Language Arts
Vol. 96, No. 2, November 2018
There is a large gap in understanding of the ways that LGBTQ identities and nondominant expressions of gender can be included and affirmed in elementary classrooms. This article explores how the author, a second-grade teacher, utilized a queer perspective as he led literature discussions in an after-school literacy club. The author critically analyzes five discussions of LGBT-themed texts and texts that consider gender norms in order to understand how children’s comments can reinforce, challenge, and/or disrupt gender norms and heteronormativity. The findings reveal both the promises and challenges of such work, helping teachers to understand the complexity of such conversations. The findings also reveal that the simple inclusion of LGBTQ-themed children’s literature is not enough; rather, teachers must learn to see how children’s comments—and teachers’ responses—can either inhibit or affirm gender and sexual identities that have been historically erased and suppressed in elementary classrooms.
Dr. Luis C. Moll describes his career as an education researcher who builds on the legacy of Vygotsky as he explores how the concept of funds of knowledge disrupts deficit orientations in language arts practices.
Storying Studio with the Winners of the 2017 Donald Graves Award for Writing
Subscription Only
The winners of the Donald Graves Award for Writing 2017 are a learning community of teachers who engage with their students in Storying Studio.
Research & Policy: Addressing Homelessness in Our Schools and Language Arts Classrooms
Subscription Only
In this column, the authors examine how to address child homelessness in American and Canadian language arts classrooms and suggest ideas for advocacy, literacy teaching, research and policy.
Language Arts Lessons: Every Story Matters: Disability Studies in the Literacy Classroom
Subscription Only
Drawing on Disability Studies in Education (DSE), we illustrate the affordances of literacy teachers’ engagement with dis/ability narratives and dis/ability life writing for creating inclusive classroom contexts.
Children’s Literature Reviews 2018 Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children
This column showcases the winners of the 2018 NCTE Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children.
Children’s Literature Reviews 2018 Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction
This children’s literature review column showcases the winners of the 2018 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children.
A children’s book author reflects on his recent, award-winning picturebook to detail, in a personal narrative, the importance of African American artists to use their mediums to provide inspirational, positive content for African American children.