Describes how the author and her high school English students begin their study of Thoreau's "Walden" by mining the text for quotations to inspire their own writing and discussion on the topic, "How does Thoreau speak to you or how could he speak to someone you know?" (SR)

Describes using a three-step process (called active reflection) with secondary school remedial reading students. Notes that, using this framework, students use literature to make connections, release their imaginations through reaction to literature, and record their reflections in a variety of ways. (SR)

Describes a strategy called RAFT (Role, Audience, Format, Topic) used to promote comprehension in content area classrooms. (SR)

Uses Chris Crutcher's "Chinese Handcuffs" and several other pieces of young adult literature to show how to teach literary elements and writing and reading skills. Notes that prominence is given to students' responses to reading and writing. (RS)

Describes an activity in which students study and then create effective television public service announcements, thus integrating reading, writing, speaking, and drawing. (SR)

Discusses writing assignments in response to literature that encourage adolescent female students to construct knowledge by allowing the self back into the process of knowing and in so doing to discover their own voices and a position of authority. Argues that through such authentic engagement with texts, young women can become more active,…

Describes a several-step class activity involving 3-D art and essays which at-risk students carry out with success and enthusiasm. Notes how the project is attentive to learning styles and good motivational techniques. (SR)

Content area teachers interested in using writing to learn activities need to be well informed about the learning promoted by certain writing tasks before assigning them. Writing assignments should not be thoughtlessly and arbitrarily assigned with the expectation that learning, somewhat miraculously or mysteriously, will occur. Although writing…

This paper presents four introductory activities designed to help students with their reading problems, motivate them to read, and help them turn their interpretations of literature into effective compositions. The paper presents samples for each of the four activities ("Opinionnaires," Scenarios, Simulations, and Role Playing),…

Describes how writing fiction helps students to write more effectively, think more critically, and enter difficult territory of complex issues. Illustrates how two students' stories led into discussions of meaning and values. (KEH)

Explores the interrelationship of learning, language and literature. Suggests assignments that allow students to respond like readers rather than like apprentice critics. Asserts that writing is not merely recording, and reading is not merely decoding. States that confusions about meaning and syntax disappear when writers read their own work…

Describes five writing activities and assignments designed to help students understand the content of social studies and the process of writing. These include student journals, biographical poems, elaborate word games, and creative writing exercises. Illustrative examples relate these to social studies issues. (MJP)

Describes an activity called "Critical Analysis of Literature." Students read, think, debate, and write about controversial books, examining whether each novel should be included in the school curriculum. This teaches students to critically analyze information, develop an appreciation for literature, and develop a respect for thinking on their…

Shares the attempts of one teacher to structure a program that allows students to learn and grow as a community of readers and writers through the use of a response-centered curriculum. (MG)

This study investigated the effects of autobiographical writing before reading on ninth graders' discussion and understanding of two short stories. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of audiotaped class discussion revealed that students who had written about relevant personal experience before reading were more substantively engaged in…