Georgia Journal of Literacy is the peer-reviewed, open-access publication of the Georgia Association of Literacy Advocates (GALA), an affiliate of the International Literacy Association (ILA). We publish research- and practitioner-based articles related to language and literacy education at all levels. We welcome the voices of all literacy advocates, from literacy scholars and researchers, PK–12 classroom teachers and school leaders, and graduate students throughout Georgia and beyond. Our editorial review board, readership, and authorship are nationally representative. Editors: Drs. Robert A. Griffin and Bethany L. Scullin, University of West Georgia (editors@galiteracyjournal.org)
Georgia Association of Literacy Advocates
Every Learner, Every Text: Inclusive and Evidence-Informed Practices
The Spring 2026 issue of the Georgia Journal of Literacy, themed “Every Learner, Every Text: Inclusive and Evidence-Informed Practices,” highlights the ongoing interplay between evidence-informed literacy instruction and responsive, inclusive teaching. Across an interview with Nancy Frey, research articles, and classroom-based teaching tips, each contributor explores how literacy educators can support learners through instructional practices grounded in research while also honoring student identity, voice, belonging, and access. Topics in this issue include current perspectives on literacy instruction, dialogic inquiry in syllabus design, usage-based grammar instruction, Science of Reading lesson planning, social-emotional learning through children’s literature, and authentic literary response through picturebooks. Collectively, the articles demonstrate that effective literacy instruction does not require educators to choose between rigor and responsiveness. Instead, this issue emphasizes how evidence-informed teaching and inclusive literacy practices can work together to create meaningful learning experiences for all students.
Copyright (c) 2026 Dr. Kathleen M. Crawford, Dr. Robert A. Griffin, Dr. Bethany L. Scullin
Through a Literacy Lens: An Interview with Nancy Frey
This interview with Dr. Nancy Frey, Professor of Literacy at San Diego State University and prolific co-author with Douglas Fisher, explores pressing issues shaping literacy education across K–12 contexts. Conducted as part of the Georgia Association of Literacy Advocates' Literacy Learning Series, the conversation addresses declining reading volume among adolescents, the relationship between achievement and reading motivation, the role of close reading in building student success, and the opportunities and challenges posed by technology and artificial intelligence in today's classrooms. Frey also reflects on the conditions necessary for strong literacy instruction, including teacher collaboration, professional trust, and task design that positions students for meaningful success. Drawing on current research and her ongoing work in secondary classrooms, Frey offers practitioners a grounded, candid perspective on what it means to teach literacy well in contemporary schools.
Copyright (c) 2026 Dr. Matthew J. Sroka, Dr. Vicki L. Luther
Introspection and Dialogic Inquiry in Creating Young Adult Literature Course Syllabi
This article theorizes the use of Bakhtinian dialogic analysis as a method for examining course syllabi and related instructional materials in teacher education for young adult literature (YAL). Drawing on Bakhtin’s concepts of heteroglossia, authoritative and internally persuasive discourses, and double-voiced discourse, the study analyzes 20 YAL course syllabi collected from secondary English teacher educators across the United States. Findings show that YAL course syllabi function as heteroglossic documents where institutional expectations, standards, and other authoritative pressures interact with instructors’ efforts to create student-centered learning spaces. The analysis highlights how teacher educators incorporated student choice, discussion-based learning, and flexible assessments to flatten classroom hierarchies and encourage dialogic engagement. The article argues that a dialogic analysis of educational documents can help educators critically examine the ideological tensions embedded in course materials and intentionally design more inclusive, student-centered learning environments.
Copyright (c) 2026 Dr. T. Hunter Strickland
Teaching Across Differences: Using Elvis & Romeo to Foster Inclusive Classroom Communities
This teaching tip explores how children’s literature can support social-emotional learning in elementary classrooms. Using Elvis & Romeo (Soman & Davis, 2025), a picturebook featuring two dogs with contrasting personalities who gradually learn to appreciate one another, it demonstrates strategies such as story-based language, discussion prompts, and classroom routines like “Unlikely Pairs Week” to foster empathy, perspective-taking, and inclusive behavior. Embedding the story across daily activities helps students develop social skills, self-regulation, and meaningful peer connections while reinforcing literacy. The phased implementation framework also aligns with ELA standards in reading comprehension, speaking, and listening, allowing teachers to address SEL goals within standards-based instruction.
From Awareness to Application: Examining the Effectiveness of Usage-Based Grammar Instruction on Adverbials
This study examines the impact of explicit, usage-based grammar instruction on adult learners’ metalinguistic awareness and functional deployment of adverbials in an American college writing course (ENG-145). Fifty-one native English-speaking students participated in a pre–post instructional design targeting explicit understanding and application of adverbials grounded in usage-based linguistic theory. Metalinguistic knowledge was assessed using a 26-point pre- and posttest that measured definitional precision and categorical understanding. Results indicated improved conceptual clarity following instruction. To evaluate changes in production, adverbial frequency and distribution were analyzed in pre- and post-instruction writing samples. A paired-samples t-test revealed a statistically significant increase in adverbial deployment from pre-instruction to post-instruction with a large effect size (Cohen’s d = 3.29). Readability analysis further demonstrated qualitative shifts in adverbial integration, indicating greater rhetorical appropriateness and syntactic flexibility rather than frequency gains alone. In addition, overall writing proficiency improved, with a higher proportion of students producing texts at elevated grade-level benchmarks following instruction. These findings provide quantitative evidence supporting the pedagogical value of explicit, usage-based grammar instruction in enhancing both grammatical awareness and meaningful application in college-level writing.
From Blocks to Blueprints: Using the Science of Learning to Strengthen Science of Reading Instruction
Teachers bring thoughtful, evidence-based elements into literacy lessons, and many plans capture that thinking in detail. Blocks to Blueprints is a streamlined 10–12-minute planning routine that helps teachers convert lesson blocks (instructional segments) into a usable one-page blueprint (a tight plan teachers can teach from and revise). The routine draws on Science of Learning principles—reducing extraneous cognitive load, using worked examples, and embedding retrieval practice—while protecting Science of Reading essentials such as explicit, systematic instruction and cumulative review. Teachers map a lesson into five non-negotiable instructional blocks, then translate each block into brief teacher language, observable student actions, and a quick evidence check. The result is a plan that is easier to teach and easier to improve. This article includes a printable one-page template, an example for grades 1–2, and a brief adaptation for grades 3–5 to demonstrate how the approach can transfer across grade levels.
Using Neuro-Affirming Picturebooks in Early Childhood Classrooms
This article examines the importance of using neuro-affirming picturebooks in early childhood classrooms to promote awareness, empathy, advocacy, and inclusion related to neurodiversity. Drawing on scholarship on diverse children’s literature and disability representation, the article discusses how these books can support children with neurodiverse learning needs while also helping neurotypical children develop more empathetic, strengths-based perspectives. To illustrate practical classroom application, the article presents a hypothetical four-day instructional unit focused on dyslexia for a second-grade classroom. The article concludes with considerations for selecting neuro-affirming picturebooks that reflect diverse identities and align with strengths-based and social models of disability.
Story Events and Student Questions: Pairing Books Aren’t for Bears with a Strategy for Literature Circle Talk
Elementary students often struggle to launch and sustain genuine conversation in literature circles. This teaching tip pairs a recent picturebook, Books Aren't for Bears (Barry, 2023), with Story Events and Student Questions, a low-prep strategy in which students record a key event and a discussion question at each episodic pause during a read-aloud. Those captured events and questions then anchor peer talk in the literature circle. We describe the procedure, explain why this picturebook works well as an entry text, and offer companion titles for extending the conversation.
Copyright (c) 2026 Dr. William P. Bintz, Shabnam Moini Chaghervand
“Not Just for the Boomers”: The Importance of Grammatical Understandings in 21st Century P–20 Classrooms
The word “grammar” often conjures negative feelings for both students and teachers; for students, learning rules of language can be simultaneously daunting and boring, and teachers can often view this as a battle that they would prefer not to fight. In an age of texting, social media, and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), the use of proper punctuation, capitalization, and other writing mechanics has become less regulated, yet due to newly implemented ELA standards within the state of Georgia, as well as new legislation efforts designed to improve literacy for all students, there is now a deeper emphasis on grammar as a focal point of instruction. This article provides a literature review of the importance of teaching and learning grammatical concepts in all grade levels in P–12, as well as in educator preparation programs (EPPs), preparing the next generation of teachers, and provides context of how educators can provide information that best supports P–20 students’ communicative skills.
Copyright (c) 2025 Dr. Vicki L. Luther, Dr. Matthew J. Sroka
Making Thinking Visible: Explicit, Transferable Literacy Practices Across the Curriculum
This editorial article introduces the Fall 2025 issue of the Georgia Journal of Literacy, which is themed "Making Thinking Visible: Explicit, Transferable Literacy Practices Across the Curriculum." With AI writing on the rise, new standards, and continued emphasis on science-based reading instruction, teachers are being called on to both teach structured literacy skills and the thinking that drives them. The four articles in this issue show how systematic, explicit, evidence-based instruction, along with modeling metacognition and culturally responsive teaching, can help students make learning visible and transferable across content areas. From reimagining grammar instruction for digital-age learners, to coupling structured literacy with metacognition, to bridging math and storytelling, and using mentor texts to cultivate writing craft, each article highlights how modeling cognitive processes transforms students into strategic, reflective thinkers. The articles here collectively call for literacy instruction that connects creativity, clarity, and structure with equity and thinking with doing.
Copyright (c) 2025 Dr. Robert A. Griffin, Dr. Bethany L. Scullin
Beyond Fire and Tacos: Using 'Dragons Love Tacos' to Ignite Mathematical Thinking through Interdisciplinary Read-Alouds
On a bright Tuesday morning, in a university math undergraduate course, the professor held up a beloved children’s picture book, Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin, and the room filled with smiles. “If you want to make math fun, put it in a taco!” shouted one teacher candidate, prompting laughter all around. While the line was humorous, it also hinted at something deeper: mathematics, when anchored in meaningful contexts, becomes more than just numbers on a page. This narrative follows a group of teacher candidates as they explore mathematics through the lens of children’s literature. Using the playful yet insightful story of taco-loving dragons who cannot eat spicy salsa, the lesson evolved into a space where literacy, math, and interdisciplinary teaching came to life.
Teaching Thinking for Reading: Merging Executive Function, Structured Literacy, and Asset-Based Practices
Reading comprehension requires more than decoding; it requires strategic thinking. Yet many students, particularly those from historically marginalized backgrounds, are often labeled as struggling readers without attention to their cognitive assets or instructional gaps. This practitioner-based article explores how educators can intentionally teach thinking for successful reading by modeling executive function skills and comprehension strategies, fostering metacognition, and affirming students’ cultural knowledge and assets. Grounded in the science of reading and learning, this work draws on research on executive function, purposeful think-alouds, and asset-based frameworks. This article offers practical, classroom-ready strategies for implementing structured literacy in ways that support comprehension, center student voice, and affirm diverse ways of knowing. Through teacher think-alouds, culturally responsive approaches, and student strategy reflection routines, this piece will show how educators can bridge the gap between decoding and comprehending while honoring the assets and brilliance students bring to the classroom.
Mentor Texts as a Bridge to Independent Writing: Supporting Young Writers Through Sentence Imitation and Craft Study in the Elementary Classroom
This article explores the use of mentor texts as a powerful strategy for developing independent writing skills in elementary students. Drawing on classroom experience and inspired by the sentence composing approach of Don and Jenny Killgallon, the authors demonstrate how mentor texts can be used to support craft study and sentence imitation across a range of writing skills—from prepositional phrases and parallel structure to adjective and adverbial clauses. The article provides practical, developmentally appropriate examples for teaching students how to analyze and mimic writing moves of professional authors. It also illustrates how mentor texts can be used to teach students to craft engaging leads and build narrative depth. Through a gradual release of responsibility, students gain confidence and independence as they begin to internalize sophisticated writing techniques. The authors conclude by emphasizing the importance of thoughtful scaffolding, patience, and high expectations in helping students of all levels grow as confident, capable writers.
Copyright (c) 2025 Dr. Jolene Reed, Dr. Melinda Miller
Beyond the Page: Reimagining Literacy Across Media, Cultures, and Classrooms
The Spring 2025 issue of the Georgia Journal of Literacy, themed “Beyond the Page: Reimagining Literacy Across Media, Cultures, and Classrooms,” challenges, expands, and reimagines what literacy means in modern classrooms. This issue explores a mix of literacy practices, from digital texts and AI tools to dialect use and blending across different genres and fields. The opening research articles invite readers to consider early literacy through the lens of multimodality, social-emotional development, and teacher identity. A bridging article explores how AI can personalize literacy instruction for students with autism, and the teaching-focused pieces offer classroom-ready strategies that celebrate linguistic diversity and integrate literature with science instruction through blended genres. These contributions together illustrate how literacy is not confined to the printed page but lived, embodied, and continuously reshaped by the media we use, the identities we affirm, and the worlds we seek to understand.
Fostering Social-Emotional Learning in Children's Books: An Analysis of Content and Quality
Social-emotional learning (SEL) is increasingly recognized as essential to children’s development, equipping them with tools for emotional regulation, positive relationships, and responsible decision-making. This quantitative study explores how SEL is represented in contemporary children’s literature, drawing on the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) framework to analyze the frequency and quality of SEL themes across five core competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. The study focuses on two primary research questions: (1) Which SEL themes appear most frequently in children’s books based on rubric scores? and (2) How do literary and artistic rubric ratings relate to the effectiveness of SEL content? The study differentiates between the presence of SEL themes and the quality of their delivery. Findings highlight how children’s books can serve as powerful tools for modeling empathy and social understanding, offering valuable insights for educators, parents, and publishers seeking to support holistic child development through literature.
Copyright (c) 2025 Dr. Forrest R. Parker III, Dr. Jodi Cronin
Teachers as Readers: Examining the Personal Reading Lives of English Educators
This study explores the complex personal reading lives of four English teachers. Through a combination of participant-generated artifacts, interviews, group meetings, and virtual discussions, the study uncovers the diverse reading habits, motivations, and identities of these teachers. Findings highlight the variety of texts they engage with and the range of reasons that drive their reading, offering valuable insights into how teachers’ reading experiences shape their pedagogical approaches. By fostering strong personal reading habits among teachers, this study suggests that teachers can model positive reading experiences for students, potentially inspiring a more engaged and enthusiastic approach to reading in the classroom leading to more engaged readers. These findings call for a greater emphasis on fostering the personal reading lives of teachers.
Leveraging AI to Enhance Literacy in Students with ASD: Insights and Applications
Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face unique challenges in literacy development, often requiring more individualized support than traditional interventions can provide. This paper explores the potential of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as AI-powered notetaking, natural language processing (NLP) applications, image generation, and AI-powered tutoring, to enhance literacy outcomes for students with ASD. Drawing on both research evidence and clinical practice, the paper highlights how AI tools can offer personalized, adaptive learning experiences that promote key literacy skills such as reading fluency, vocabulary acquisition, and writing organization. These tools provide a flexible and engaging approach to learning that can increase confidence and reduce anxiety, particularly for students who struggle with traditional methods. The paper also offers practical strategies for educators, therapists, parents, and policymakers to effectively integrate AI tools into educational and therapeutic settings, ensuring a collaborative approach to supporting students with ASD. However, the author stresses that while AI offers promising support, it is most effective when used alongside traditional literacy strategies and continually assessed to ensure it meets the evolving needs of students with ASD.
Teaching with a Twist: Embracing Appalachian (and Other) Dialects—Y’all Ready for This?
Situated within the Appalachian region, I celebrate dialect diversity within the courses I teach. Appalachian English, a recognized marginalized language variety, is my own dialectical heritage and that of my students. As such, I reinforce the notion that home languages, i.e., dialects, have a place in English language arts instruction in a direct, not peripheral, manner. To build students up in their use of their home languages, to help children see the value in native speech patterns, and to know that no single voice can represent an entire region, engaging in language and culture studies that reinforce the dialect and region in a positive manner is a must. Focusing on books that promote the Appalachian area and people group in a way that is free of stereotypes is central to supporting the acceptance of this marginalized language variety. Additionally, including intentional activities that highlight the richness of language serves to celebrate students’ voices and cultural histories.
Empowering Readers: Student-Centered Strategies for Literacy Success
The Fall 2024 issue of the Georgia Journal of Literacy, themed “Empowering Readers: Student-Centered Strategies for Literacy Success,” highlights innovative methods and practical strategies that equip educators to enhance literacy outcomes. The articles here explore methods that blend research with pragmatism and directly address the needs of today’s learners. From fostering critical thinking and decoding skills to boosting reading engagement through diverse text selections, this issue provides actionable insights to help teachers cultivate empowered, motivated readers. Contributors share teaching tips, practitioner reflections, and research-informed articles that are structured to support educators in shaping resilient, skillful readers.
Copyright (c) 2024 Dr. Robert A. Griffin, Dr. Bethany L. Scullin
Combining Picturebooks and Poetry as Blended Genres to Teach Earth and Space Science
The concept of combining picturebooks and poetry as blended genres to teach important concepts in life science was introduced in a previous article (see Author, in press). This article builds on and extends that article by combining picturebooks and poetry as blended genres to teach earth and space science. It briefly reviews the value of integrating poetry and science, the important relationship between paired text and blended genres, and the connection between blended genres and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Standards. It shares examples of blended genres and samples of instructional strategies that K-8 teachers can use to help students learn important concepts in Earth and Space and Science and ends with final thoughts.
Very Mindful, Very Multimodal: Digital Texts Affordances for Emergent Readers
The increasing presence of digital texts in early literacy education demands a deeper understanding of how they shape reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition. This scoping review explores the most current research on digital literacy, emphasizing how early readers engage with digital texts and what this means for curriculum development. With the rise of one-to-one digital devices in classrooms, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic, students are reading and interacting with texts in new ways, yet research on early literacy has often lagged behind these technological shifts. Digital texts are more than digitized print; they introduce multimodal features that require different cognitive processes and instructional approaches. Findings suggest that high-quality, narrative-driven digital texts with interactive affordances can enhance meaning-making, comprehension, and vocabulary learning, especially when paired with thoughtful instructional scaffolds. However, gaps remain in understanding how students transfer literacy skills between print and digital formats and how educators can best integrate digital literacy instruction into early reading curricula. This review underscores the need for continued research into the evolving role of digital texts in literacy development, ensuring that instructional practices keep pace with the realities of 21st-century reading environments.
Text Considerations to Motivate Boys to Want to Read
Increasing motivation to read among elementary boys is an important consideration in closing the gender achievement gap in reading as students who are motivated to read typically increase their reading volume which can positively impact reading achievement. This article discusses the following text considerations that can impact boys’ motivation to read: (a) topic; (b) genre; (c) series, and (d) text layout. It is critical that books with these text considerations are accessible in classroom libraries, as male students in previous studies have not found texts of interest at school. The article provides a checklist for teachers to self-evaluate the types of texts that are needed in classroom libraries that can appeal to male students.
Copyright (c) 2024 Dr. Lunetta M. Williams
SSSLIDE into Reading Big Words! A Strategy for Decoding Multisyllabic Words
The ability to decode multisyllabic words significantly impacts fluency, automaticity, vocabulary, and comprehension ability. As students advance to the intermediate grades, this skill becomes increasingly critical as they are exposed to a greater volume of informational text containing a higher frequency of multisyllabic and unfamiliar words. Given the rising number of older children reading below grade level, it is essential for intermediate-grade teachers to employ effective and efficient strategies to teach multisyllabic word decoding. This article introduces SSSLIDE, a straightforward strategy that can be taught in just twelve 30-minute lessons, empowering students to decode most multisyllabic words and ultimately to make sense of what they read.
Combining Picturebooks and Poetry as Blended Genres to Teach Life Science
This article introduces the concept of combining poetry and picturebooks as blended genres and shares an instructional strategy that K–8 teachers can use with blended genres to help students learn important concepts in ELA and life science. It begins with background on the important relationship between science and literature. Next, it describes fundamental differences between paired text and blended genres and connects blended genres to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Then, it shares examples of blended genres and a sample of an instructional strategy that can be used with blended genres to teach important concepts in Life Science. It ends with a final thought.
Teaching Vocabulary in Meaningful and Memorable Ways: Explicit Instruction in the English Classroom
This article discusses the importance of facilitating explicit vocabulary instruction in the English Language Arts (ELA) classroom. Vocabulary research on best practices suggests that explicit instruction can potentially increase student learning outcomes. The discussion begins with research on effective instruction, identifying words to teach, and ends by providing practical strategies that can be used in the ELA classroom.
Phonetic Continuum Matrix: A Research-Informed Approach to Selecting Decodable Words for Phonics Instruction
This article presents a sequential system for selecting words for early decoding instruction. We have named our model the Phonetic Continuum Matrix due to its intersection with the developmental continua of phonemic awareness and phonics. Our purpose for creating this model is to offer teachers an efficient and sequential method of selecting words for word making, word breaking, sorting, and other activities and games during phonemic awareness and phonics instruction. We begin this article with a literature review to explain “why” we teach explicit phonemic awareness and phonics skills during early literacy instruction. Following that discussion, we explore the research used to create our sequential system for selecting words. Next, we present the Phonetic Continuum Matrix and share recommendations for using the model when designing early literacy instruction.
Copyright (c) 2024 Dr. Stephanie Grote-Garcia, Dr. Bethanie Pletcher, Hanna B. Patton-Elliott
Authoring Counter-Narratives: Showcasing Student Voice through Critical Stance
In this teaching tip, we provide a method for teaching middle and secondary English language arts (ELA) students to assume a critical stance while reading and responding to diverse literature and media. Specifically, we address the infusion of critical literacy as a pedagogy to enable students to engage in criticality by identifying negative stereotypes and harmful biases, and then take action by offering counter perspectives. We begin with a brief discussion on critical literacy as a means to promote critical stance, followed by the learning activities for classroom instruction and a student example to illustrate the power of critical stance to promote student agency. Our method for critical stance instruction draws upon Rosenblatt’s (1978) seminal work on literature-based instruction that reading is a transaction between the reader and the text and Leland et al. (2018) who explicated that readers need to engage in critical transactions—a dimension of critical literacy.
Copyright (c) 2024 Dr. Lina B. Soares, Ali Ameduri
In their classrooms, teachers create learning environments that foster knowledge acquisition through the strategies they choose to implement. This article highlights a strategy called Brain Drain, which teachers can set up as an activity that will help students access their prior knowledge, connect new learning, and have an opportunity to discuss and build upon this learning with peers. The Schema, Cognitive Load, and Sociocultural Learning Theories are mentioned, briefly highlighted, and connected to this strategy.
Integrating Conventional and Innovative Practices: Enhancing Literacy Education in Diverse Contexts
The Spring 2024 issue of the Georgia Journal of Literacy highlights how traditional teaching methods and innovative practices can be merged to effectively address the needs of today’s diverse student population. Articles within this issue advocate for a dynamic approach to literacy instruction, combining decades of research with contemporary classroom realities. The contributors to this issue explore topics from the complexities of reading aloud to leveraging community-based literacy projects, each underscoring strategies to create more inclusive and engaging learning environments. The issue also examines the importance of empirical data in developing effective literacy practices and offers practical strategies that apply research findings to enhance teaching and learning. The nine articles in this issue deepen understanding and encourage educators to innovate and adapt in ways that improve student engagement and literacy outcomes.
Copyright (c) 2024 Dr. Bethany L. Scullin, Dr. Robert A. Griffin
From Paired Text to Blended Genres: Pairing Picturebooks with Poems
This article introduces the concept of blended genres and describes a rationale for using blended genres to teach important topics in the English Language Arts (ELA) classroom. It begins with a vignette that sparked curiosity about, and the motivation to develop, a variety of blended genres. It describes blended genres as rooted in traditional notions of paired text, provides theoretical background on the benefits of paired text, and highlights intertextuality as one important benefit, among others. It shares examples of blended genres and illustrates samples of instructional strategies used with blended genres to support intertextuality and student learning on important topics in English/Language Arts (ELA). It ends with concluding thoughts.
Copyright (c) 2024 Dr. William P. Bintz, Abbey Galeza