Dangers implicit in the recent back-to-basics movement--including a possible swing to the opposite of the open elective programs of the 1960s and a focus on drill and standardized tests--may lead to the neglect of students, who need to understand both the universality of their problems and how to deal with these problems. However, students can…

This paper attempts to distill John Dewey's theory of poetic compression and suggests its possible application as a technique that the performer can use to confront poetic language. Specifically, Dewey's discussions of modes of interaction in art and of the expanding and contracting character of language are used to illuminate the language of the…

It is explained how schools may become involved in the Poets-in-Schools program.

Due to the deviance in language and the ideational fusion characteristic of poetry, the reader is engaged in a specialized form of information processing differing markedly from the reading of prose. Understanding occurs when the reader restructures his concept of reality to conform to that of the poem. (Author/SJL)

City Lights Books of San Francisco has served as a literary meeting place, as a bookstore that concentrates on serious literature--especially poetry, as a publisher of significant voices such as those of Allen Ginsberg and Charles Bukowski, and as an institution with a political conscience. (JMD)

Describes the results of an interdisciplinary approach adopted by a French teacher and a music teacher in a French secondary school. (AM)

An annotated bibliography of 150 short, light, humorous reading materials suitable for reluctant readers at three levels of elementary school. (DD)

Lists new books for children according to age groups and the following categories: picture books, biography and history, folklore, gambling, bridges, genetics, and poetry. (JM)

Suggestions are offered for using the questioning technique in the teaching of poetry. Questions should appeal to students of varying abilities and enable them to respond at several levels of interest and understanding. Examples from German poems illustrate application of the technique. (SW)

This lesson plan for a Spanish class includes a vocabulary list, a grammar discussion with questions and a poem followed by analytical questions. (NCR)

Author sees little evidence of aesthetic qualities in much that passes for "poetry" in schools. Her devastating attack illustrates the depth of her concern; her constructive suggestions illustrate the value of her contribution to thought and practice in this area. (Editor/RK)

Reviews history and present status of creative writing in the schools, pointing out both strengths and weaknesses in popular approaches. (AA)