An instructor teaching a 20th-century fiction course was surprised by her students' response to a series of stories she asked them to read about the South. Apparently representing the feelings of many in the class, one student said, "These people are weird. And we don't like them." Though they were used to encountering differences in…

The state of Indiana has established new academic standards in English/Language Arts. These "world-class" standards outline what a student should know and be able to do in each subject, at each grade level. This Teacher's Edition of the academic standards--an exact reprint of the standards guides for parents and students--provides…

This book, the third volume in the NCTE High School Literature Series, explores the joys of reading and teaching the stories and poems of noted Mexican American author Sandra Cisneros. Already a fixture in many high school English classes, her works resonate with the challenges and promises of living in a multicultural society, and they appeal to…

Anne Frank's "The Diary of a Young Girl" is the most widely read text about the Holocaust, yet it represents only one example of the tragic consequences of the Nazi policy to eliminate the Jews of Europe during World War II. This casebook enriches Anne Frank's remarkable personal account with a variety of historical documents that…

Designed to grow into a 2-inch three-ring binder, this handbook is part of a series for teachers of grades 6-8 language arts. The handbook aims to clarify some points, to provide a framework for new teachers and to give veteran teachers some new ideas. Volume I contains activities to use in the classroom, and Volume II is "all about…

This resource manual integrates literature and social studies with an emphasis on character development. Using children's literature as a catalyst for investigating representative cultures, the manual's curriculum writers crafted multicultural, integrated, thematic lessons for the K-6 classroom that can be used throughout the year. Included are…

Based on the 1998 Arkansas State Language Arts Framework, this framework lists benchmarks for kindergarten through grade four in writing; reading; and listening, speaking, and viewing. The writing section's stated standards are to help students employ a wide range of strategies as they write; use different writing process elements appropriately to…

The appeal of the novel "The Red Badge of Courage" is both historical and universal. It is historical in its Civil War setting and universal in its relating of the experiences of a young man who is thrust into a situation he does not understand and cannot cope with. This collection of historical documents, collateral readings, and…

This paper briefly discusses the uses of literary and professional texts in exceptional children teacher education and then reports on two studies examining the effects of literary texts on changing attitudes of prospective teachers toward children with disabilities. In the first study, an experimental section of an introductory course in teaching…

This curriculum project, a lesson plan for a thematic literary study of war and its effects, has five goals: (1) to have students read various selections of literature on the theme of war from both the Middle East and the West; (2) to teach students to analyze the differences and similarities between wars fought in the Middle East as compared to…

This paper reports on an interview with a 10-year-old Black girl, in which she discusses her responses to books about strong, active Afro-American girls. The difficulty of obtaining such books is pointed out, as is the need for studies of the impact of culturally valid books for young readers. (PP)

This paper describes different approaches that have been used in research on reading, and reports on a study of reading comprehension in fourth-, sixth-, and eighth-grade students. Findings confirm that there are distinct age-related developmental levels in children's comprehension of literature. (PP)

Describes an interdisciplinary unit that brought the Civil War to life for 11th-grade students in a team-taught unit that highlighted student-driven response to reading. Describes use of a 19th-century essay supporting slavery, Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle,""Huckleberry Finn," Civil War poetry and other writings, and student projects based on the…

Explains a case study in Retrospective Miscue Analysis (RMA), a process which enables readers to discuss the underlying logic of their miscues. Concludes that RMA is a powerful tool in crafting and guiding reading instruction. Notes that when the student subject was encouraged to use reading strategies that worked for him, he became empowered as a…

Discusses the manipulation of various grammatical devices in a Spanish short story. Points out that variations in the use of verbal aspect mark stages in the development of the plot and that modal and lexical choices reinforce its reflexive and repetitive nature. Argues that this story exemplifies creative use of grammatical choices. (13…