This study investigates the extent to which students' use of different discussion strategies fosters a balance between attending to the technical elements of authored texts and responding empathetically. Because small-group discussion is a common approach to literary study, the analysis focuses on two small-group discussions of "Charlie…

New scholarship advocates that students should learn deeply and well. Little information exists on exactly how to get students deeply into material so that they understand it inside and out, backward and forward and in a way that enables them to construct knowledge schemas. The authors have developed a heuristic list of communication response…

Written in response to criticism of our work by Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, this position paper reaffirms and reinforces our position about the need to broaden and enrich the scope of nature of science (NOS) oriented curricula by exposing students to the voices of practising scientists. While Abd-El-Khalick's motivation for promoting the so-called…

Paul Black, Mark Wilson, and Shih-Ying Yao in "Road Maps for Learning: A Guide to the Navigation of Learning Progressions" provide a number of important ideas to consider regarding the development of assessments and curriculum materials to support development of core ideas. One major idea that the author found most valuable is the focus on student…

In the past five years, at least a half dozen major reports have focused on adolescent literacy and providing adolescents with age-appropriate instruction. What is age-appropriate instruction for middle school students? As recent reports on adolescent literacy, such as those of the Carnegie Corporation and the ACT make clear, age-appropriate…

This study administered two questionnaires to college sophomores in an English literature class. Tests measured the student's satisfaction with different types of instruction, including lectures, group work, and individual work. (RB)

Argues that in the study of literature, the authority of the text is confounded by the authority of the teacher. Suggests that more effective learning takes place when the authority of both text and teacher is set aside. (FL)

This book aims to make a genuinely new contribution to the teaching of classic and contemporary literature in high schools--a system of teaching English that achieves classroom control through engagement and interest in content. The questions posed in the book help students build a kind of mental muscle for reading challenging texts and, what is…

Demonstrating a critical stance requires readers to stand apart from the text and consider it objectively. It involves a range of tasks including critical evaluation; comparing and contrasting; and understanding the impact of such features as irony, humor, and organization. According to this paper, the selection of appropriate literature is a…

Argues the importance of the relationships among silence and literature, the arts, and other experiences that point toward transcendence. Suggests that English teachers can expand the repertoire of classroom activities and teaching techniques that make use of silence. (KEH)

Argues that the teaching method instructors use to present poetry--direct/indirect, analytic/subjective, or reader focused/text focused--is influenced by the kind of relationship they wish to establish with the students. (MM)

Notes that beginning foreign language learner-readers lack linguistic and cultural knowledge assumed in foreign language literary texts, gaps often resulting in possible "mismatches" between the readers' actual cognizance of linguistic and cultural norms and the level of understanding assumed in the foreign text. (40 references) (Author/CK)

This paper discusses the concept of literature as a moral laboratory in which author and readers run complex thought experiments about human actions and their consequences. The paper warns that discussion of the role of literature in building moral character and moral communities needs to be based on a better understanding of what literature is…

Demonstrates the interrelationship of the language arts--talking, listening, reading, and writing--as children explore and respond to the meaning in books. Notes that observing and listening in classrooms is a powerful tool for teachers seeking to assess children's learning. Shows how talking about books contributes to children's learning. (HTH)

To investigate the higher level comprehension strategies used by children reading basal reader stories, a study compared the results of an earlier investigation of 50 fourth grade level readers' comprehension strategies with findings gained from 30 subjects using a sixth grade basal reader. Subjects were asked to read aloud from a basal and stop…