This article describes a teacher's willingness to perform an autobiographical spoken word poem in his classroom, which provided an important model for students as they composed and shared their own slam-style poems.

Since "English Journal's" (EJ's) founding in 1912, contributors have asked how literature shapes students' ethics, or morals. Ethics, on this account, is about people's ways of imagining and leading good lives. EJ authors explore how reading literature can help students see themselves and the wider world in light of visions of the good…

While middle school and high school students may have watched the Disney and Disney/Pixar films when they were younger, chances are they did not do so with a critical eye toward difference and disability, despite the fact that these films serve as excellent tools for teaching about difference. Recent estimates label 20% of the world's population…

The mythology of the "norm" has direct repercussions for schools, and its ideological reinforcement is the primary cause of bullying today. Though it is difficult to pinpoint an origin for "the norm," the medical model and its systemic structural power is one powerful institution that perpetuates this mythology. The medical model has a biological…

In the Toulmin model, arguments begin with a "claim" supported by "data." The movement from claim to data is authorized by a general, unstated proposition Stephen E. Toulmin calls the "warrant." Unlike all other components of the Toulmin model, warrants usually remain implicit in an argument; they are the unspoken assumptions that bind together…

As teachers of writing, the authors know that choices matter: the more choices they can give their students, the better their writing will be--and the better writers they'll become. Many teachers design their courses as writing workshops, so that students make choices about the genres they compose in. They structure writing assignments so that…

If emerging teachers are going to be something more than technicians, they need to reflect on their instructional worldviews, the mission of schools, and their role as autonomous professionals. In this article, the author shows how three pedagogical "moves" she made as a holistic mentor helped her student teachers forge and voice…

Drawing attention to widespread instances of discourteous speech and hate discourse that permeate US and world culture, Alleen Pace Nilsen maintains that our imperative as educators is to teach "students the benefits of being civil to each other." She proposes some avenues for enriching students' understanding of the power of civil…

Derives six principles about the teaching of writing from the works of Henry David Thoreau. (DD)

A workable model for the English curriculum in the 1980s must reflect balance and integration and allow for the benefits of both bigness and smallness. (DD)

Suggests the use of children's literature as a model for junior high students' writing. (DD)

Summarizes recent research and theory on or related to the composing process to arrive at a general model or structure for the teaching of writing in secondary schools. (DD)

Explains how Odysseus represents four qualities that the youth of today find salient in their culture. (MM)

Considers the emergence of English Romanticism in the early 19th century as the advent of new ways of thinking and knowing. Compares the cognitive skills of romanticism with the development of adolescent cognition. Shows how English teachers can tailor literature instruction to foster the insights of romantic understanding. (HB)

Examines definitions of written fluency, methods used to promote fluency, and some of the problems inherent in the approaches. Topics discussed include writing process, modeling, metacognition, and developmental studies. Concludes that written fluency is a multi-dimensional concept involving a range of strategies, their organization, and…