Beyond having value as an assessment tool, engagement with the arts in the K-12 classroom can offer aesthetic experiences that have the potential to transform the way students encounter the world, engaging the imagination in acts of perception that stir them to "wide-awakeness." Advocates for the arts in education call for a variety of…

This article begins by identifying that children have a spontaneous predilection for playing with language, engaging in poetic discourse even before their first poetry lesson. Although children's language play is relatively unresearched in the classroom, in a case study of two groups of pupils aged between 10 and 11, it was observed that children…

Draws from George Brown's "On the Teaching of English in Elementary and High Schools" to urge teachers to emphasize the development of feeling and creative purpose in their students. (DD)

The articles in this document present ideas for teaching English and the language arts creatively. Topics include a letter writing project in which ninth graders wrote letters to celebrities; an English elective course designed to increase students' creativity; ways of using the newspaper to teach language skills; the value of games in teaching…

Discusses early experiences of children with literature, and the development of and growth in their response to literature. Argues for a response-centered, rather than criticism-centered, curriculum. (SRT)