Argues that the capacity to read and derive benefit from literature involves an interaction of at least three related abilities--aesthetic reading, reflecting, and problem solving. Offers an inquiry approach to teaching literature as one way to promote student development of these abilities. (RL)

Certain thinking and language skills are common to content disciplines. Different types of thinking are triggered by factual, convergent, divergent, and judgmental questions. The four levels of oral and written response are factual, logical, creative, and judgmental. An effective school language policy balances and integrates these skills in the…

Discusses the negative impact of poetry instruction based on scansion, biography, genre theory and formal principles. Describes three alternative lesson plans using imagist poetry, specifically that of Williams, because it rejects formal traditional rules and provokes student response. Concludes that students appreciate stylistic traits and that…