This theme issue of the NCREL's (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory's) "Learning Point" focuses on how reading engages children. The cover story article is an interview (Marianne Kroeger and Stephanie Blaser) with Mary Foertsch, from NCREL, on what types of innovative strategies teachers employ to help students become engaged readers. A…

Articles in this journal issue explore the relationship between the reader and the literature text, and discuss ways that instruction can enhance reader response to that literature. Following an introduction summarizing the nine articles, the titles and their authors are as follows: (1) "It Is the Poem That I Remake: Using Kenneth Burke's…

This article discusses editorial "filters" in folktales, specifically the changes ("orientations") which editors deliberately impose on a tale because they want to reach a specific audience. A case in point is the tale called "Allerleirauh," in the Grimm collection, which not only is highly illustrative of editorial…

Focusing on the notion that the author supplies the words in a text while the reader supplies the meaning, this issue contains essays that combine literary theories with classroom practices. Following an introduction by R. E. Fitch, articles include "Teaching a Western: Jack Schaefer's 'Shane'" (J. R. Ruff); "Pragmatic Criticism in…

Noting the general lack of attention to the teaching of nonfiction, this focused journal issue presents 11 articles containing suggestions for ways to incorporate various nonfiction materials into the English class. Article titles and authors in the journal are (1) "A Marriage that Works: Early American Literature in Context" (S. Bouley); (2)…

Focusing on adolescent literature, this issue highlights the role of historian, writer, teacher, and reader in fact, fiction, and history. The following essays are included: "Doing the Literacy Tango" (J. L. Collier); "Biography and Books of James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier" (J. Bugniazet); "Fact, Fiction and History: The Role of…

Noting that the ways children encounter and use print in the classroom can be examined as surface and organizing content of curriculum, this article provides descriptions of innovative uses of print in the kindergarten and elementary school classroom. Curriculum "surface content" includes activities, use of classroom space, display, and…

The six articles in this focused journal issue are concerned with literature teaching on the secondary and college level. The titles and authors of the articles are as follows: (1) "Aesthetic Reading and Teaching: 'Candide' Revisited" (Michael G. Gauthier); (2) "Discovery: The Role of Subjective Response in Initiating the Literature…

A group of elementary teachers enrolled in a graduate class in language arts at the University of North Dakota explored how children construct their own meanings as they interact with texts. One teacher regularly read to her 20-month-old grandson, and excerpts from the journal she kept reveal that his understanding of a specific text evolved to…

The EPIEgram newsletter contains information about educational materials and technology and systemic change. In addition to continuing features, "Research & Reports,""Views and Reviews," and "The Educational Software Selector (TESS)," the five issues and two double issues contain articles on textbook adoption;…