1st Edition
Becoming a Teacher Researcher in Literacy Teaching and Learning Strategies and Tools for the Inquiry Process
Designed to facilitate teachers’ efforts to meet the actual challenges and dilemmas they face in their classrooms, Becoming a Teacher Researcher in Literacy Teaching and Learning:
- provides background information and key concepts in teacher research
- covers the "how-to" strategies of the teacher research process from the initial proposal to writing up the report as publishable or presentable work
- illustrates a range of literacy topics and grade levels
- features twelve reports by teacher researchers who have gone through the process, and their candid remarks about how activities helped (or not)
- helps teachers understand how knowledge is constructed socially in their classrooms so that they can create instructional communities that promote all students’ learning.
Addressing the importance of teacher research for better instruction, reform, and political action, this text emphasizes strategies teachers can use to support and strengthen their voices as they dialogue with others in the educational community, so that their ideas and perspectives may have an impact on educational practice both locally in their schools and districts and more broadly.
Preface
Part 1: Defining, Planning, and Starting Your Teacher Research
Part 1 Introduction
- So, What Is Teacher Research Anyway?
- Creating Your Research Questions—The First Step in Inquiry
- Planning Your Inquiry
- Writing a Preliminary Literature Review to Inform Your Inquiry
- Strategies for Data Collection
- Analysis—What do the Data Mean?
- Writing Up Your Inquiry as an Evocative Account
- Katie Paciga’s Inquiry Paper
- Cindy Pauletti’s Inquiry Paper
- Kristen Terstriep’s Inquiry Paper
- Sandra Zanghi’s Inquiry Paper
- Tara Braverman’s Inquiry Paper
- Libby Tuerk’s Inquiry Paper
- Meg Goethals’s Inquiry Paper
- Dawn Siska’s Inquiry Paper
- Courtney Wellner’s Inquiry Paper
- Shannon Dozoryst’s Inquiry Paper
- Nicole Perez’s Inquiry Paper
- Catherine Plocher’s inquiry Paper
Part 2: Enacting, Analyzing, and Writing Up Your Inquiry
Part 2 Introduction
Part 3: Teacher Researcher Reports
Part 3 Introduction
Reading, Writing, and Sharing: The Journey to Become Kindergarten Authors
Word Detectives: Students Using Clues to Identify Unknown Words in Text
Toss Out Your Dictionaries: A Look at More Effective Vocabulary Instruction
Letting Their Voices Be Heard: Improving Literature Response Participation during Read-Alouds through Small-Group Discussions
What’s This Word? Helping Sixth Grade Students Use Reading and Vocabulary Strategies Independently
Let's Read: Motivating Junior High Students to Become Life-Long Readers
"Books that Have Ghetto Feelings": How Reading Workshop Increases Inner-City Eighth-Graders’ Motivation, Engagement, and Comprehension
Challenging the "I Quit!" Going ‘Round and ‘Round with Literature Circles in a Secondary Reading Classroom
"But This IS My Final Draft!" Making Peer Writing Conferences More Effective for Struggling 9th Grade Students
Using Writing Workshop to Guide Revision
Coaching as a Collaborative Process
Coaching for Change in a K–8 Urban Elementary School: Building Cultures of Collaboration and Reflective Practices
Epilogue: Further Reflections and Possibilities
Appendices
Appendix A: General Peer Conferencing Form
Appendix B: Common APA (American Psychological Association) Citing Conventions
Appendix C: Reminders for Grammatical and Other Language Usage
Index
Biography
Christine C. Pappas is Professor Emerita, Curriculum and Instruction, University of Illinois at Chicago.
Eli Tucker-Raymond is Research Scientist with the Chèche Konnen Center at TERC.