This article describes an informal study that focused on teaching eighth graders to take a critical stance and talk back to texts. In this era of "fake news," "alternative facts," and what has been called a "post-truth" culture, it is imperative that students do not simply accept everything they read, see, or hear at…

In order to address the current concerns about traditional literacy skills as well as the call for a new set of skills referred to as "new literacies", the researcher chose to investigate the use of graphic novels with a group of 14 eighth grade minority students during a four week workshop. The workshop used a gradual build-up of…

In this article, the author describes how a mini-unit on the Bard provided a positive introduction to Shakespeare for her students and left them well-prepared to tackle the Shakespeare plays they would encounter in their high school curriculum. Not only did the students get a chance to see live performances, they were also given a guide to keep,…