Literacy Instruction in 10 Fourth-Grade Classrooms in Upstate New York

Literacy instruction was observed in 6 fourth-grade and 4 fifth-grade classrooms over the course of 1 year. Using the method of constant comparison, commonalities among classrooms were identified in the areas of reading instruction, writing instruction, instructional materials, instructional goals, management, and classroom motivational orientation. Teachers in all classrooms provided a combination of authentic reading and writing experiences and explicit skills instruction. Dimensions of difference among classrooms were also identified with respect to the same set of instructional components. One important way that the classrooms differed was with respect to the methods and materials that each teacher considered to be the core of his or her pedagogy (e.g., one teacher's instruction centered on trade books and process writing, another's on cooperative exploration as part of theme-driven instruction). There were also some striking omissions noted in the instruction observed, including a lack of instruction...