English teachers should write and share their writing. The authors analyze how composing sonnets added to understanding of poetic genre, literary terminology, and state standards. This article argues on behalf of more creative writing in English language arts and explains the benefits of teachers and students sharing their writing.

Describes assignments that link Gary Soto's novel "Taking Sides" to a collection of Latino poetry. Notes that the students' final presentations were successful, as indicated by their enthusiasm and engagement throughout. (RS)

Argues that assignments requiring the student to write in a specific genre stimulate formation and retention of critical concepts about the genre. A classroom experiment compared the results of a sonnet-writing assignment with a traditional essay-writing assignment about sonnets, confirming the effectiveness of the experiential approach.…

Describes a successful unit on poetry, characterized by collaborative planning, creation of the collection of poems used as the text, variation of the approaches and types of assignments, use of recorded music and poetry collected, use of local poets who read and performed for the students, online sharing and critiquing of students' poetry, and a…

An extensive body of knowledge is showing that the links between how teachers think and feel about themselves affects their performance. One coordinator of a new teacher program, comprised of teachers from preschool to high school, asks her new teachers to reflect by writing biography poetry. The coordinator used the poem framework at the…

The 26 teaching strategies in this collection originally appeared in IDEAS PLUS, a special publication of the National Council of Teachers of English. The teaching strategies are entitled: (1) "A Dream House" (Thomas M. Cobb); (2) "A Journal-Writing Pot of Gold" (Irina Markova); (3) "Adopt-a-Word" (Annette Matherne); (4) "Contrasting Moods" (Don…

This collection of 45 lesson plans contributed by English language arts scholars and practitioners provides activities that have been tested and proven effective with all levels of learners in middle school and high school classrooms. The activities in the collection advocate using unconventional strategies, competitive games, art and multimedia,…

Describes a classroom study of 20 self-selected, college-bound, U.S. history students in which the students created a story, poem, painting, or other art form after studying a unit on immigration. Includes several examples and descriptions of students' poetry, writing, and other creative projects. (CFR)