Presents brief descriptions of 1999's list of Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts: 30 children's trade books published in 1998 chosen for their outstanding potential to enhance language awareness among students in grades K-8. (SR)

Explores how, although minority and female authors have found a place on many English departments' reading lists, the debate over the benefits of a diverse curriculum still linger. (EV)

Discusses possible reasons why Stephen Crane's short story "The Open Boat" does not go over well with students or the author's colleagues: (1) students cannot identify with the scenario of the story; (2) the story is a "guy" thing; (3) the teacher's enthusiasm kills the story; and (4) the story is intrinsically unteachable and dull. (RS)

Describes the positive results when a high school English teacher decided to have her students choose poems to be presented to and discussed by the class. Notes that Alice Walker's poems were chosen often by the students. Suggests students began to have a genuine interaction with these poems they chose themselves. (RS)

Presents annotations of 30 works of adolescent literature (published in 1999) chosen as the result of voting by students in five different regions of the United States. Notes that the goals of the project are to encourage young people to read and to make teens, teachers, librarians, and parents aware of new literature for young adults. (SG)

Explores the relationship between fathers and sons in two very different books. Notes that David and Daniel Hays'"My Old Man and the Sea" describes a journey around Cape Horn providing both sailors with a new perspective on their relationship. Considers how Tony Early's "Jim the Boy" takes readers into a happy North Carolina family. (SG)

When it comes to selecting science trade books, there are plenty of lists and guides that identify good books; however, when it is time to create a unit or add to the classroom library, selecting appropriate books can still be a challenge. Recommended books may not be available in the school or local libraries, and budget constraints may prohibit…

The text samples presented in this document primarily serve to exemplify the level of complexity and quality that the Standards require all students in a given grade band to engage with. Additionally, they are suggestive of the breadth of texts that students should encounter in the text types required by the Standards. The choices should serve as…

The "Little Books" are a set of books designed for interactive book reading between parents and children or teachers and students. The books use thematic topics familiar to children. They are written with high-frequency words and use simple phrases and sentences. They also have strong links between illustrations and text. One study of…

Over the past decade in the United States, levelled texts, or "little books" with finely graduated levelling of text difficulty, have regained their status as a literacy staple for beginning readers. Despite their resurgence, questions remain regarding the reliability and quality of these books. In this study, we conducted a detailed…

In this article, the author recommends a certain criteria for selecting Spanish-language books for elementary students such as cultural factors, setting, time, age, language and visuals. She also enumerates some authors and a listing of their many bilingual texts, which can be used to enrich a school or classroom library.

U.S. Department of Education Secretary Spellings admonished PBS for having produced an episode of "Postcards from Buster" because it included children with lesbian parents. A college professor describes how this incident and children's literature was a learning opportunity for future teachers.

These 100 handy reproducible book lists can be used to instantly create hand-outs for teachers and parents (as well as for older readers), to add to newsletter, or to post on a Web site or bulletin board. Based on the most common needs of educators and librarians who work with young readers, these lists focus on new titles, as well as classics…

Children's literature often portrays characters with disabilities. These books may be used to promote awareness, understanding, and acceptance of those with disabilities. We provide guidelines for selecting high-quality literature and ideas for using characterizations of learning disabilities to teach students about themselves and others. Two…

Just 10 years ago the Academy of American Poets initiated the observance of National Poetry Month to celebrate poetry and its place in American culture. Since then, the movement has continued to gain momentum with the emergence of Young People's Poetry Week in 1999, a focus on poetry slams as the centerpiece for Teen Read Week in 2003, and the…