Many students experience that the prepackaged secondary English as a Second Language (ESL) curriculum used in many classrooms does not effectively engage them or further their English acquisition. This article shares the story of creating a curriculum the authors believe other teachers can emulate to successfully teach adolescents who are new to…

This article describes a class in which media literacy was used as a means for student inquiry into cultural constructedness of adolescents. Students read and critiqued media portrayals of teenagers, then used digital video to re-construct their own complex re-presentations of their adolescent selves.

Four writers discuss how dealing with students, exams, lesson plans, and creating philosophies for their courses connect with their own writing. (CRH)

Contains an amalgam of ideas and observations concerning the special needs of junior high and middle school students. (RL)

Provides a framework for thinking about issues of adolescence and identity in the English classroom. Presents an adaptable plan for preparing a thematic unit on identity in literature. Concludes that an English teacher should operate as a conduit between the stories that are taught and the stories of students' experiences, providing students with…

Presents an award-winning short story about a middle school student's wistful reflections on his civics teacher and the other students in his class, many of whom were pregnant, poor, or disadvantaged in some way. (TB)