Like schools, curricula are socially constructed and constituted within broader social, political, and historical relations of power, powerfully shaping students' beliefs and attitudes about themselves and their relationship toward the world. In light of this, the importance of literature selection cannot be overstated. School-sanctioned texts…

"Vocabulary Plus" is an interactive strategy which links vocabulary development with content area learning for English learners. This strategy uses interactive read-alouds of thematically- connected informational text matched to the grade-appropriate state standards and content of core subjects. When using "Vocabulary Plus",…

As multicultural education is becoming integral to the core curriculum, teachers often implement this aspect into their courses through literature. However, standards and criteria to teach and promote active discussion about this literature are sparse. This book introduces pre-service and experienced teachers to the use of literature to promote…

The text samples presented in this document primarily serve to exemplify the level of complexity and quality that the Standards require all students in a given grade band to engage with. Additionally, they are suggestive of the breadth of texts that students should encounter in the text types required by the Standards. The choices should serve as…

Argues that if cultural literacy does not mean a list of works, it is a list, whether in the form of a canon or syllabus. Concludes that the goal of common background knowledge is worthy but distracts educators from questions that offer a chance of achieving such a goal and achieving literacy. (SRT)

In reaction to articles by J. Warnock and W. Bennett, argues that a common background knowledge required for literacy does not depend on specific texts, or a literary canon, rather one needs to know a few facts about some of them. Concludes that cultural literacy is not text-bound. (SRT)

This book argues that what college students read has crucial implications for both their development as individuals and their ability to establish consensus on national issues. The result of visits to college classrooms all over the United States, the book is not the work of a professional educator but of an editor and literary critic who is…