
Lori Norton-MeierUniversity of Northern Iowa | UNI · Jacobson Center for Comprehensive Literacy
Lori Norton-Meier
Doctor of Philosophy
About
53
Publications
10,131
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570
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Introduction
Lori Norton-Meier currently works as the Director of the Jacobson Center for Comprehensive Literacy at the University of Northern Iowa and is a Professor of Literacy Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Lori does research in Language & Literacy Education, Teacher Education & Curriculum Theory. Her most recent publication is an edited book with colleagues Hand & Jang called, 'More Voices from the Classroom: International Teachers’ Experience with Argument-Based Inquiry'.
Additional affiliations
August 2020 - present
July 2009 - August 2020
August 2003 - June 2009
Education
June 1995 - May 1998
August 1993 - May 1995
August 1983 - December 1986
Publications
Publications (53)
In this chapter we investigate conditions that enable student immersive engagement in learning the languages of science through an argument-based inquiry approach. We focus on a range of critical issues including the type of argument to be promoted in student interactions, the knowledge bases students should use to participate in this inquiry, and...
This department focuses on literacy leaders, including school and instructional leaders, teachers, and external partners, who are working to improve outcomes for adolescent and adult learners in a wide range of education settings. Columns investigate the challenges and complexities inherent in such work and share lessons learned, impactful strategi...
The SWH approach, being a language-based approach, has enable me as a classroom teacher to FINALLY make that multi-disciplinary plan a reality. Ever since I have been teaching I have always heard experts talk about the power of connecting all that we teach together, but I have never been able to figure out the how.
I have come to the conclusion in my own research and learning that this idea of control and managing is taking over and hindering the authentic opportunities for students to engage in their own learning. I have found through providing support for students through the gradual release of control has allowed for authentic learning opportunities to tak...
The intent of this book is to provide a rich and broad view of the impact of argument-based inquiry in classrooms from the perspective of the teacher. There are two important reasons for such a book. The first is that we as researchers constantly work to present our views of these experiences with the voice of the teachers only being relayed throug...
The purpose of this study was to investigate the various roles that early elementary
teachers adopt when questioning, to scaffold dialogic interaction and students’ cognitive
responses for argumentative practices over time. Teacher questioning is a pivotal contributing
factor that shapes the role teachers play in promoting dialogic interaction in a...
The ability to use a scientific concept is intimately linked to the ability to “fluently juggle with its verbal, mathematical, and visual/graphical aspects, applying whichever is most appropriate in the moment and freely translating back and forth among them” (Lemke 1994). This translation across multiple modes of representation places a high deman...
Abstract: In this review, we explore the notion of teaching science to English language learners (ELLs) as a balancing act between simultaneously focusing on language and content development, on the one hand, and between structuring instruction and focusing on student learning processes, on the other hand. This exploration is conducted through the...
How can classrooms become communities of inquiry that connect intellectually challenging science content with language-based activities (opportunities to talk, listen, read, and write) especially in settings with diverse populations? This question guided a 3-year mixed-methods research study using the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach in coo...
This pilot investigated the promise of positive outcomes in literacy, science, and social behavior on K–2 English learner (EL﴿ students after two months of implementation of the Science Inquiry Centered Argumentation Model (ScICAM﴿—a systematic teaching approach to science learning that integrates literacy instruction and argument-‐based inquiry. T...
This chapter discusses an analysis of discourse practices found in eight different elementary science classrooms that have implemented the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach to argument-based inquiry. The analysis for this study involved examining a segment of whole-class talk that began after a small group presented its claim and evidence an...
This study examined the extent to which fifth-grade students participate
in online argumentation and the argument patterns they produced about
the inquiry-based investigations completed using the Science Writing
Heuristic approach in their science classes. One hundred twenty-nine
students from five classes of two teachers in a Midwestern public sch...
The purpose of this study was to identify and describe teaching actions—embedded in the Science Writing Heuristic approach, a systematic teaching approach that integrates literacy instruction and argument-based inquiry learning of science—supportive of the cross-disciplinary literacy expectations necessary to compete in the 21st century. This artic...
This chapter discusses an analysis of discourse practices found in eight different elementary science classrooms that have implemented the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach to argument-based inquiry. The analysis for this study involved examining a segment of whole-class talk that began after a small group presented its claim and evidence an...
The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of two strategies for negotiating the question for exploration during science
inquiry on student achievement and teachers' perceptions. The study is set in the context of the Science Writing Heuristic.
The first strategy (small group) consisted of each group of four students negotiating a question...
There is much attention currently being given to argument-based inquiry in national and state curriculum documents. Students are being required to be able to generate and evaluate science knowledge, and to think critically and judge the value of evidence and explanations. The intent of the book is to provide a rich and broad view of the impact of a...
This case study aimed to determine the nature of student interactions in small groups in an elementary classroom utilizing the Science Writing Heuristic approach. Fifth grade students were audio‐recorded over four units of study while working in small groups to generate knowledge claims after conducting student‐directed investigations. Analysis con...
longer version of NARST 2010 paper
This article explores the use of lyric writing in elementary science. It details an exploratory project in which elementary students and a professional musician collaborated to write and record lyrics at the conclusion of an inquiry-based science unit. What we found was that lyric writing when used as a summary reflection activity in science offers...
As this young learner points out, researchers and scientists alike must plan carefully to ask good questions and then collect
data in such a way to answer the research question. This is the focus of this chapter: to explore how the very methodology
selected to investigate teacher practices and student learning helped to answer our broad, overarchin...
When a kindergarten student, after hearing a storybook read aloud by his teacher, proclaims "Now, that was a crappy piece of literature!" his proclamation provides an opportunity for an examination of literacy, identity, agency and power. Critical issues and provocative questions emerge about the importance of "crappy" literature and how we create...
Stories about Pearl Bright and Ronda Thompson (pseudonyms), two mothers whose literacy lives offered possibilities for new relationships with their children's elementary school, are recounted in this article. Negative personal schooling histories and lack of academic successes kept Pearl from trusting the educational system and motivated Ronda to m...
The author asserts her belief that teachers can turn movies into “a tool that allows students to understand content in new and intellectually challenging ways.” She tells a personal story of using movies in her teacher education program, helping her students “learn and extend their understanding. However, they not only learned about content, but th...
The author discusses the influence of video games and other technologies on modern family life, drawing on her own experiences. The implications of digital and other “new” and multiple literacies are described, with reference particularly to the work of Patrick Shannon and James Paul Gee.
A teacher's experience with an eight-year-old child named Aaron that pushes her understanding of language, literacy and culture to a different level is presented. This thrice-learned lesson details her professional journey of continual transformation by revisiting a story as a kindergarten teacher, a graduate student and a teacher educator.
Forms part of a themed issue describing "Parent-Kid-Teacher Investigators," a program in which parents, children, and teachers gather regularly to use language and literacy for action research projects. Explains the philosophy, assumptions, and intentions behind the program, and research that supports it. Offers action examples of how each belief i...
Typescript. Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Iowa, 1998. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 208-222).