Guided Reading Framework Needs for ELL Students at the Emergent, Early and Transitional Levels

The purpose of this project was to analyze guided reading frameworks used by teachers in grades kindergarten through fourth grade, and to determine if they meet the needs for ELLs. First, key components important to the success of ELLs during guided reading instruction were identified. Then, guided reading frameworks currently in place for students reading at the emergent, early, and transitional reading levels. were analyzed. Last, the framework components were compared with the key components for ELLs in guided reading instruction. If the frameworks did not meet the needs of ELLs then new frameworks would need to be developed. The guided reading frameworks at the emergent, early, and transitional reading levels contained all of the key components necessary for ELLs. It was recommended not to change the current frameworks. Instead, recommendations were made on best practices within the components to help foster ELL success during guided reading

From Recommendation to Curation: When the System Becomes Your Personal Docent

Curation is the act of selecting, organizing, and presenting content. Some applications emulate this process by turning users into curators, while others use recommenders to select items, seldom achieving the focus or selectivity of human curators. We bridge this gap with a recommendation strategy that more closely mimics the objectives of human curators. We consider multiple data sources to enhance the recommendation process, as well as the quality and diversity of the provided suggestions. Further, we pair each suggestion with an explanation that showcases why a book was recommended with the aim of easing the decision making process for the user. Empirical studies using Social Book Search data demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology

Second language development and guided reading

Elementary teachers are being challenged to teach literacy to second language learners. In order to best serve ELL\u27s, teachers must understand how these students acquire English and how to meet their varying literacy needs in the classroom. This project describes best practices in teaching guided reading to ELL\u27s. The study will describe the implementation of the ELL guided reading program and how instruction was informed by knowledge of language learning

La lectura social en España: una perspectiva sociopragmática

En este trabajo se analizan las posibles diferencias entre la práctica de la lectura social en España y otras formas de interacción en los medios sociales. Las investigaciones anteriores sobre los medios sociales se han enfocado sobre todo en la pragmática y los rasgos discursivos de la interacción, por lo que el estudio de la lectura social como una nueva practica comunicativa es un área de investigación emergente. Con base en la taxonomía propuesta por Stein (2010) y en las teorías de la valoración y la (des)cortesía, se realiza un análisis cualitativo de un corpus pequeño de textos en español recopilados de sitios virtuales de lectura social. Los textos pertenecen a diferentes géneros comunicativos digitales. Solo se analiza la segunda categoría de la taxonomía de Stein (la conversación asincrónica e informal en línea). Los resultados sugieren que esta categoría de lectura social no parece ser muy diferente de otras formas de interacción en los medios sociales. Lo que estas comunidades virtuales de práctica de lectura social com- parten no son tanto sus ideas y pensamien- tos respecto a los libros y la lectura, como sus sentimientos y reacciones emocionales en torno a esas ideas

Identifying eBook Pedagogies for Literacy Instruction: A Qualitative Content Analysis

Students in K-6 support becoming digital learners but many lack the digital skills needed to engage with ICTs such as eBooks. Some educators lack the technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) to adjust instruction and meet students’ needs. This study examined the extant body of research on the use of eBooks with K-6 literacy instruction to address the perceived lack of effective evidence based practices needed to build self-efficacy. The goal: identify effective TPK regarding when, how, and why to integrate eBooks with K-6 literacy instruction. The research questions: According to the extant literature, what types of K-6 literacy practices and engagements with eBooks are identified? What does the body of research recommend as the technological instructional pedagogies and knowledge needed by educators to meet the diverse needs of K-6 students as they engage with eBooks to develop digital literacy skills and competencies? The conceptual frameworks were the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework and the Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) model. TPACK provided the rationale to develop a body of pedagogical knowledge. The TIM model provided the tools to identify when and how eBooks were integrated, the TPK educators need to build self-efficacy towards and value of eBook integration. Qualitative content analysis provided the rigor and structure to narrow the field of research, select relevant text for analysis, and identify why eBook integration is of value. The analysis reported eBooks have been integrated with the components of a balanced approach to literacy instruction and across a range of learning environments and levels of technology integration as defined by the TIM model. Three connected themes emerged: eBooks have a positive effect in building and sustaining reading motivation and engagement. This leads to literacy growth and development. The catalysts for much of these changes was the integrative tools and features embedded within the eBooks

Fictional Narratives about Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Focus Group Analysis and Insight

Given the CDC’s report of a 30% increase in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses over the past two years, it is important to increase awareness and educate teachers and students in both general and special education classrooms. One way to bridge the gap between students with and without ASD is to use authentic narrative fiction as a teaching tool. The goal of this study was to identify aspects of stories with characters with ASD that contribute to authentic and accurate depictions. Insights were elicited from focus groups that included insiders, individuals or family members with ASD, and educators who work with students with ASD. The participants read, reviewed, and discussed fictional narratives that highlighted a character with ASD. Various themes emerged from the focus groups regarding views on authentic and accurate ASD depictions. Discussion and suggestions are presented for future use of narrative fiction in raising awareness in educational settings

When the System Becomes Your Personal Docent: Curated Book Recommendations

Curation is the act of selecting, organizing, and presenting content most often guided by professional or expert knowledge. While many popular applications have attempted to emulate this process by turning users into curators, we put an accent on a recommendation system which can leverage multiple data sources to accomplish the curation task. We introduce QBook, a recommender that acts as a personal docent by identifying and suggesting books tailored to the various preferences of each individual user. The goal of the designed system is to address several limitations often associated with recommenders in order to provide diverse and personalized book recommendations that can foster trust, effectiveness of the system, and improve the decision making process. QBook considers multiple perspectives, from analyzing user reviews, user historical data, and items\u27 metadata, to considering experts\u27 reviews and constantly evolving users\u27 preferences, to enhance the recommendation process, as well as quality and usability of the suggestions. QBook pairs each generated suggestion with an explanation that (i) showcases why a particular book was recommended and (ii) helps users decide which items, among the ones recommended, will best suit their individual interests. Empirical studies conducted using the Amazon/LibraryThing benchmark corpus demonstrate the correctness of the proposed methodology and QBook\u27s ability to outperform baseline and state-of-the-art methodologies for book recommendations

The Influence of Parent Attitudes and Involvement on Children’s Literacy Achievement

The purpose of this qualitative teacher action research project is to investigate the relationship between the educational attitudes that parents contain and the impact these attitudes have on their children’s literacy achievement. Several researchers have simply examined parent involvement; this research project is designed to explore both parent involvement and parent educational attitudes. When parents have had negative experiences within education, does that correlate with their child\u27s attitudes towards schooling? Do these attitudes have a connection with the expectations parents have for their children’s literacy success? Do parents\u27 prior experiences and attitudes in education affect the level of involvement in their child’s education? It is important that to find answers to these questions so teachers, educators and parents can improve student literacy achievement. If there is a correlation between parent\u27s attitudes and student literacy achievement, programs can be implemented that intervene and establish a stronger more positive family-school relationship

Elevating Student Comprehension through Repeated Read-Alouds

There has been a vast amount of research dedicated to the positive benefits of reading aloud to students. However, lacking in the current research is the effect of repeated read-alouds on student comprehension. This action research attempts to answer the question “How does the level of reading comprehension change with repeated read-alouds?” This research focused on three 3 rd grade students in a suburban school. Methodology included reading picture books multiple times and analyzing student’s oral and written responses. Data analysis indicates that as a student’s familiarity with the story increased, so does their level of understanding. This implies that an effective method for increasing student’s comprehension is to expose students to repeated readings