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Education Professor Authors Children's Literature Blog

Posted on Thursday, July 1, 2010

Dr. Charlene Klassen Endrizzi, Westminster College professor of education, is the author of four academic blogs on an international children's literature website.

Klassen Endrizzi's June postings on Worlds of Words (www.WOWlit.org) offer a look into her research on family story books and family message journals conducted during the 2009-2010 school year. The inquiry was initiated in September by Emileigh Drylie, a Westminster student teacher who graduated in May, and Pam Redfoot, her cooperating teacher. In January, Westminster reading specialist graduate students joined the inquiry: Alicia Anderson, Anne DiDesiderio, Joanna Gay, Tasha Pascarella, Jennifer Petrinjak-Muldowney, Alisa Tizio, and Janet Whippo.

"One major benefit of posting on an academic blog is the possibility of generating an on-going conversation about current teaching issues with a large audience of educators," Klassen Endrizzi explained. "I hope this exploration invites teachers to ponder ways for inviting families back into our community of readers. After all, families are students' first and essential literacy partners."

This current inquiry is an extension of Klassen Endrizzi's recent book for classroom teachers, Becoming Teammates: Teachers and Families as Literacy Partners (www1.ncte.org/store/books/elem/129823.htm).

Worlds of Words is an online international children's literature website for teachers and parents. Klassen Endrizzi, a member of Worlds of Words' advisory board, reviews articles for WOW Stories, an online journal where teachers explore ways to share international children's books with students.

To join the conversation about family literacy, visit www.WOWlit.org/blog/2010/06/07/families-matter.

Klassen Endrizzi, who has been with Westminster since 1993, earned undergraduate and master's degrees from Fresno Pacific College and Ph.D. from the University of Arizona.

Contact Klassen Endrizzi at (724) 946-7189 or e-mail endrizck@westminster.edu for more information.

Dr. Charlene Klassen Endrizzi