Language Arts, Vol. 83, No. 4, March 2006

Table of Contents

Issue Theme: Multilingual Kids in the Monolingual World of School

• THOUGHTS FROM THE EDITORS

  Kathy G. Short, Jean Schroeder, Gloria Kauffman, Sandy Kaser

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  Abstract: Abstract for this article is currently not available.

  Keywords: Elementary

• Yisha's First Year of English Acquisition

  Fuchang Liu

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  Abstract: A father reflects on his daughter’s acquisition of a new language during her first year in the United States after a move with her family from China. This article reflects on how the parents and the teachers helped Yisha, a 9-year-old Chinese girl, with her English acquisition. Within the year, Yisha became fluent in English and finished all her courses with straight A’s.

  Keywords: Elementary, Language, School-Community Relation

• Community as Curriculum

  Jim Cummins, Patricia Chow, and Sandra R. Schechter

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  Abstract: The article describes a project involving teachers, parents, and university researchers in collaborations to support multilingual children’s development and use of language. Strategies for fostering an inclusive climate included building on the interests and resources of the local community, involving community members in curriculum development, and creating a work environment supportive of collegial dialogue.

  Keywords: Elementary, Diversity, Language, Writing

• 2006 USBBY-CBC Outstanding International Books

  Susan Stan

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  Abstract: Abstract for this article is currently not available.

  Keywords: Elementary

• Family Talk about Language Diversity and Culture

  Jeanne G. Fain with Robin Horn

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  Abstract: This article examines urban and bilingual children’s dialogue about children’s literature in the home context as first and second graders talked in literature circles with their families. The article focuses on the issues about language diversity and culture that children and their families discussed about children’s literature. The findings from this research demonstrate that young working class bilingual children and their families do have the resources to construct rich literacy experiences through dialogue related to complex issues of language diversity and culture. Key issues that parents and children discussed in the home included literacy, positionality within society, and resistance to structural inequality. Children used their linguistic resources from the home and ultimately used their first and second languages as a resource.

  Keywords: Elementary, Diversity, Language, Literature, School-Community Relation

• "Seeing the Possibilities": Learning from, with, and about Multilingual Classroom Communities

  Katie Van Sluys with Rise Reinier

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  Abstract: This article examines the lives of four multilingual students, their classmates, and teacher as they use a range of semiotic systems to learn from, with, and about each other and their surrounding social worlds. Research reveals how literacy practices not only built on students’ resources but also invited critique and change.

  Keywords: Elementary, Diversity, Language, Literacy

• Performing Identities through Drama and Teatro Practices in Multilingual Classrooms

  Carmen L. Medina and Gerald Campano

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  Abstract: This article provides evidence from our work as teachers, drama facilitators and researchers that drama potentially affords a generative nexus between the students’ own identities and more expansive understandings school-based literacy practices. We examined data from two separate fifth grade classroom studies on drama and literacy to show how drama may in fact open critical spaces within which students negotiate diverse perspectives and collaboratively generate knowledge. These perspectives and knowledge can then be put in the service of their own educational and social empowerment.

  Keywords: Elementary, Diversity, Language, Literacy, Pedagogy

• Reading, Living, and Writing Bilingual Poetry as SchoolARTistry in the Language Arts Classroom

  Melisa Cahnmann

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  Abstract: This article draws upon multiple genres including theoretical scholarship, personal narrative, interview data, and poetry to reflect on experiences of language variation among Latino bilingual youth. The author shares insights acquired through the process of scholARTistry, and concludes with arguments for increased reading, living, and writing of poetry as a form of professional development for teachers working with bilingual youth.

  Keywords: Elementary, Diversity, Language, Writing

• SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING ON MULTILINGUALISM

  Richard Ruiz

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  Abstract: Abstract for this article is currently not available.

  Keywords: Elementary

• READING CORNER FOR EDUCATORS: Multilingual Children in Classroom Contexts

  Linda Leonard Lamme, Zhihui Fang, Danling Fu, Jacqueline Lynch, Ivy Haoyin Hsieh, and Hakan Dedeoglu

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  Abstract: Abstract for this article is currently not available.

  Keywords: Elementary

• READING CORNER FOR CHILDREN: 2005 Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts

  Linda M. Pavonetti, Marilyn Carpenter, Monica R. Edinger, Vivian G. Johnson, Richard M. Kerper, Miriam Martinez, and T. Gail Pritchard

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  Abstract: Abstract for this article is currently not available.

  Keywords: Elementary

• PROFILE: Marie M. Clay: Demonstrating that the World Can Be Different

  Gay Su Pinnell and Irene C. Fountas

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  Abstract: Abstract for this article is currently not available.

  Keywords: Elementary

• Announcements

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  Keywords: Elementary

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