The Center for Literacy Education is proud to share information about recent publications and presentations by affiliated Wake Forest faculty, staff, and students.
| Dr. Alan Brown and Dr. Brook Davis presented at the 2024 North Carolina Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (NCACTE) Fall Forum in Raleigh, North Carolina. The title of their presentation was “Lesson Planning Personified: Incorporating Movement and Performance to Teach Instructional Design,” which showcased their collaboration with 16 Wake Forest theatre and education students as well as seven classes of second grade students and teachers at a local elementary school. This partnership demonstrated the ways in which literacy and performance can connect to help pre-service teachers become content creators, translators, designers, and performers, in this case through lessons on weather patterns, the properties of liquids and solids, and other science topics. |
This hands-on workshop provided tips and activities for making Shakespeare more user friendly for high school teachers and their students. Participants shared questions, texts and strategies for tackling Shakespeare in the classroom.
The goal of the workshop was to strengthen confidence and provide resources for teachers (particularly novice teachers) who may or may not have training or confidence in teaching Shakespeare. Teachers were invited to tackle text and work together to develop strategies for Shakespeare lesson planning. The workshop addressed historical context, scansion, text choice, and accessibility. At the end of the time together, old and new teachers shared resources and ideas.
| Dr. Brook Davis is a professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance at WFU. One of her current research interests is theatre pedagogy and methods for teaching theatre history and dramatic literature. |
Dr. Michele Myers, Assistant Professor in Elementary Literacy Education in the Department of Education, recently authored a blog post for Education Week on a special issue that explores how educators can support student identities. Dr. Myers’s column is titled “Write What Matters Most.
Books by Dr. Myers include: The Educator’s Guide to Building Child & Family Resilience and Revolutionary Love: Creating a Culturally Inclusive Literary Classroom
Dr. Michele Myers authored a Scholastic blog post about sidestepping some of the challenges that parents and children might face with learning by creating a more homework-friendly environment. Whatever subject they’re working on, Myers suggests making sure your child is relaxed and has had the opportunity to unwind after a full school day before jumping into taking care of their schoolwork. Whether they take the time to play, read independently, or sit together with you for a read-aloud, giving your child the time they need before they practice their skills will benefit them in the long run.
Books by Dr. Myers include: The Educator’s Guide to Building Child & Family Resilience and Revolutionary Love: Creating a Culturally Inclusive Literary Classroom
Dr. Leni Caldwell and Brandi Brown presented Curiouser Interventions: Blending of Literacy Best Practices to Support Student Learning Needs at the North Carolina Reading Conference in March 2024.
During a clinical placement at a public school, undergraduate students tutor small groups of MTSS-identified students in third through fifth grades using a blend of literacy best practices. This session explored intervention materials including Phonics for Reading, science of reading supplemental materials, small group data-driven lessons, and more.
Recent conventional wisdom in library instruction circles has tended to promote the SIFT Method as a replacement for the CRAAP Test. But is that right? This session provided practical instructional strategies for teaching source evaluation that are grounded in the presenters’ ongoing research study that has compared written source evaluations from 100+ students using both the CRAAP Test and the SIFT method.
Wake Forest Theatre & Dance Audience Coordinator Leslie Spencer and Professor Brook Davis worked with a team of students to build a full lobby poster presentation In Scales Fine Arts Center featuring profiles of 30 current and historical Civil Rights activists. Included in the presentation were timelines and historical data to educate the audience attending Wake Forest Department of Theatre and Dance’s production of Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom, a play based on the true story of a young woman who marched in Selma on her 15th birthday. Classroom materials were also created for schools that attended the performance.
Dr. Alan Brown and colleagues, Dr. Luke Rodesiler (Purdue University Fort Wayne) and Dr. Mark Lewis (James Madison University), have collaborated on a new book published by the National Council of Teachers of English called Reading the World through Sports and Young Adult Literature. Recommended and award-winning works of young adult literature featuring youth athletes—protagonists who are entangled not only in athletic competition but in the complications of life beyond the arena—offer secure footholds that students can use to explore contemporary sociopolitical issues. With chapters addressing timely topics, this book supports practicing and prospective teachers in using sports and literature to advance critical literacy and to help students reimagine the world as they know it.
Dr. Alan Brown was published in EdNC highlighting a cohort of student-athletes who committed themselves to serving seventh and eighth grade students as part of the Paisley IB Magnet School Sports Literacy Program. To learn more, read “The Paisley 7: How Wake Forest University Athletes Brought New Life to a Middle School Literacy Program.”