When one high school English teacher became engaged in active research, she reflected on her practice and learned to have faith in her students as learners and in herself as a teacher, and to ground her teaching practice consciously in theory. Her investigation centered on the question of whether teaching literary theory in the high school English…

The ability to read fluently and make use of text is crucial for all learners. The training of secondary teachers, however, takes almost no account of this. Reading skills develop and change as the individual meets new situations and demands throughout life. Reading should be understood as a complex process of making meaning from text, for a…

The use of literature circles has been discussed in a variety of academic journals, conference papers, and workshops. Teachers at all grade levels use literature circles as a vehicle through which students learn to: think critically about literature; express their thoughts in oral and written forms; and better enjoy their literacy experiences.…

Most Americans think of the Fourth of July as Independence Day, but is it really the day the U.S. declared and celebrated independence? By exploring myths and truths surrounding Independence Day, this lesson asks students to think critically about commonly believed stories regarding the beginning of the Revolutionary War and the Independence Day…

Take a cyber journey through the world of science! Presenting more than 150 websites with primary source documents and authoritative data, this versatile book helps educators guide students on virtual scientific fieldtrips in all areas of science, from astronomy, biology, and chemistry to genetics, physics, and space science. Students can meet…

Proposes that reading skills be taught concurrently with history lessons. Lack of specific reading, study, and test-taking skills causes students to do poorly in history. Instruction needs to be provided in these skills so the student can master the subject matter. (RW)

Demonstrates how having students dramatize a novel from many points of view can help them to understand the work on different levels. (FL)

A partial report of research on high school student response to literature, using Alan Purves's categories of engagement, perception, interpretation, evaluation, and miscellaneous. (RL)

Suggests that teachers of developmental reading classes should not ignore the subjective side of reading development. (MKM)

Explains teaching methods for literature classes for seventh and eighth grades. Proposes that writing is a major tool in teaching literature. Outlines techniques which encourage students to look at other cultures. Concludes that reading has many cultural values, and that short stories have an impact on young minds. (PM)

Describes a study which examined classroom discussions of content area readings and attempted to modify the discussions to reflect more higher-order thinking and critical reading. Finds that teachers did elicit more inferential responses, even though they did not effect substantial and lasting changes in classroom interaction patterns. (RS)

Describes a Brazilian university's first semester English for Special Purposes class for library science students. An outline of guidelines is presented for designing instructional materials for a second semester library science course focusing on the application of text comprehension skills, learned during the first semester, to summarizing and…

Contends that the increasingly central role of imagery in contemporary society calls for the development of a pedagogy emphasizing critical media literacy. Using examples from print advertisements for cigarettes, argues the need for cognitive competencies to withstand the onslaught of media messages, empowering individuals to become autonomous,…

Using historical and contemporary perspectives, the paper argues that reading is a malleable social practice with identifiable moral and ideological consequences. A model that defines reading in contemporary social life through four interconnected roles is presented. The importance of critical reading in everyday life is illustrated through…