In English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms, where acquisition of English is the ultimate goal, one of the main tasks for the teacher is to provide students with language input and activities that best aid them in their learning process. As different researchers have reported, including poetry-based activities in the EFL classroom is…

In this article, the author describes her multimodal teaching practices in her "Adolescent Literacy Methods" course at a graduate university in the United States. By doing so, she highlights content teacher's understanding and use of various multimodal texts to effectively teach adolescents inside the classroom. In lieu of this, she raises…

Notes that literature-based reading approaches are becoming increasingly popular in Canada as well as in other parts of North America. Reviews the rationale behind shared book experiences and literary clubs. Provides a variety of language-rich tasks to guide children as they respond to the stories they are reading. (RS)

This book offers teachers some information about many of the newest children's books as well as over 125 kid-tested and teacher-approved ways to extend these stories into other areas of the curriculum. It aims to enable teachers to enhance their professional judgment about using literature in the classroom; guide teachers toward getting their…

Describes the affinities between reader response theory and the proper objectives of English instruction. Describes students not as potential literary scholars but as curious people needing personal experiences with reading and writing. Outlines a model for teaching literature focused on this conception. (HB)

Describes an approach, called "Questioning the Author," that is targeted toward getting young readers to engage with their textbooks--to really consider ideas deeply. Notes that the approach attempts to actualize the presence of an author, understand the author as a fallible transmitter of ideas, and transform author's ideas into readers' ideas.…

Presents a point, counterpoint strategy which helps students build a repertoire of interpretive strategies that can be enlisted when dealing with complex short stories. Notes that the key to the strategy is that students begin with their personal responses and move toward more public and generalized interpretations. (RS)

Describes how a nine-week mini-course in science fiction and fantasy stimulated students to think critically and creatively and to make connections across disciplines. Notes that the mini-course was replaced by a required survey of the British classics, sacrificing critical literacy for cultural literacy. (RS)

Presents an approach to teaching Pierre Boulle's novella, "Face of a Hero," in which students produce their own "Cliffs Notes" for the text. Stresses the importance of using nontraditional literature, and shows how students can discover their own richer responses to literature instead of relying on study aids. (MM)

Describes an activity which uses poetry to help students differentiate between literal and critical comprehension and to focus on topics, main ideas, inferences, paraphrasing, and writing in response to text. (SR)

Presents three assignment sequences--covering both canonical and noncanonical stories, mini-anthologies, and novels--that encourage secondary school students to think critically about the concept of literature. Notes that students can learn to analyze literature critically by comparing both canonical and noncanonical texts. (MM)

Reading workshop employs teaching methods to accomplish the goals of preparing self-disciplined readers who read and write by choice, motivating students to read and write because of a genuine interest, and developing students who learn to read and write by doing. Reading Workshop came into existence as a reaction to the disproportionate amount of…

Intended for use in classes in children's literature at the preservice and graduate levels in education or English departments and in library schools in colleges and universities, this book provides a rationale and suggestions to teachers for planning and evaluating a literature-based curriculum. The three-part organization of the book emphasizes…

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),…

Observing that basal readers and standardized testing lead teachers to focus on facts when dealing with novels or poetry in class, this monograph discusses research on response to literature. The monograph also presents classroom activities designed to allow students to explore the forms, the language, and the imagery of fiction, poetry, and…