Researchers and educators have long argued for the importance of providing time and space for rich conversations around literature. This column draws on research to consider how teachers make room for these discussions inside their classrooms. Particularly, the authors consider different dimensions along which teachers might examine and grow…

This article describes a project that studied 15 preservice teachers' perceptions of and reactions to responding to children's and young adult literature using a Ning blog. These perceptions and reactions provided insight into various practical aspects of using a social networking blog to facilitate literature response in a teacher education…

In this article, the authors share findings from a study in which immigrant students responded to the wordless text "The Arrival" in small-group, bilingual literature discussions. The interpretive processes of two of the children with different ethnic backgrounds, levels of English proficiency, and styles of response are highlighted as exemplary…

Concerns for the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth and the children of families who so self-identify suggest that teachers may need additional support in fostering classrooms that welcome all students. The field of children's literature has long-standing interests in multiple cultures and the literature…

In this paper, the author looks at how she attempted to teach her students--preservice teachers--to engage in dialogic conversation about gay and lesbian identity using children's literature with gay and lesbian characters as a jumping off point. Through her analysis, the author has identified two requirements for dialogic conversation among…

Uses summaries and excerpts from ERIC documents to define fantasy, examine its attraction for children, and describe how fantasy may be selected and used in the elementary school classroom. (DD)

Illustrates how to use a sound poem to recreate the mood of a children's book. (DD)

Describes how teachers can provide stimulation for children's free writing through children's literature. (DD)

Provides job cards for language activities in the middle grade classroom which pick up on ideas from "The Phantom Tollbooth," a children's classic by Norton Juster. (DD)

Describes how "book talks" may be used to stimulate children's reading, provides a sample book talk, and lists sample book talk themes and titles. (DD)

This paper identifies some of the resources the author has found and used to help future teachers become fully inclusive teachers, particularly of early elementary students. Through sharing these resources--children's literature, a children's literature textbook, edited books for teacher educators and pre- and inservice teachers, and a video--the…

Discusses one approach to teaching fourth graders about death through children's literature. (DD)

Argues that, to develop a community of readers of literature, teachers must go beyond an approach to literature that merely treats it as an excuse for a comprehension skills lesson or a social studies exercise. Illustrates the argument with the children's book "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli. (SR)