Abstract This study focused on my use of first grade literacy cases to scaffold a diverse constructivist perspective in my literacy methods course for preservice teachers. The cases depicted my concurrent work in a local school with three underachieving readers, two having diverse backgrounds with respect to home languages and socioeconomic status. I examined how I communicated a diverse constructivist orientation through cases, and whether preservice teachers utilized this perspective in their assignments. Qualitative analyses of university course videotapes and preservice teachers’ assignments revealed that over time many preservice teachers showed beginning attempts at articulating a diverse constructivist orientation when assignments focused on actual students.