This article reports on an empirical study of a literature project at a special residential home for detained youth in Sweden. Informed by critical literacy, the study explored the ways in which versions of empowerment in relation to reading were performed in a 'critical space'. The ethnographic study was analytically inspired by the actor-network…

The Authors@UF program series emerged to showcase the scholarship and creativity of faculty, creating an intellectual forum within the academic library, and providing informal, extra-curriculum, academic engagement between students and faculty outside the classroom. This article identifies steps to launch an author program, and considerations in…

This study is a comparative analysis of literary curricula in six European countries and is part of the project LiFT-2, funded by Comenius' Life Long Learning Programme of the European Commission. The result of this project, that involved almost 4,500 teachers, is a European literary framework for secondary education which can be described as a…

This article details the design and implementation of a reading program in a university EFL setting as a strategy to encourage creativity, critical thinking, collaborative learning, and reading for enjoyment (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001; Richards & Renandya, 2002). This student-centered project challenged ELLs to address issues such as…

Literature circles or book clubs are small, heterogeneous groups of students who have chosen to read and discuss the same book together. The research on literature circles suggests that they hold great promise for increasing students' enjoyment of reading and honing their literacy skills. When evidence-based strategies are embedded into a…

Getting students, teachers, and the entire community to read the same books at the same time has its challenges--but many more rewards. In this article, the author describes how West Morris Regional High School District in Chester, New Jersey, formed a "literacy club" for everyone in the school and the local community to encourage…

Considers the placement and pedagogical function of Ecclesiastes in an English course entitled "Classical and Scriptural Backgrounds to English Literature." (EL)

The University of the District of Columbia and the Washington, D.C., public schools developed a two-year collaborative project, which offered 60 public school teachers of grades 6 through 12 an opportunity to become involved in an intense and critical study of some major classical literary works. Each major classic was paired with a…

Discusses the realities of teaching Shakespeare in the schools. Describes the beliefs undergirding the Folger Library's Shakespeare education program--Shakespeare is for all students; the teacher's job is that of tour guide and not translator; students learn Shakespeare by doing Shakespeare--and that students should make their own connection with…

Shares numerous evaluations of books written by children participating in the Fairfield-Westchester Children's Project. Discusses how children's evaluations of books they read can provide a framework that can assist teachers in making instructional decisions. (SR)

After summary presentation of development of German children's and young-adult literature since middle of the century, this article proposes use of such literature in foreign-language classrooms and reports on two projects using children's literature in intermediate- and advanced-level classes. First project examines cultural differences by means…

The Teachers as Readers (TAR) Project is a national program which helps teachers encourage children to become lifelong readers. TAR began as a pilot program in the state of Virginia in Spring 1992 as the Reading Initiative sponsored by the American Association of Publishers and the Virginia State Reading Association. The first TAR Project in…

Describes a program designed to facilitate the conditions whereby children in a small rural village school could perceive pleasure and purpose in literacy and thus create a climate of positive motivation resulting in productive reading and writing activities. (RS)

When Loyola University dropped its foreign language requirement in 1971, another requirement took its place. Students are now required to take three courses in literature, one of which is to be a course in a literature not originally written in English. Introductory courses (called Masterpieces courses) in French, German, Spanish, and Russian…

Describes the organizational framework and implementation of a literature-based reading program with basal themes for a combination of students in grades five and six. Discusses students' attitudes towards the program, which were very positive. (SR)