In this article, the authors questioned how to use the Greek word ekphrasis as a way to teach student readers to transact with a text at multiple levels and then "speak out" as writers and creators of meaning. These teachers use the seminal painting "Guernica" to engage students in a transferable process focused on three key…

In the urban high school where the author was teaching, grade 11 AP Literature classes were studying Toni Morrison's novel "Beloved" through literature circles. She had noticed that students undertook the role of Illustrator with immense effort, purpose, and creativity. Moreover, the group discussions surrounding the Illustrator's visual…

Interest in study skills, one of the older realms of educational research, is enjoying a resurgence. Several forces in the field have fueled renewed interest in how learners can best use academic, organizational, and time-management skills to master content. As teacher leaders at a high school, the authors remain in contact with many of their…

An eighth-grade English teacher and a math teacher work together to improve student writing, engagement, and communication in English and geometry classes.

"Oedipus Rex" dramatizes a collision of past, present, and future. Once Oedipus recognizes the connection between the past and his horrific present, he stabs out his eyes, ashamed at what he has wrought and unwilling to look upon his future. The 21st-century English language arts classroom is in the midst of a collision as well. Coming into…

Weaves descriptions of 16 novels by Virginia Hamilton into an account of young adult literature that can be used to make effective connections across the disciplines. (RS)

Argues for the validity and effectiveness of using film excerpts to teach high school English. Suggests various methods for using commercial films on VCRs to study themes, formal elements of literature, literary terms, and the aesthetic decisions behind film adaptations. (JG)

Provides an account of the importance of story poems in the English classroom. Describes how one teacher wove the teaching of poems, stories, and writing into a single coherent unit of study. Argues that bringing these diverse materials together is a useful method of literary study. (HB)

Four teachers comment on (1) the humanities as works of art, (2) ways to use multimedia programs in emphasizing the humanities, (3) the lifelong influence of one humanities course, and (4) the need to concentrate on each separate humanities discipline in teaching an interdisciplinary course. (EL)

Methods and resources for using feature films in literature classes. (RL)

Students' out-of-school literacy practices can complement in-school speaking and writing, if the teacher knows how to instill them. A professor analyzes how one student writes an essay and a rap on the same subject and recommends bringing hip-hop culture into the classroom to help students become academically successful.

Describes a course in which students read works by such philosophers as Plato, Descartes, and William James from a literary point of view. States that teachers should look beyond works considered literature to see if a work of philosophy, history, or political science might benefit students' intellectual and personal development. (EL)

Lists writing exercises based on observations students can make in a shopping mall. Notes that the exercises are intended to become a springboard for study, description, conjecture, evidence, example, and innovation, and can be combined, expanded, or shortened. (EL)

Discusses the issues of finding a current film acceptable to local standards and justifying it as literature. Gives teaching suggestions for dealing with the setting, characters, themes, ending scenes, and visual poetry using the films "Places in the Heart" and "To Kill a Mockingbird." (EL)

Describes a two-week English project in which ninth graders read "La Boheme" in translation, studied it as a drama, listened to arias, and finally watched a videotaped performance of the opera. (JG)