Papers by Christine Leighton
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Literacy Research and Instruction
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Journal of Education
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The Reading Teacher
This article documents a collaboration between a second‐grade teacher and a university‐based lite... more This article documents a collaboration between a second‐grade teacher and a university‐based literacy coach to implement dialogic instruction as part of a 14‐week cross‐disciplinary curriculum unit. The coach–teacher dyad used digital technologies to enhance a problem‐solving approach to coaching. The authors describe the coaching interactions, the digital tools used (e.g., e‐mail, FaceTime, text messaging, video and audio recordings), the problems that the coach–teacher dyad collaboratively addressed over three phases of the unit, and the student learning that occurred in response. Throughout, the authors highlight how the coach and teacher made flexible use of digital technology to carve out additional time and space for problem solving as they worked to support the language and literacy skills of a group of multilingual second‐grade students.
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This mixed-methods study explored joining use of increasing-complex text with sound instructional... more This mixed-methods study explored joining use of increasing-complex text with sound instructional practices on English Learners' (ELs) academic language and conceptual knowledge. Findings showed one-week postintervention, ELs achieved significant academic vocabulary gains such that there were no differences between ELs and general education (GE) students. Moreover, six weeks postintervention, ELs' academic language and conceptual knowledge closely approximated that of their GE peers. Findings suggest that carefully scaffolded use of increasingly-complex text holds promise in advancing ELs' conceptual knowledge and academic language. Given the widespread use of simplified text as ELs' primary reading curriculum—a practice that unintentionally delimits language and knowledge learning opportunities, and in turn, contributes to persistent achievement gaps—efforts aimed at identifying practices that build academic language and conceptual knowledge and in turn, enable access to complex text are of particular importance. If replicated in larger studies, teachers will have a clear alternative to such practices.
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In a Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) classroom, Ms. Olsen (pseudonym) teaches a group of first ... more In a Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) classroom, Ms. Olsen (pseudonym) teaches a group of first grade English learners (ELs) who vary widely in their first and second language and literacy proficiencies. Like many teachers of ELs, she finds herself challenged to develop students' everyday language while also facilitating access to informational text types (e.g. expository, persuasive) replete with academic language and abstract concepts as mandated by the Common Core State Standards (CCSS, 2010). She understands that to offer her ELs anything less, however, delimits their opportunities to develop critical foundational conceptual knowledge and academic language, and in turn places her students at risk for poor literacy achievement across the long-term. Evidence tells us that proficiency with academic language is a key factor in academic success (Nagy & Townsend, 2012; Snow & Uccelli, 2009). Meeting this challenge is far from a simple charge; it requires outside of the box thinking as Ms. Olsen and other teachers create learning contexts that effectively support students of differing learning profiles in meeting the academic demands of CCSS. The teacher's role does not stop there; evidence also tells us that motivation and engagement matter, particularly when the goal is to maximize student learning (Guthrie & Wigfield, 2000). To create a context that meets this charge, we turned to the literature and identified three key guiding principles for facilitating young ELs' access to complex text and concepts: 1) establish contexts that support cognitively-complex activity; 2) cultivate engagement in reading and learning; 3) build language and knowledge simultaneously. We used these three principles to guide a five-week read-aloud intervention in first grade classrooms focused on how scientists collect and study fossils to learn about dinosaurs. In a larger study we explored conceptual knowledge and academic language outcomes for students in an SEI classroom. These outcomes were compared with those of their general education (GE) peers wherein both groups received the same intervention with topically-related expository texts. However, complexity of the texts differed; SEI children's texts increased in complexity each week, while the GE children's texts were of comparable (grade level) complexity each week. Findings suggested that although gains differed by learning profiles, overall SEI students' conceptual knowledge and academic language increased to levels approximating that of their GE peers (Authors, 2015). In this article, our purpose is to describe and illustrate how this intervention can support ELs of differing learning profiles' access to complex concepts and academic language when situated within the context of expository text read-alouds. To do so, we first unpack the three guiding principles. Then, we describe the intervention with an example of how instruction " looked " and describe outcomes for two students of varying language and literacy abilities. Finally, we share ways teachers can implement these practices into their classrooms with the goal of empowering our students to take on new roles as learners who communicate and think like scientists. Evidence-Based Principles to Facilitate ELs' Access to Complex Concepts and Text 1. Establish Contexts That Support Cognitively-Complex Activity Reading and learning from expository text brings with it a set of cognitive demands that differs from most young children's early experiences as expository text comprises abstract concepts (Graesser, McNamara, & Louwerse, 2003) and language (Schleppegrell, 2004) far removed from everyday experiences. Take, for example, the following excerpt from Digging Up Dinosaurs that was used in our intervention: " Until about 200 years ago, no one knew anything about dinosaurs. Then people began finding things in rock. They found large footprints. They
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Journal of Literacy Research
Many English language learners (ELLs) and children living in poverty begin school with substantia... more Many English language learners (ELLs) and children living in poverty begin school with substantially less English vocabulary knowledge than their monolingual, economically advantaged peers. Without effective intervention, these vocabulary gaps are likely to contribute to long-term reading failure. This quasi-experimental study examined the extent to which a family literacy program (FLP) moderated vocabulary development of 158 ELLs (prekindergarten through third grade) from low-income families in relation to children’s level of vocabulary knowledge (at, moderately below, or substantially below national norms) on program entry. The FLP activities focused on supporting parents’ development of English literacy and on teaching them effective ways to engage their children in authentic, home-based literacy events and practices that could be expected to prepare their children for success in school. Findings indicated that although all children demonstrated substantial language and literacy ...
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Papers by Christine Leighton