While recognition of the need for teacher education in media literacy is not new, in the context of social media it is growing. What this article offers is an approach to critical media literacy for teachers--what the authors call critical social literacy (CSL)--that treats media as a venue for the operation of power. By distinguishing between…

Courses: Public Speaking, Storytelling, Performance Ethnography, Oral Interpretation, Language and Communication. Objectives: The aims of this class exercise are: (1) To engage in a collaborative creative process of developing a story/topic from a simple idea to deepening the relationship with the audience through vivid and evocative language; (2)…

This article describes activities in which students deepen their relational understanding of the equals sign through exploring inequalities in a competitive dice game, built around the familiar fairy-tale "The Three Little Pigs" and "The Big Bad Wolf." The activity can be adapted to different abilities by choosing more or less…

Purpose: This paper, which originates in an English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classroom activity in Hong Kong, aims to explore English learners' expressive and creative potential in writing by studying their work in the literary narrative genre. Design/methodology/approach: A group of upper secondary students (15-16 years of age) with limited…

This article presents the results of a study comparing the originality, the length, the number of neologisms and the syntactic complexity of fairy tales created with "Storyline" and "Associations Pyramid." Both methods were developed to enhance children's language abilities and their creative thinking. One hundred twenty eight 5-year-old children…

Twitter, Google Docs and their cousins shrink the spaces between cultures even as they expand the reach of a typical classroom. How can a teacher use them to promote social justice? In Sarah Brown Wessling's English class, students are about to give Little Red Riding Hood a makeover. For weeks, her students at Johnston High School in Johnston,…

This article draws on a recent research project in New Zealand on teaching literature in the multicultural classroom. Its focus is on how one teacher-researcher used the cultural and linguistic diversity of a junior, secondary English class as a resource in the development of her programme. It details a sequence of activities designed for a unit…

Children's literature often inspires the author's lessons, and reading to her primary students motivates their participation. In this article, the author presents and describes her lesson which is based on the book "Falling for Rapunzel" by Leah Wilcox. Students created a fairy tale tower in this lesson, which took place over three class periods.…

On an outdoor stage, a boy named Peter addresses the audience. "If you believe in fairies, clap your hands," he urges. There is a deep sadness in his voice for he is dealing with the possible loss of a special friend. Peter is begging the audience to respond and enter his make-believe world. This is the only way, he explains, that the poisoned…

Provides a rationale for using trickster tales in the classroom. Introduces representative trickster tales from many cultures, and samples activities that teachers can use to introduce trickster tales to their students. (SR)

Finds that "Three Little Pigs" shows children what the world is like--depicting the conflict of choice, etc. Examines different versions of the tale and questions students about text differences. Gives questions for stimulating student response. (PA)

Presents a unit of lessons in which intermediate grade students improvise fairy tales and learn dramatic techniques. Offers an overview, an implementation schedule with activities, creative activities for fairy tales, and a fairy tales chart. (SR)

Presents a sequence of mathematics lessons for middle school students that incorporates multicultural versions of the Cinderella story while students learn mathematical objectives related to classification and logical thinking. (SR)

Discusses the life and writings of George MacDonald (1824-1905). Suggests that the most striking feature of MacDonald's children's books is his sensitivity toward spiritual values and the power of change within the lives of his characters. Appends a list of questions to stimulate student response to MacDonald's writings. (RS)

Offers a practical demonstration of the conventions of children's literature. Discusses dragon lore and their parodies. Presents class activities related to such lore. (RS)