Mining Complex Text, Grades 6-12: Using and Creating Graphic Organizers to Grasp Content and Share New Understandings (Corwin Literacy)

Diane Lapp, EdD, is a Distinguished Professor of Education at San Diego State University, where her research and instruction focuses on issues related to struggling readers and writers, their families, and their teachers. An instructional coach at the Health Sciences High and Middle College in San Diego, she has recently returned to the classroom to teach sixth-grade English and Earth Science. Dr. Lapp is also a member of both the California and International Reading Halls of Fame for her dedication to reading instruction.

As a teacher for online courses hosted by the University of Central Florida, Dr. Thomas DeVere Wolsey is interested in how the interactions of students in digital and face-to-face environments change their learning. While much of his research centers on how visual information, such as graphic organizers, works in tandem with text to improve learning, he is also intrigued by the intersections of traditional literacies with digital literacies, specifically focusing on how those literacies affect teacher preparation and professional development. 

Dr. Karen Wood has been training literacy specialists for over 25 years at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where she is a Professor in the Department of Reading and Elementary Education. Dr. Wood is a published author and former reading teacher, reading specialist, and K–12 instructional coordinator, and much of her writing focuses on translating research and theory into classroom practice across all subjects and grade levels. 

A faculty member in teacher education at San Diego State University and an instructional coach in the San Diego Unified School District, Dr. Kelly Johnson devotes much of her work to the middle and secondary classrooms. She is interested in the teaching and learning connection that results from teacher modeling, productive group work, formative assessment, and student engagement.