As an extension of African-Americans' rich language and musical heritage and abilities, rap music has some value in the educational setting. Rap music started as a dance fad beginning in the mid-1970s among Blacks and Hispanics in New York's outer boroughs. It is another generational brand of Black language and musical usage and an extension of…

The principle of empathic learning (involving activities that help students feel what it is to be like someone else) can be used to teach poetry, a material about which students have strong prejudices, and an activity they cannot imagine themselves ever doing or being interested in. First, students are presented with the conception that people…

This serial issue features 6 members of the Indiana University System faculty who have focused their research on Latin America, past and present. The first article, "A Literature of Their Own," highlights Darlene Sadlier's research on Brazilian women's fiction and poetry that has led to an interest in the interplay of Brazilian and…

This issue of "The Bookmark" presents 20 articles focusing on the theme that libraries foster imagination. The articles are: (1) "Imagination and the Magic of Libraries" (Elizabeth S. Manion); (2) "Powerful Partners--Discovery and Democracy, An Interview with Cynthia Jenkins" (Anne E. Simon); (3) "Fostering Imagination in Children" (Susan Lehr);…

The "writing workshop" approach to teaching creative writing, virtually unchallenged throughout the United States, has recently come under fire. Two schools of thought, while agreeing that the traditional workshop needs a thorough overhaul, differ in approaches to that overhaul. One approach, using the theories of Harold Bloom, argues…

This paper is a how-to manual for doing poetic mini-dramas (PMD) with elementary school students. It describes the possibilities for discovery learning through the dramatization of poetry, lists initial suggestions for the teacher and the actual steps in the process, and reports the attitudes and vocabulary growth of second and third graders after…

The YALA journal is an annual publication of the Young Adult Learning Academy (YALA) in New York City, New York. This journal, one of many YALA publications and projects, was designed to encourage students to assume active roles in their education and to present their ideas, feelings, and craft to others. The YALA was established in 1984 to…

Developed in the belief that the regular inclusion of literature in the elementary school curriculum can lead to a dynamic interaction and integration in the language arts, this booklet provides an annotated bibliography of children's literature with teaching suggestions. The activities are arranged so that they can be modified from one book to…

Designed for use in junior high school language arts classes, this learning activity packet combines the study of prejudice with language arts skills activities. An attitude inventory in which students assess their own prejudices is followed by a selection of short stories, skits, and a poem dealing with different kinds of prejudice. Each reading…

One of a series of activity guides designed to aid teachers in developing the thinking skills of primary grade students, this publication offers a variety of learning activities and resource materials. The activities and resources include: a calendar which lists important days and birthdays in December; poems; facts and an activity about Hanukkah;…

One of a series of activity guides designed to aid teachers in developing the thinking skills of primary grade students, this publication offers a variety of learning activities and resource materials. The activities and resources include: a calendar which lists important days and birthdays in December, January, and February; poems; word puzzles…

One of a series of activity guides, this publication offers a variety of learning activities and resource materials for intermediate grade students. The activities and resources include: science activities; word puzzles and other puzzles; arts and crafts activities; language arts activities; poems; outdoor activities; and facts about the…

English teachers have given some attention to aesthetic reading, usually terming it the development of literary appreciation, but many of the classroom practices used to foster that appreciation have been counterproductive. One consideration in developing aesthetic reading has to do with the means for promoting reflection in readers. That is,…

Because poetic writing as a method of discourse and as a tool for learning plays a significant role in many theoretical models of writing but is rarely used in practice, a study was conducted to examine the effects on 70 college students in an introductory psychology class of a mixture of poetic and transactional assignments on the subject of…

Aime Cesaire is one of the foremost French-speaking blacks in twentieth century literature. The concept of negritude--referring to the culture of French-speaking blacks--is often associated with his name. This paper discusses his life and work, and explores his life from his birth in Martinique, his early years, the years spent in Paris, and his…