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.

• ContentsForeword James V. Hoffman  ixAcknowledgments  xiii1.  Introduction  1Conceptualizing Theory  1Situating Praxis Within a Conceptual Continuum  5What’s New in the Second Edition?  7Content and Organization of This Book  10PART I: INTRODUCTION TO THEORETICAL FRAMES OF READING AND LITERACY2.  Correspondence Theories  17Grounding Curricular Model: UFLI Foundations  18Behaviorism  19Cognitive/Information-Processing Theories  23Stage Theories of Word Recognition and Spelling Development  37Concluding Thoughts  393.  Coherence Theories, Take 1: Cognitive Constructivism  41Foundations of Cognitive Constructivist Theories  42Grounding Curricular Model: Transactional Strategies Instruction  43Schema Theory  45Psycholinguistic Theory  47Construction–Integration Model  52Transactional/Reader Response Theory  54Concluding Thoughts  594.  Coherence Theories, Take 2: Social Constructivism  61 Vygotsky’s Impact on Teaching and Learning  61Grounding Curricular Model: Lucy Calkins’s Units of Study for Teaching Writing  64Sociocultural-Historical Theory  66Sociolinguistic Theory  70Emergent Literacy Theory  74Concluding Thoughts  785.  Coherence to Incoherence: Social Constructionist Theories  80Social Constructionism  81Grounding Curricular Model: Youth Participatory Action Research  84Critical Literacy Theory  86Digital and Postdigital Literacy Theories  89Positioning Theory  96Critical Race Theory  99Concluding Thoughts  106PART II: EXPLORING PRAXIS AND BRINGING THEORIES TO LIFE6.  Cracking the Code: Skills Instruction and Developing Concepts of Literacy  111Skills Instruction Across the K–12 Grade Span  111Word Sorting in a 3rd-Grade Multilingual Classroom  113Making Valentines at Home From Pre-K to 1st Grade  120Manipulating Sentences in a 9th-Grade English Class  1247.  Constructing Meaning With Texts  131Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension Instruction  131Fluency Instruction With a 3rd-Grade Reader in a One-on-One Tutoring Context  135Strategic Reading and Word Identification in a Literature Discussion Group  1398.  Literature Discussion, Response, and Critique  149Literature Discussion, Response, and Critique in K–12 Classrooms  149Responding to Literature About Civil Rights in a 1st-Grade Classroom  151Literature Discussion in an 11th-/12th-Grade Modern World Literature Class  155Stepping Into Another’s Shoes in a 6th-Grade Language Arts Classroom  1609.  Writing and Writing Development: Authoring Texts, Authoring Lives  168Writing Instruction in K–12 Classrooms  168Small Moments Writing in a 1st-Grade Monolingual Classroom  170Autobiographical Writing in a 4th-Grade Bilingual Classroom  176Critical Race Theory  187Digital and Postdigital Theories of Literacy  18710.  Disciplinary Literacies in the Content Areas  190Teaching Disciplinary Literacies  191Charting Plant Growth in a 4th-Grade Bilingual Classroom  192Researching Japanese American Internment in a Culturally Diverse 10th-Grade History Class  197Koaligators and Squirriélagos: Literature-Based STEM Inquiry in a 5th-Grade Classroom  204The Active View of Reading  208Sociolinguistic Theory  209Postdigital Theory  21011.  Teacher Inquiry and Praxis  212One Teacher’s Pedagogical and Theoretical Shifts Over Time  212Teacher Inquiry  216Concluding Thoughts: Praxis and Useful Inquiry  220References  223Index  247