Adam Crawley is an Associate Teaching Professor in Literacy Studies in the School of Education at the University of Colorado-Boulder where he serves as the faculty chair of the annual CU Children's Book Festival, a community partnership with the Boulder Public Library and Boulder Bookstore. He also teaches courses and serves as a field coach for student teachers in the Elementary Education program. Prior to CU, Adam held tenure-track roles at the University of Texas at Austin and Oklahoma State University. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Georgia and was an elementary teacher in public schools for twelve years. Adam has been an active member and organizer of children's book award programs and conferences along with leadership appointments in assemblies of the National Council of Teachers of English, Literacy Research Association, and American Educational Research Association. His teaching, research, and service focus on the use and censorship of culturally diverse children's literature in elementary contexts, especially related to LGBTQ+ representations. He is published in the Journal of Children's Literature, English Journal, Bookbird: An International Journal of Children's Literature, and the Bank Street Occasional Paper Series among other academic journals and edited books.
keywords
LGBTQ+, social justice, critical literacy, censorship, content analysis, community partnerships and engagement
EDUC 2050 - Step Up to Social Justice Teaching
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Fall 2023
Engages students in theory and practice for justice-centered teaching. This first required course for majors introduces the principles guiding the elementary program and provides opportunities for students to enact those principles in collaboration with children and teachers in public school classrooms. Meets weekly on CU campus (1.25 hours/week). Involves additional visits to local schools.
EDUC 2311 - Children's Literature and Literacy Engagement in Elementary Schools
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Spring 2023 / Summer 2023 / Fall 2023 / Spring 2024 / Summer 2024 / Fall 2024 / Spring 2025 / Summer 2025 / Fall 2025 / Spring 2026
Focuses on teaching children's literature in elementary schools & youth organizations. Participants will understand theoretical and developmental processes associated with literary learning, methods for teaching literature in a diverse society, and the integration of classroom instruction with the Colorado Academic Content Standards that foster such processes.
EDUC 3030 - Race, Class, and Gender in Young Adult Literature
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Spring 2024
This course is designed for students who are interested in learning more about how race, class, and gender appear in literature for young people, ages 10-18, and how literary explorations of these intersecting elements of identity might enrich, complicate, and/or challenge how we see ourselves, others, and our world. Together and independently, we will read and share in conversation around several multicultural young adult texts across multiple genres, including novels, short stories, poetry, drama, and nonfiction.
EDUC 3321 - Literacy in the Elementary Classroom 2
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Spring 2023
Over the course of the two-course sequence in literacy, students in the elementary major develop a foundational knowledge of core aspects of literacy learning and instruction and apply this knowledge in practica settings, working at individual, small group, and whole-class levels. Literacy 2 builds on the goals of the first course in the sequence and provides a central focus on the structure and components of equitable and robust writing instruction in K-5 classrooms. The course addresses the skills and processes of writing, how to support and engage writers, writing assessment, and the analysis and enactment of evidence-based writing instruction practices. In addition, the course includes content area literacy and continues building students' facilities with digital and multimodal literacy in elementary classrooms.
EDUC 4232 - Language and Literacy across the Curriculum
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Spring 2026
Explores the relationship between language and learning in math and science classrooms with the goal of developing teaching practices that engage students in using language as a tool for understanding and constructing meaning across the curriculum. Explores how language/literacy take on different forms and functions in different social contexts and academic disciplines. Same as EDUC 5235.
EDUC 5235 - Language and Literacy Across the Curriculum
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Spring 2026
Explores the relationship between language and learning in math and science classrooms with the goal of developing teaching practices that engage students in using language as a tool for understanding and constructing meaning across the curriculum. Explores how language/literacy take on different forms and functions in different social contexts and academic disciplines. Same as EDUC 4232.
EDUC 5245 - Foundations of Reading Instruction K-12
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Fall 2022
In this course, MA students build and expand their understanding of the five pillars of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. They will gain in-depth and up-to-date knowledge about the Science of Reading and the Science of Teaching Reading, as well as the language comprehension and word recognition strands that are woven into skilled reading.
EDUC 5255 - Digital Literacies and New Media
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Spring 2023
Engage in digital reading and writing experiences using tools for communication, collaboration, design and research. Students will discuss and critically reflect on the role of technology in literacy instruction, grounded on learning and literacy theories. Connections to English language arts include genre study of literary and nonfiction texts and using quality children's literature as mentor texts for multimodal craft.
