Research demonstrates that intrinsic motivation "drives students' amount of reading" and that students who read for pleasure, to explore topics they care about, and for interest "read a lot and achieve greatly" (Guthrie 2). As teachers incline their pedagogy to student interests, ownership, self- efficacy, social interaction,…

Readers should not be divorced from the reading experience, but should become involved in what they read. (DD)

Historically, comics have been viewed as a "debased or simplified word-based literacy," explains Dale Jacobs, who considers comics to be complex, multimodal texts. Examining Ted Naifeh's "Polly and the Pirates," Jacobs shows how comics can engage students in multiple literacies, furthering meaning-making practices in the classroom and beyond.

Presents excerpts from eight of the many manuscripts received in response to a call for papers about whether other teachers could become like Nancie Atwell by reading her book "In the Middle." Results indicate that junior high teachers all over the country are emulating, adapting, and extending her methods. (RS)

Describes four writing assignments designed to transform the reading and study of literature by challenging students to become vital agents in the construction of textual meaning. Discusses the theory behind the assignments which states that reading is a dynamic process of making connections. (RS)

Discusses the emerging assumptions of literature and its teaching that knowledge is made and must be remade by each person. Considers the relationships between the reader and the text, the reader and the reader, and the relationship between texts. (EL)

Examines tasks provided for students in most literature textbooks used in the United States, noting that these tasks typically control students' responses to literature. Relates these tasks to current theory and research on the reading process. Describes activities from literature texts used in Canada that facilitate literary response. (MM)