Sharon M. Peck PhD.

Doctorate in Reading and Literacy University at Albany 2000

Master's Degree in Reading and Literacy, Literacy Specialist Certification University at Albany 1994

BA Elementary Education Birth -6 SUNY Plattsburgh 1992

Dr. Peck is active with school partnerships, community partnerships and providing inservice programs for the Rochester City School District.

Member and Author Professors at Play

Member of The Association for the Study of Play

Member, Applied Improvisation Network

2000- Now Journal Article Reviewer: The Reading Teacher, Journal of Literacy Research, Networks

Former North East Regional Director, Puppeteers of America
Current Member, Puppeteers of America

Former Board Member League for Advancement of New England Storytelling

Former Reviewer, Auditor, NCATE/IRA

Former Literacy Research Association Conference Proposal Reviewer

Play Advocate Healthi Kids, with Common Ground Health, Rochester, NY

Peck, S. M. (2024). Rituals, Protocols, and Planning for Playful Pedagogy in Higher Education. In Playful Pedagogy in Higher Education: Research and Cases from across the Disciplines (pp. 35-43). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.

Peck, S. M. (2024). The Significance of Choice: Empowering Students for Lifelong Learning. International Play Association USA White Paper, (2024), 470-476. https://ipausa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/IPA-USA-50th-Anniversary-…

Peck, S. (2022). Play Is the Game: Literacy Learning Through Game-Based Instruction. In Handbook of Research on Acquiring 21st Century Literacy Skills Through Game-Based Learning (pp. 344-362). IGI Global.

Peck, S.M. (2022b) Focus on: A playful perspective. In L. Forbes & M. Thomas (Eds). Professors at Play
PlayBook. (21-23). ETC Press. Creative Commons.

Peck, S.M. (2022c). What’s in a Name? In L. Forbes & M. Thomas (Eds). Professors at Play PlayBook. (160-163). ETC Press. Creative Commons.

Peck, S.M., Cretelle, T.A. (2020). Extending School Communities through University-School Partnerships.
In University Partnerships for Community and School System Development (pp. 81-98).
Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Cretelle, T. & Peck, S.M. (2015). Using CCSS NYS Shifts and NLAPS as Entrypoints to Plan for ELL Achievement. NYS TESOL Journal, (2)2 p. 74-85.

Peck, S.M. (2014). Making Spaces for Community in the Curriculum: Broadening Boundaries to Understand Our Place in the World,. In Becker, K., Miller, E., Reid, N. Smith & Sorensen, M. (Eds). Collective Unravelings of the Hegemonic Web: Movement, Place and Story. Pp. 143-158. Charlotte, NC Information age publishing.

Peck, S.M. (2010) Lessons from an award winning urban elementary school. The Reading Teacher, International Reading Association. 65 (5) pp.394-403.

Peck, S.M. (2010) Puppetry on Broadway: Recognizing the Tradition, chapter in Encyclopedia of Broadway and American Culture, Thomas Greenfield (Ed.), Greenwood Publishing.

Peck, S.M. (2009) Preparing Literacy Teachers to Meet the Needs of Diverse Students: Lessons from Urban Literacy Clinics Chapter in: Evidence-Based Quality Literacy Tutoring Programs: What Works and Why, Janet Richards and Cynthia Lassonde, Editors , International Reading Association, Newark,DE.

Pitcher, S., Albright, L.K., DeLaney, C.J., Walker, N.T.,Seunarinesingh, K., Mogge, S. Headley, K.N., Victoria Gentry Ridgeway, V., Peck, S.M., Hunt, R., Dunston, P.J. (2007) Assessing Adolescents’ Motivation to Read. Journal of Literacy Research v50 n5 p378-396.

Peck, S. M., Virkler, A., (2006) Reading in the Shadows: Extending literacy skills through shadow puppet theatre The Reading Teacher, International Reading Association. 59 (8) pg. 786-796.

Dickson, I., Peck, S., & Webster, S. (2005) The Power of Language: Recreating a School Community . Fieldwork, V XIII, (3). Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound Review.

Peck, S.M. (2005). Puppet Power: A Discussion of How Puppetry Supports and Enhances Reading Instruction Book Chapter in Puppets in Education and Therapy: Unlocking Doors to the Mind.

Peck, S.M. (2002). “I do have this right. You can’t strip that from me:” Valuing teachers’ knowledge during literacy instructional change. 51st Yearbook of the National Reading Conference. (Juried).

National Education Association Development Grant with Amy Shema, SUNY Brockport 5,000 for ongoing game development and literacy instruction work (2019-2021)

Individual Development Grant- Teaching and Learning Center to become certified in Lego Serious Play 2023

Teacher Leader Quality Partnership Grant: NY State Education Department Awarded August 2003-2009
Awarded 50,000 annually to Direct Reading and Writing the Community ongoing professional development project with the Rochester City School District and cohort professional development schools: Schools 14, 15, 25, 33, 36, 46, 50, 58, Genessee Community Charter School, School of the Holy Family. Serves as project director to coordinate professional development, mentoring and partnerships.

Dr. Peck actively researches playful literacy learing, literacy clinical practicum methodologies and the use of games, puppets and language arts in the literacy classroom. She also studies place-based pedagogies. She is dedicated to preparing teacher candidates to meet the diverse needs of students, to understand the complexities of poverty, to enact culturally responsive assessment-based instruction, and to recognize the power of the arts and play for empowering students to become lifelong learners.

Dr. Peck frequently works with undergraduate and graduate students on directed studies engaging them in the research process.

Dr. Peck engages in collaborative research with play researchers from the Association for the Study of Play.

Dr. Peck teaches predominantly graduate courses in the Reading and Literacy Master's Degree programs. She leads the clinical field experience in literacy each Fall and Spring, a Reading Clinic at The Community Place of Greater Rochester. She teaches capstone course, including CURR 635 Teacher Action Research. During the summer and intercession, she teaches literacy electives (most of which she wrote) focusing on Playful Learning (CURR 505), Place-based Pedagogy (CURR 521), Adolescent Literacy (520), The Writing Process PreK-8 (CURR 640) and Language Arts (CURR 630).

Dr. Peck has also taught undergraduate literacy courses, including CURR 213 The Reading and Writing Process and CURR 313 Classroom Reading and Literature Programs. She has taught one section of Freshman Writing Seminar (WRTG 105), and led study abroad courses, CURR 588 A Tale of Two Literacies.

CURR 611 Methods and Materials in Reading/Literacy: Pre-School - Grade 6

This course deals with key approaches to the teaching of literacy, with particular attention to methods and materials useful in teaching struggling readings. Emphasis is placed both on contemporary approaches and on those of importance in the history of American literacy instruction. The course will typically provide additional detailed focus on one or two methods or curricula of contemporary interest. Offered fall and summer.

CURR 613 - Practicum: Mtg Needs of Diverse Rdrs: (Early Childhood, Childhood, Middle Childhood, or Adolescent)

The course provides students a clinical, tutorial experience in assessment and instruction with a child who has a reading difficulty. Students will find this course a culminating experience for their graduate program, in which they bring together their studies in literacy theories and methods to examine one child in depth and to participate in discussions and decision-making about the other children in the clinic.

CURR 635 - Action Research in Reading and Literacy

This course is designed to help students synthesize information learned from other reading/literacy course work, generalize about issues in reading, critically analyze information heard and read, make judgments about the efficacy of policies and procedures in reading, and initiate change in reading instruction. The course is centered around the implementation and reporting of a significant action research project.

CURR 540 - Content Area Reading/Literacy in the Secondary School

The course serves as an introduction to learning text and study/learning strategies in grades 7-12. The major purpose is to better inform content area teachers about ways to use textbooks, supplementary readings, and writing/speaking/listening more effectively. Special focus is placed on differentiating text-based instruction in content subjects for diverse learners and on the role of the context area teacher in adolescents’ reading and literary development. Offered summer and when demand is sufficient.

CURR 505: Reading Play: Play-based Literacy Instruction in Early Childhood and Beyond

Course Description

This class focuses on the impacts of play-based instruction; students will explore the connections between play and learning and development, and learn how play makes learning relevant and engaging. Students will examine current research and standards on play, learn to observe and scaffold play, and develop a play-based literacy instruction initiative. Core texts include Purposeful Play: A Teacher’s Guide to Igniting Deep and Joyful Learning Across the Day (Mraz, Porcelli & Tyler, 2016) and Let the Children Play: How More Play Will Save Our Schools and Help Children Thrive (Sohlberg & Doyle, 2019), and The Playful Classroom: The Power of Play for All Ages. (Dearbury & Jones, 2020). Students will explore online and community play spaces, and become adept at integrating play into literacy and content area instruction to enhance student achievement and motivation. (3-3 (0).

CURR: 521 Reading the Community:   Making Literacy Learning Personally Relevant

The goal of this course is to explore current research focusing on ways in which teachers draw upon community in the literacy curriculum to motivate and engage students through authentic literacy experiences. With Freire’s idea of “reading the word and reading the world,” candidates will explore connections between the common core, curriculum, school and community resources and literacy instruction to see how making stronger connections to local resources could enhance instruction. 3 (3-0).

CURR 520: Teaching Reading for Secondary, College and Adult Students

This course is for secondary school teachers, librarians and reading specialist who are concerned with the reading problems of students in the junior and senior high school. The course considers a variety of models of providing literacy instruction to at-risk learners. Attention is given to the techniques and materials for reluctant and disabled readers. Coverage of learning from text and content area reading is limited in the course, as both topics are covered in-depth in the Content Area Reading Course. This course will attempt to go beyond the mechanics of teaching reading to deal with issues of literacy in our society. What does it mean to be fully literate, and why are so many Americans failing to achieve full literacy? Understanding these issues will help teachers understand the needs of adolescents and adults who are still in the process. 3 (3-0)

WRTG 105 — Writing Seminar: Questioning Playfulness
This course will take on an exploration of the intersectionality of playfulness and life. Looking at play and playfulness across the life span, students will reflect on their play histories, explore key theories of play and playful mindsets. They will explore how play came to be seen pejoratively in schools and society. And they will play with words and ideas as they look at methods of interweaving playfulness into their lives and their studies. Students will read from a variety of sources, learn to evaluate sources, develop clearly crafted essays, develop convincing arguments, and learn how to play with revision. Students in this section should be prepared to be actively engaged in class discussions, simulations, explorations and phases of the writer's workshop.

Reading and Writing Process
CURR 213
Spring 2024
Synchronous
This course presents the history of reading and writing instruction, different interpretations of literacy, and the psychology and linguistics of reading and writing processes. Various theories and aspects of language acquisition are explored and related to different literacy methodologies. The student gains practical experience using different literacy approaches and methods in the classroom. The mature reading and writing process is explored with an emphasis on the strategies individuals use when they read and write. Includes field trip components. Prerequisites: CURR 214 or SPED 224

CURR 313 Classroom Reading & Programs
This course is designed to provide students with a knowledge of various approaches, methods, and
procedures for use in intermediate (grades 4-6) and middle school reading programs; to provide practical
experience using various literacy engagements; and to describe modifications of literacy instruction to
teach children with disabilities. Includes field trip component.
Prerequisite(s): CURR 213 and CURR 316.