David Bloome (The Ohio State University) and Arlette Willis (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) discuss discourse and language learning.

Catherine Compton-Lilly and Eve Gregory share their latest research involving family members, communities, and the uncovering of varied literacy practices sprinkled throughout homes, faith-based organizations, and community centers. They talk about the reciprocal nature of children's literacy learning and how what is learned at home comes into school, and what is learned in school also shows up for the children as they interact with family members at home.

JoBeth Allen, from the University of Georgia, and Valerie Kinloch, from The Ohio State University, talk about their thoughts and experiences working with families and communities.

Language Arts editors talk with chef Kevin Gillespie about his involvement with local farmers and communities in promoting quality ingredients in cooking, his participation in food activist organizations, and how these issues relate to families and schools.

Jill Hermann-Wilmarth and Caitlin Ryan discuss their work and the importance of including LGBT topics in elementary language arts classrooms, even when doing so is hard.

Jackie Marsh and Vivian Vasquez discuss how teachers can use kid-watching to discover individual children's patterns of development as they engage in reading, writing, critical literacies, and digital literacies in and out of school settings.

Sonia Nieto and K. C. Nat Turner, both from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, share their experiences with community-school collaborations and the transformative possibilities that occur when the relationships offer bi-directional opportunities for learning.

Language Arts editors talk with Danling Fu and Jane Hansen about writing, the thinking that needs to be made visible, the roles of evaluation in writing, and writing across disciplines.

Elyse Eidman-Aadahl and Cindy O'Donnell-Allen discuss the influence of 21st century literacies and technologies in today's classrooms.

Jerome C. Harste and Gunther Kress talk about the role of new literacies, critical literacy, and aesthetics in literacy education.