In 2004, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) concluded that "literature reading is fading as a meaningful activity, especially among younger people." How can educators continue to teach students about the power of literary response when the priority is for them to achieve proficiency on standardized tests, whose scores can only be narrowly…

In this meta-analysis study, a total of thirty-one studies related to strategy use of students in Taiwan in a web-based English context were identified, collected, and analysed. Three criteria for selecting the appropriate studies are (a) they must have applied web-based instruction; (b) they must be related to English learning; and (c) they had…

This descriptive study investigates what happens when an English Language Arts teacher implements multimodal instruction in his senior-level World Literature course. The study is grounded in theories of transmediation and New Literacy Studies and examines the following research questions: (1) What does multimodal instruction enable students to do…

The authors describe findings from a research synthesis on content area instruction for students with disabilities. Seventy studies were identified from a comprehensive literature search, examined, and coded for a number of variables, including weighted standardized mean-difference effect sizes. More than 2,400 students were participants in these…

This book aims to make a genuinely new contribution to the teaching of classic and contemporary literature in high schools--a system of teaching English that achieves classroom control through engagement and interest in content. The questions posed in the book help students build a kind of mental muscle for reading challenging texts and, what is…

"Authenticity," "intrinsic motivation," "confidence," and "student choice." More than just jargon, these ideas are essential for student achievement. Facing the pressures of mandated standards and assessments, teachers often replace activities that allow for student choice and multiple outcomes with…

Shannon E. Coulter and Susan L. Groenke recognize that student differences in interests, learning styles, and readiness for certain knowledge necessitate individualized processes for effectively learning vocabulary. They offer strategies and word games that help students make meaningful connections and improve comprehension. They also give advice…

Intended for teachers of grades 4-8, this book presents eight plays based on classic mysteries by famous writers such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ellery Queen, Dashiell Hammett, and O. Henry. The excitement of mystery stories offers a great way to introduce young people to the pleasures of reading. The plays in the book have…

This study administered two questionnaires to college sophomores in an English literature class. Tests measured the student's satisfaction with different types of instruction, including lectures, group work, and individual work. (RB)

Recent research suggests that information must be made meaningful to students before they will comprehend and remember it. However, because so much curriculum is learned in isolation, many students miss the connections between such disciplines as literature and history. One solution is to connect the teaching of history and literature to a focal…

Describes how three teachers learned about using Hyperstudio (presentation software), constructed a Web page, and created an original film as part of a unit on Florida writers. Recommends three major strategies for learning a new technology: choose the literary works, then the technology; build on your strengths; and learn to talk to the…

Argues that in the study of literature, the authority of the text is confounded by the authority of the teacher. Suggests that more effective learning takes place when the authority of both text and teacher is set aside. (FL)

Describes an approach to teaching introductory college literature courses that allows students to engage text directly without help from critical analysis papers and to express feelings of frustration, confusion, and anger in deciphering the meaning of the text. Points up ways in which the text gives rise to comprehension difficulties. (RBW)

Outlines Bleich's theory of subjective criticism and traces its roots in the work of the psychoanalytic critic Norman N. Holland. Suggests that the subjective criticism approach to literature can help elicit student response in the classroom and initiate discussions of value questions which literature inevitably raises. (RBW)

A high school English teacher discusses how she integrated three types of learning strategies (graphic organizers, note-taking styles, and summarizing techniques) into three literature units--the short story, the novel, and the epic. Students were introduced to various strategies and encouraged to select those that matched their own learning…