Provides a 1993 speech given by the children's book author Virginia Hamilton. She describes how she has absorbed her personal history as well as African-American history within the broad context of U.S. history and transformed them into her writing. (nine references) (EAM)

Continues a series by presenting a representative list of fiction and nonfiction titles on the topic of baseball and cultural diversity. Sources and novels on African-American, Latin American, and Jewish ballplayers are listed, for a total of 246 references. (SLD)

Presents a new perspective on helping children promote independent functioning. Suggests a theory of instruction for teachers who wish to develop with their students an understanding and appreciation of the concept of integral setting when reading fiction. (MG)

Discusses the role of readers' advisors in public libraries based on readers' responses to open-ended, qualitative interviews on reading for pleasure. Topics discussed include how books help people, how readers choose books, what they like and dislike about fiction collections in libraries, and how libraries and librarians can be more helpful to…

Asserts that picture books with historical settings can extend children's understanding of life in the past and greatly enrich the elementary social studies program. Discusses criteria for selecting appropriate fiction picture books. Presents a bibliographical essay of recommended books and includes the list. (CFR)

An author relates memorable experiences of living in Ethiopia and describes how her brother's friendship with a poor boy in the city of Addis Ababa who cared for pigeons led to a children's book. Includes a descriptive list of books on pigeons, Africa, pets and wild animals, and cities, and a list of books by the author. (AEF)

Describes a fifth grade teacher's eight-week unit of study on fiction. Notes that fiction had been a part of the teacher's reading workshop but was absent from her writing workshop. Discusses immersion and exploration, characterization, developing plot, and drafting and revision. (RS)

Notes that history is always based on someone's vision of truth, expressed through a process of distillation, selection, inclusion, exclusion, reorganization, and prioritizing. Argues that the shorthand, watered-down, or warped history of mainstream textbooks regarding cultural diversity should be supplemented with original documents, fiction, and…

Reviews treatment of African Americans and academic issues as depicted in children's literature from the 1900s through the 1950s. Discusses the portrayal of students, parents, teachers, and family members and their impact on academic achievement. (MAK)

Notes the popularity of the science fiction/fantasy genre, and offers a definition of these genres. Discusses teachers' reluctance to read or teach science fiction, but emphasizes its appeal and its usefulness. Discusses how teachers can select and use good science fiction books. Offers a checklist for evaluating such books, and suggests 18…

In addition to providing an annotated bibliography and a set of criteria for selecting outstanding translated children's books, this article addresses the collaborative process by the International Relations Committee (IRC) of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) of producing such a bibliography. Sources include…

Language arts teachers and library media specialists bear the responsibility of teaching students how to properly feed their brains. In this article, the author describes how she teaches her students to make wise choices when selecting books. Furthermore, she presents the "Brain Food Pyramid" model that looks similar to the food pyramid but it…

This article contains a small selection of mathematical fiction chosen with the teaching of mathematics in secondary school in mind. However, an attempt is made to classify the works and provide a few ideas about how these items may be used by mathematics teachers, sometimes, but not necessarily, in collaboration with science and humanities…

It is argued that a positive response to lifelong learning policies involves the use of imaginative curriculum design in order to attract learners from disadvantaged backgrounds who are otherwise alienated from higher education. In this article a case study is presented based on the popularity of science fiction within popular culture, beginning…

This article discusses the results of a mainly qualitative study into possible impacts of recent controversial socio-scientific issues on a group of Portuguese secondary school students regarding their conceptions about scientists. The 86 participants: (1) answered a questionnaire with open-ended questions; and (2) wrote a science fiction story…