-kindergarten agents (students, teachers, and administrators) used their power within the Writer's Workshop to a)…

Writing circles are "small groups... meeting regularly to share drafts, choose common writing topics, practice positive response, and in general, help each other become better writers" (Vopat, 2009, p. 6). In this exploratory study, writing circles were employed with elementary teacher candidates in hopes of enhancing their perceptions…

This article draws on the experiences of two young adults, Sean and Jerome, who participated in a writing workshop at a juvenile detention center. The young adults composed screenplays to explore how writing could call on their unique perspectives and life experiences to amplify their beliefs. While some educators emphasize a skills-based…