Discusses the efforts of a fifth-grade teacher and a visiting poet to rekindle students' sense of poetic passion and pleasure. Describes how the authors introduced students to poems for two voices (using P. Fleischman's "Joyful Noise"). The poetry unit culminated in a project in which students read and performed Fleischman's poems, then wrote and…

Shows how picture books and other children's literature can make the Middle Ages come alive in an eighth grade class. Discusses the use of small groups and collaboration to help students complete and present research projects. Includes a 21-item annotated bibliography of books and other instructional material. (PRA)