A balanced literacy program provides students with opportunities to interact with texts from a variety of genres. The dawn of the New York State Common Core Learning Standards has paved a natural gateway for students and teachers to regularly engage in reading, discussing, and writing nonfiction. This shift in the standards has inspired educators…

Fishbone diagrams, also known as Ishikawa diagrams or cause-and-effect diagrams, are one of the many problem-solving tools created by Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, a University of Tokyo professor. Part of the brilliance of Ishikawa's idea resides in the simplicity and practicality of the diagram's basic model--a fish's skeleton. This article describes how…

Describes a project for middle school librarians to use to motivate students to read for pleasure. Explains activities based on the idea of a mystery at the school, and describes how clues were developed and linked to books in certain genres that students had to read. (LRW)

Suggests adding excitement to social studies instruction by using trade books. Cites research associating the reading of historical fiction with increased historical understanding. Describes the benefits of trade books' narrative form. Argues that such books can change students into active learners, help them study a slice of history, and increase…

Discusses why time planning is important for middle school readers. Outlines the steps in effective time planning. Describes how to help students apply time planning techniques. Presents evidence of the effectiveness of this planning program. (SR)

Presents an eighth-grade classroom where students collaborated with the teacher to decide how to designate time spent on reading, creative writing, and journal writing. Discusses needs assessment, student suggestions, choosing the solution, and implementation. A sidebar outlines student-determined writers' workshop, readers' workshop, and…

Describes the Dublin model, a program which uses thematic units or individualized reading assignments to focus on popular adolescent literature and includes projects that demonstrate students' comprehension of text. Discusses the formulation, implementation, and assessment of this program. (RS)