Mary Lee Griffin
Chair, Associate Professor of Education
Office: Doll's House, 203
Phone: (508) 286-3641
Fax: (508) 286-3640
Email: mgriffin@wheatoncollege.edu
Degrees
Ph.D University of Rhode Island / Rhode Island College
M. Ed Rhode Island College
B.S. Wheelock College
Main Interests
Early literacy development, social contexts of reading and writing, job-embedded professional development designed to support "balanced K-3 literacy programs." Visualizing the reading/thinking process. Readers' and writers' active engagement. Visualizing thinking when engaged in literate tasks.
Research Interests
Early literacy development social contexts of reading and writing (specifically paired reading and writing), elementary language arts curriculum development, creating student-centered classrooms, reading fluency and relations to comprehension and job-embedded professional development models. How readers' visualizations about literate thinking serve to engage them more deeply in the reading process.
Teaching Interests
Early literacy, reading and writing curriculum, social contexts of teaching and learning, generative curriculum models, multiple perspectives on literacy, multicultural children's literature (graduate course for Wheelock College). Mindfulness practices and their connections and relevance in the academy. Bringing mindfulness practices to bear on students' reading, writing and cognitive pursuits.
Other Interests
Treasurer, Massachusetts Association of College and University Reading Educators (MACURE) 2001-present
MRA Government Relations Committee, 2003-2004
Steering Committee Member: RI Children's Literature Conference (2001, 2002, 2003).
Spring & Summer 2001 & 2002: Reviewer / Summer Trainer, BayState Readers Initiative. This is a statewide reading initiative under the auspices of the Massachusetts Department of Education.
2000-2003- Literacy Coach, Hugh Cole School, Warren, RI: As part of the Reading Excellence Act grant, my work supports teachers in strengthening reading programs and aligning curriculum with NCEE Primary Literacy Standards.
Student Projects
WRP Student/Faculty Research Project, 2001-2002: With Wheaton student, Heather Brennan, conducted a yearlong study of peer reading partnerships in a local elementary school.
Wheaton Internship, Brighton, England. June 2004. Developed and led this program that brought seven Wheaton students to England where they were placed in classroms at he Woodingdean Primary School just outside of Brighton.
Publications
Writer to Writer: Fluency and Craft in Multilingual Settings, Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2007.
Reader to Reader: Building Independece Through Peer Partnerships, Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2005.
With Nancy Witherell, Fluency In Focus: Comprehension Strategies for Young Readers Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2004.
Using Peer Partnerships to Scaffold Reading. Chapter in, Rodgers, A. & Rodgers, E. Scaffolding Literacy Instruction: Strategies for K-4 Classrooms, Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2004, 121-142.
Online Commentary and Discussion, with Evelyn Vuko, Educational Columnist, Washington Post. What No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Means for Your Kids, Washington Post Online discussion and commentary, March 9, 2004.
Commentary, Bush School Program Puts Thinking on Hold. The Providence Journal, September 23, 2003, B,5.
Hooked On Phonics: We Should Lose This Addiction. Los Angeles Times, October 22, 2002. (commentary)
Pictures of Patricia Reilly Giff: Really Looking and Seeing 'The Way Things Are'. Under the Spell of Books: The Rhode Island College Journal About Literature for Young People. Vol. 2 (1). Spring, 2003.
Focus on Alphabet Would Rob Pupils. PROVIDENCE JOURNAL. April 21, 2002. (also published in the BANGOR DAILY NEWS)
Focus on Alphabet Would Rob Pupils. Radio broadcast. The Best of Our Knowledge, NPR (National Public Radio), May 20. 2002. (broadcast on other dates as well).
Why don't you use your finger?: Paired Reading in First Grade. THE READING TEACHER.Vol. 55 (6). pp. 766-774.
Contributor (book reviews). Chapter 14: Early Reading Books. 2002 NCTE ADVENTURING WITH BOOKS. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 2002.
Social Contexts of Beginning Reading. LANGUAGE ARTS. Vol. 78 (4). March 2001.pp. 371-377.
Writing support for "Rhode Island Individual Professional Development Plans" (I...Plans), Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 2000.
Principal writer, "Rhode Island Policy Frameworks for K-3 Reading," Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 1999.
"Rhode Island Job-embedded Professional Development". Written under contract for the Rhode Island Department of Education, In, SALT WORKS, Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 1999.
"Job-embedded Professional Development". Written under contract for the Rhode Island Department of Education. In, SALT WORKS, Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 1998.