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On a walk to school, a first grader mentions that her classmate 'has a shield.' Her grandmother asks, 'Oh, does she have a costume, like a superhero?' 'No,' the first [...]

This Critical Comparative Content Analysis employs theories of poststructuralist feminism to examine two versions of a nonfiction fitness text for young adult readers, one written for females and one for males. The analysis reveals the persistent naming of gendered assumptions about the appropriateness of particular sports to particular athletes, purposes of fitness, understandings of the ideal athlete, and emotional capacity of young adult readers. These assumptions result in regular and repeated performances of gender that have the potential to suggest to readers that there are certain expectations around fitness that depend upon whether an athlete is a girl or a boy. Taken together, they reflect a particular positioning of athletes and expectations around performance, suggesting to readers that how bodies are shaped and how bodies perform are normative and distinctly gendered, a finding that holds particular resonance when we consider the authoritative nature of informational texts.

In late September 2020, Erica was on Zoom when her colleague, Cecilia, paused. 'Can you give me just a moment?' said Cecilia. 'I'll be right back.' When she returned, she [...]

The way the words say what I mean, how they twist and turn language, how they connect with people. How they build community. --Elizabeth Acevedo, The Poet X In this [...]

This column examines the complexities of language related to trauma-informed teaching and points to why literacy educators, who spend so much time thinking about words and stories, are crucial leaders in critical considerations of trauma when responsive, humanizing classrooms are the goal., This picture has a dollop of peanut butter on one edge, a smear of grape jelly on the other, and an X across the whole thing. I cut it out [...]

This column reflects on finding movement in read alouds about sports and the ways literacy educators might apply an on-the-move perspective using texts., As we wrote this column, the Tokyo Summer Olympics were in full swing and projected on screens across the globe. In the weeks and months that followed, the summer para-Olympics, [...]

The article discusses a collaborative inquiry involving third to fifth-grade girls participating in the Girls on the Run program. Topics include focusing on their responses to body representations in literature during sessions that included a virtual visit with the author of Love Your Body, Jess Sanders; and opportunity for students to challenge prevailing narratives around body image through engaging conversations.

The theme of this issue, fostering joy and recognizing brilliance in literacy classrooms, is at the heart of what it means to be a responsive teacher. As one path toward [...]

We've been sitting at our keyboards, writing in wonder and bewilderment and fear. We feel the weight of the moment we're living and teaching through. We write as a new [...]