Describes class discussions in an undergraduate English fiction class. Draws a parallel between students' reactions to reading material and the instructor's own responses to fiction as an undergraduate. Suggests that a literature teacher can depart from the usual role of telling students how they must read a given story. (SG)

Describes instructional techniques, based on schema theory, which enable English as a second language (ESL) students to revise their writing to meet the expectations of English-speaking readers. Illustrates this approach by examining a Chinese-speaking student's first revision of an essay. (RS)

Shares a curriculum framework based on six aspects of literacy: ownership, reading comprehension, writing process, word identification, language and vocabulary knowledge, and voluntary reading. Notes that this framework is consistent with a whole literacy approach, and includes an assessment system and provisions for accountability. (MG)

Describes literature study groups in which students choose the adolescent literature books they wish to read, write down their thoughts in journals, and share their reading experiences in discussion groups. Notes that students respond favorably, actively involving themselves in reading and discussing books. Discusses the problem of evaluating…

Evaluates how Stephen Silverman's research review (this issue) on teaching in physical education explains what the literature offers, what is missing, and what to do next, from the perspective of Silverman's personal reading. The article notes Silverman's review fails to make judgement calls about the research's worth. (SM)

Reinforces some of the points made in Stephen Silverman's research review on teaching in physical education, examining the process-product paradigm, the measurement of learning and teaching, and the significance of student mediation. The article identifies issues that merit further discussion and analysis. (SM)

A study tested responses of 201 upper division business students to 8 graduate business school recruitment ads with similar content but written in different styles. Results suggest that certain styles, independently and in combination, do affect perceptions on lower-order dimensions (ad interest, appeal, believability, clarity) but not broader…

Elementary educators can teach middle and upper level students to be book critics beginning with picture books, thus encouraging poor and reluctant readers and providing all students with practice in reading, writing, and critical thinking. The article provides suggestions for objectives of student critiques, e.g., bulletin board displays for the…

Suggests that reading students be taught to write symbolic codes alongside the text to identify new terms, similarities in ideas, cause-effect relationships, important or difficult ideas, etc.; and to use mnemonics to record their responses to the text (e.g., whether they were bored, confused, surprised, or in agreement). (PAA)

Maintains that, for each child, an initial contact with a poem through a sensitive and skillful teacher can be an individual dialogue with thought and feeling, reforming and deepening with time. Examples of poems are used to illustrate this point. (BB)

Argues that students must have time to experience and respond to (not about) literature. Discusses influences that obstruct this. Outlines eight ways teachers can promote reading as an aesthetic experience, including: give students reading choices; model what it means to be a reader; read aloud to students; allow class time for independent…

Examines a peer-led middle school literature discussion to demonstrate the social and performative nature of interpretation. Finds that two students' stances in relation to a text are shaped by social and cultural conditions within and beyond the classroom. (RS)

Draws from the text of "Jack" (a story about a teenager dealing with his father's homosexuality) several narratives from class discussions. Analyzes the teaching and learning in the middle school class and the teacher's role. Presents responses from Patricia Enciso and Lauren Myracle which comment on this article. (PA)

Drawing on data gathered during a fourteen-month study of reading practices among poor and working-class girls, this essay explores the challenges of creating a responsive and critical reading pedagogy across boundaries of class. Set largely in a summer and after-school reading program for pre-teen girls, the study addressed the question of how a…

Special education as a percentage of total enrollment has risen significantly across the nation, increasing from 8% of the school-age population in 1975-76 to 12% in 2001-02. These growing numbers have garnered increased public attention and have raised questions as to whether the type of special education funding formula used by states may be…