According to the author, English classrooms across the country have the potential to be the incubators we need to repair public discourse. Through traditional and innovative strategies, the author states, we can begin to rebuild our national conversation from the ground up, letting students take the lead while guiding them along their journey…

The nonfiction letter offers students an opportunity to study a dying art while also gaining insights about people, places, and eras. Teaching students the value of letters teaches community, caring, and connection. Whereas reading great works of literature can and does provide insight into life's purpose and meaning, the nonfiction text of a…

Frustrated with the restrictive nature of the Common Core Standards, the author calls on her teaching peers and colleagues to resist a system that denies them and their students access to what teaching and learning should be about.

Imagine two classfuls of American high school students, separated by 1,500 miles and profound differences in local cultures (East Coast urban and Midwestern rural) as they correspond and collaborate in writing between their geometry classes. Reading the students' observations, one sees authentic voice, specific detail, precise language, what…

According to a 2009 AP-MTV survey of 1,247 people ages 14-24, 50% of those surveyed have experienced cyberbullying (Gatti 1). Victims were twice as likely to need help from a mental health professional and were three times more likely to drop out of school than those surveyed who did not report being cyberbullied (5). Given this alarming social…

High school teacher Mary B. Nicolini designed an assignment that allows sophomore and senior students to examine an issue through an exchange of anonymous letters. Letter writing provides an opportunity for dialogue between peers, helping students critically explore questions about their assigned texts through a safe, informal medium.

In this article, the author discusses how she developed an innovative, interdisciplinary unit in eighth-grade English that links with the history teacher's Civil War studies. When constructing lesson plans, the author needed to rely on her sympathetic connection with students. To determine the best way to help students learn, the author had to ask…

An article entitled "Pupils Persevere" covered the front page of Madison's local newspaper in February 2005. Highlighting the plight of four alternative programs in Madison's public school system, the article both angered and pleased students at this school. Although the central point of the front-page article was a plea for a larger physical…

Discusses a form that students fill out which makes their letters of recommendation personal and relevant. Describes how the information on the form can be assembled into a letter of recommendation. (RS)

Discusses the following problems that many authors of young people's books share: (1) financial expense involved in responding to letters; (2) mail sent to the wrong address, with illegible return addresses, or without accompanying, stamped envelopes; (3) predictable contents, such as requests for information, material demands, or expectations of…

Contains 10 points of advice for those who want letters of recommendation from teachers. (JD)

A brief look at teaching students how to write letters and at using letters as instructional tools in the junior high and high school English classroom. (RL)

Proposes that students writing public letters to their forebears might provide a reminder of how individuals and communities can learn from the experience of their foremothers and forefathers. Includes the author's letter to her grandfather, who was imprisoned in internment camps for Japanese Americans during World War II. (PM)

Notes that by exploring Depression-era teens' letter writing, language arts teachers can enjoy more fruitful uses of nonfiction with their students. Discusses how reading, analyzing, and responding to the letters could help minimize the widening gap between the 1930s and the twenty-first century. Concludes that researching everyday Americans'…

Encourages English teachers to promote letter writing among their students. (DD)