“Hallelujah!” Bible-Based Literacy Practices of Children Living in a Homeless Shelter

Over the last twenty-five years there have been many classic studies (for example, Heath, 1983; Moje, 2000; Taylor & Dorsey-Gaines, 1988) which have informed our understandings of literacy practices beyond school. They have captured how literacy practices are grounded in local practices, history, and culture. Specific attention focuses on how often teachers are not aware of and/ or do not know how to build upon students’ out-of-school literacy. This body of research offers a context for these practices, but they have a primarily secular focus (see Hull & Schwartz, 2001 for an overview of out-of-school research).