Argues that English teachers who use plays in their classes should emphasize the effects and interpretation of the words of the scripts as they are spoken. Offers four suggestions whereby teachers can focus on the playscript as it is performed, not written. (RL)

Examines literacy practices in their sociohistorical contexts, drawing examples of religious reading practices and stances from Orthodox Jewish reading practices. Notes that religious reading practices highlight the repertoire of reading genres, strategies, and stances that members of modern multicultural societies learn to control. Concludes that…

The Rural Educational Alliance for Collaborative Humanities (REACH) Program, designed to enrich humanities study in rural South Carolina schools, encourages youngsters to explore their communities' history and culture, thereby connecting rural schools to community life. This article praises assessment as theater and urges its use in other…

Describes a poetry assignment in which students select a poem to analyze and present before the class. Observes that unlike the traditional postures of detachment and impersonality, this approach of self-selections encourages students to establish an intimacy with poetry. (MM)

Describes a poetry-presentation assignment in which students select poems from examples studied in class and prepare oral presentations incorporating visual, dramatic, technical, or musical arts. Describes several student presentations resulting from this assignment. (MM)

Describes the development of reading fluency and expression, noting connections among oral reading fluency, word recognition, and spelling. The article presents a model of the stages of literacy development that recognizes the role of tacit knowledge in learning to read and write. A spelling inventory for teachers is included. (SM)

Offers the author's narrative of the recent history of performance studies, focusing on the current place of literature, its instability as a recognizable genre of discourse, and its uncertain value in the academic market. Discusses the problem of literature's loss of "academic capital." (SR)

The authors acted on their belief that familiarity with text and repeated readings of it would help students with fluency, comprehension, and confidence. They assembled a list of "cuttings" excerpts of full-length books from which seventh-grade students could choose to prepare a public reading. After working alone, in pairs, and reading for a…

A program was designed, developed, and implemented to increase the participation of fourth-grade students in a district-wide storytelling festival in Florida. The target school was the only one in the area to send no students to the festival year after year. The program was planned to work with 10 students in a storytelling practicum with 3 goals,…

This anthology of literature contains selections that can be performed in classrooms, workshops, and speech and theater conventions as reader's theater, defined as a dramatic approach to literature. Divided into six categories--comedy, mystery/suspense, Christmas specials, folklore, children's classics, and the human spirit--the anthology features…

A study investigated the national status of graduate degree programs in Performance Studies in 1990. Of the 37 institutions offering master's of doctoral degrees in oral interpretation who were sent surveys, 22 (59%) responded. Results indicated (1) the loss of graduate programs was problematic; (2) some scholars had difficulty with securing…

Oral interpretation of translated Chinese poetry is both difficult and audacious. However, non-native readers are less bound by the Chinese literary canon than native readers and therefore are more free to develop their personal taste and discover new modes of expression. As a result, these performers are potentially ideal translators of Chinese…

Forensic coaches can follow certain strategies to best instruct new recruits. The novice should be encouraged: (1) to check the particular rules for each tournament; (2) to stick with traditional oratory forms--innovation can come later; (3) to watch "60 Minutes" or the evening news--excellent sources of timely topics; (4) to avoid…

Listening has been shown to be critical to educational, social, and professional success and teaching is a profession requiring mastery level skill. This can be aided by teacher educational curriculum which includes communication studies in general and listening in particular, and by using communication specialists as consultants and inservice…

The key element to the survival of speech communication and its status in academe is the basic course, which tells the academic community what speech communication is and what it can produce in terms of observable student behavior. This basic course, upon which many communication departments depend, must produce students who are obviously trained…