Literacy Theory As Practice

Lara J. Handsfield is professor emerita of elementary literacy and bilingual education in the School of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University.

• Contents Foreword James V. Hoffman  ix Acknowledgments  xiii 1.  Introduction  1 Conceptualizing Theory  1 Situating Praxis Within a Conceptual Continuum  5 What’s New in the Second Edition?  7 Content and Organization of This Book  10 PART I: INTRODUCTION TO THEORETICAL FRAMES OF READING AND LITERACY 2.  Correspondence Theories  17 Grounding Curricular Model: UFLI Foundations  18 Behaviorism  19 Cognitive/Information-Processing Theories  23 Stage Theories of Word Recognition and Spelling Development  37 Concluding Thoughts  39 3.  Coherence Theories, Take 1: Cognitive Constructivism  41 Foundations of Cognitive Constructivist Theories  42 Grounding Curricular Model: Transactional Strategies Instruction  43 Schema Theory  45 Psycholinguistic Theory  47 Construction–Integration Model  52 Transactional/Reader Response Theory  54 Concluding Thoughts  59 4.  Coherence Theories, Take 2: Social Constructivism  61 Vygotsky’s Impact on Teaching and Learning  61 Grounding Curricular Model: Lucy Calkins’s Units of Study for Teaching Writing  64 Sociocultural-Historical Theory  66 Sociolinguistic Theory  70 Emergent Literacy Theory  74 Concluding Thoughts  78 5.  Coherence to Incoherence: Social Constructionist Theories  80 Social Constructionism  81 Grounding Curricular Model: Youth Participatory Action Research  84 Critical Literacy Theory  86 Digital and Postdigital Literacy Theories  89 Positioning Theory  96 Critical Race Theory  99 Concluding Thoughts  106 PART II: EXPLORING PRAXIS AND BRINGING THEORIES TO LIFE 6.  Cracking the Code: Skills Instruction and Developing Concepts of Literacy  111 Skills Instruction Across the K–12 Grade Span  111 Word Sorting in a 3rd-Grade Multilingual Classroom  113 Making Valentines at Home From Pre-K to 1st Grade  120 Manipulating Sentences in a 9th-Grade English Class  124 7.  Constructing Meaning With Texts  131 Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension Instruction  131 Fluency Instruction With a 3rd-Grade Reader in a One-on-One Tutoring Context  135 Strategic Reading and Word Identification in a Literature Discussion Group  139 8.  Literature Discussion, Response, and Critique  149 Literature Discussion, Response, and Critique in K–12 Classrooms  149 Responding to Literature About Civil Rights in a 1st-Grade Classroom  151 Literature Discussion in an 11th-/12th-Grade Modern World Literature Class  155 Stepping Into Another’s Shoes in a 6th-Grade Language Arts Classroom  160 9.  Writing and Writing Development: Authoring Texts, Authoring Lives  168 Writing Instruction in K–12 Classrooms  168 Small Moments Writing in a 1st-Grade Monolingual Classroom  170 Autobiographical Writing in a 4th-Grade Bilingual Classroom  176 Critical Race Theory  187 Digital and Postdigital Theories of Literacy  187 10.  Disciplinary Literacies in the Content Areas  190 Teaching Disciplinary Literacies  191 Charting Plant Growth in a 4th-Grade Bilingual Classroom  192 Researching Japanese American Internment in a Culturally Diverse 10th-Grade History Class  197 Koaligators and Squirriélagos: Literature-Based STEM Inquiry in a 5th-Grade Classroom  204 The Active View of Reading  208 Sociolinguistic Theory  209 Postdigital Theory  210 11.  Teacher Inquiry and Praxis  212 One Teacher’s Pedagogical and Theoretical Shifts Over Time  212 Teacher Inquiry  216 Concluding Thoughts: Praxis and Useful Inquiry  220 References  223 Index  247