Asserts that students engage--successfully or unsuccessfully--in dialogues with the curriculum as well as with their texts. Discusses the nature of that dialogue, and the relationship between a reader and the written text. Concludes that the reading dialogue is a vital aspect in the child-curriculum encounter. (MM)

Presents results of a study of how readers fill in information "gaps" in a text to make meaning, using adolescents' response to a story by Brecht. Concludes that such gaps bore children uninterested in making meaning, and that those who make meaning from a mechanical stance may be limited in their comprehension unless deeper ways of…

Discusses a young adult novel with an unusual theme: a neglected boy roams the New York City subways by day and makes his home in a cave. (NKA)

Suggests that, because English teachers are often more knowledgeable about composition theory and pedagogy, English departments should house writing-across-the-curriculum programs. (ARH)

Claims that literacy and literature become interrelated in classrooms where there are many opportunities to engage in the narrative mode of thought. Discusses how the potential of literacy/literature experiences is enriched when students draw from the narrative reservoirs of the community and school. (JD)

Examines the use of the repertory grid technique to describe student responses to the poem "Frost at Midnight" by Coleridge. (HOD)

Explains how a writing course with lyric poetry as its subject matter, when designed according to cognitivist principles, provides an environment in which students can grow as writers and also mature in their ability to respond to literature. (HOD)

Discusses several issues concerning literature for young people in Canada, including lack of originality and the price of books. (DF)

Reviews several books that seek to explain what some of the structures of meaning are that stories present to readers and feed into their memories. (HOD)

Distinguishes between folk tales and fairy tales and explains how these tales enrich children's lives and help them adjust to growing up. (HOD)

Explores some of the issues raised when teachers are committed to giving students choice over the literature they encounter and over the ways they respond to it. (HOD)

Argues in favor of a reader-response approach to the process of selecting the literary works students read in introductory or survey courses. Offers a rationale for using "The Tempest" in such a course. (FL)

Argues that, in the high school classroom, it may appear that much is being learned, but in the minds of pupils there is often considerable confusion as to the meaning of what they have read. Reports on a study that explored the nature of that confusion and discusses what can be done. (RBW)

This book challenges current paradigms of literature instruction by making a strong case for teaching critical theory in high school literature classrooms. The book urges teachers to expand their theoretical repertoires. It argues for the importance of multiple perspectives in enabling students to better read and interpret literature, as well as…

Research suggests that literacy practices are a key site for the construction of gender in society and that widening the range of discourses available to both boys and girls is important to expanding the possibilities for how they construct their definitions of masculinity and femininity. A study compared children's responses to picture storybooks…