Elementary Classroom Web Sites: Support for Literacy within and beyond the Classroom

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand how elementary classroom Web sites support children's literacy. From a sociocultural perspective of literacy and a transformative stance toward the integration of literacy and technology, and building on explorations of new literacies, I discuss opportunities provided by the Internet that can support literacy within and beyond classrooms. Using open and axial coding as well as typological analyses, I found 3 basic Web site features and consider how they support common instructional approaches, parental involvement, and notions of the invisible classroom. I conclude with a discussion of how these findings are encouraging and revealing. I offer a variety of suggestions to expand features that are currently available on elementary classroom Web sites.

The 5L Instructional Design For Exploring Legacies Through Biography

“…In the “Locate” part of the 5L instructional design, the teacher introduces students to several graphic organizers such as timelines, T‐charts, wagon wheels, and Venn diagrams. Then the teacher involves students in locating and recording important events in the person's life alongside related world events or cultural opportunities of the period (Baker, ; Provenzo, ). The teacher explains that examining the progression of events within individuals' lives reveals how people grow through their experiences as they accumulate knowledge and construct new understandings (Alvermann, ).…”