Miranda Thompson is a Golden Apple winner. Thompson, who earned her B.S.Ed. in Elementary Education in 2006, was among six winners named March 9 during surprise ceremonies in their Rockford-area classrooms. She also was among eight finalists with NIU College of Education
Read moreUniversity Honors salutes Melanie Koss with its Great Professor Award for 2022
Some people are born into their callings. Consider Melanie Koss. “I just grew up loving books. I don’t ever remember a time when I wasn’t a book lover. I learned to read very young, and even before I learned to read, I
Read moreLaurie Elish-Piper, David Paige honored by fellow literacy educators, researchers
NIU College of Education Dean Laurie Elish-Piper and David Paige, director of the Jerry L. Johns Literacy Clinic, were honored Nov. 6 by the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers (ALER). Elish-Piper received the A.B. Herr Award, which celebrates the distinguished service
Read moreEnseño en Español: DeKalb, Elgin enrolls teachers in new NIU course on biliteracy
During her years as a Cuban living in rural Galesburg, Ill., Mayra Daniel impressed on her family the need for fluency in her native tongue of Spanish. But that language was rare in this community of 35,000 in Knox County. “Few spoke
Read moreRead to me: Literacy educators explore ‘magic’ of COVID-19 online read-alouds
As schools closed across the country for COVID-19, celebrities quickly found a new calling. Betty White, Michelle Obama, Josh Gad, Demi Lovato, Jimmy Fallon, Reese Witherspoon and countless other famous faces sat in front of cameras to engage in an online version
Read moreCI’s Melanie Walski, Peet Smith co-author latest edition of noted textbook on fluency
Melanie Walski joined the NIU College of Education in the fall of 2016 as a visiting assistant professor. She was hired as tenure-track in 2017. Peet Smith came 12 months afterward, arriving in 2018. One year later, during the autumn semester of
Read moreNew Educate Local program transports Special Ed majors to try literacy projects in alternative Chana Education Center
For years, Mary Gardner has required her LTCY 300 students to create theoretical “listening center” projects on paper. Gardner, an instructor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, expects these assignments to propose good nonfiction texts to read aloud to children. She
Read moreDouble-alumna wins Fulbright
Barbara Abromitis wanted to become a teacher. That goal brought her to the NIU College in Education, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education in 1983. Life had other plans, though. “When my kids were young, I started doing grant-writing
Read moreReading Hall of Fame taps Stahl
Norman A. Stahl, Professor Emeritus and former chair of the Literacy Education Department, was inducted July 16 into the Reading Hall of Fame. The honor – one of the highest the literacy field can grant an individual – came during the annual convention
Read moreMelanie Koss enjoys opportunity to honor Congressman Lewis
Melanie Koss knows a great book – or a great graphic novel – when she reads one. And, Koss says, Congressman John Lewis’ “March: Book Three” is a triumph. Its sweep of the American Library Association awards for 2017 includes the prestigious
Read moreElementary Education enhances curriculum with new emphases
Elementary Education majors at NIU will enter the teaching field a step ahead of their peers. Three new emphases – Bilingual/ESL, Reading Teacher and Special Education – will provide automatic endorsements in areas that previously required additional coursework. For example, the Reading
Read moreNo edits necessary
Achieving the unimaginable is no easy task, and doing so is something most people will never know. John Evar Strid is not among them. The associate professor in NIU’s Department of Literacy and Elementary Education recently learned that the TESOL Journal accepted
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