Primary Voices, Vol. 9, No. 2, October 2000

Table of Contents

Issue Theme: Making Curriculum Critical

• Message from the Editors

  Katie Wood Ray and Lester L. Laminack

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  Abstract: Introduces the themed issue, "Making Curriculum Critical," and provides real examples that illustrate the importance of teaching critical thinking in the literacy classroom.

  Keywords: Elementary

• Critical Literacy: Enlarging the Space of the Possible

  Christine H. Leland and Jerome C. Harste

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  Abstract: Considers several ways to think about the teacher's role in the teaching of reading. Notes that a curriculum built on critical literacy is one that highlights diversity and difference while calling attention to how people are constructed as literate beings. Argues that students should position themselves as social activists who challenge the status quo and ask for change.

  Keywords: Elementary, Literacy, Reading

• Our Way: Using the Everyday to Create a Critical Literacy Curriculum

  Vivian Vasquez

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  Abstract: Shares the author's frustrations and some of the complexities involved with constructing a critical literacy curriculum. Explores what might have happened if she had taken up the issues that mattered in her students' lives as text to form the basis for a critical literacy curriculum.

  Keywords: Elementary, Literacy

• Making Real-World Issues Our Business: Critical Literacy in a Third-Grade Classroom

  Lee Heffernan and Mitzi Lewison

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  Abstract: Reflects on the events that occurred during a six-month period in a suburban classroom. Documents the transformation that took place in learning and teaching as students took part in a critical literacy curriculum. Examines the significant curricular changes that occur when the "real world" is allowed to enter classroom discussions and events.

  Keywords: Elementary, Literacy

• Introducing Urban Children to Environmental Activism

  Denice Haines and Beth Berghoff

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  Abstract: *Environmental Action; *Environmental Attitudes Discusses how students in the author's classroom are challenged to think critically in a curriculum that focuses specifically on the health of the environment. Discovers that her own convictions about the importance of stewardship for the environment stood in stark contrast to the competitive, consumer-oriented values of the preadolescents in her urban classroom.

  Keywords: Elementary

• Envisioning the Possible: Building a Critical Literacy Curriculum

  Amy Seely Flint

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  Abstract: Notes that connecting the teachers' stories and experiences presented in this themed issue are such themes as using real life issues as the curriculum, risk taking, student ownership, and community building. Discusses how these teachers believe in the importance of making curriculum relevant and meaningful to the lives of the children by addressing significant social issues.

  Keywords: Elementary, Literacy

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