Asserts that education cannot be limited to the confines of a textbook but must be a true window to the world. Argues that this can be achieved through curriculum and thematic teaching. Provides suggestions for designing and teaching integrated, thematic units. (CFR)

Describes a first-year course in teaching language arts for teacher education students. Shows students and teachers reveling in language and literacy. Describes the tone, attitudes, and methods of the course, which uses language energetically to amuse and enthuse, modelling language as a vital tool employed with power and enjoyment for many…

Provides six fully developed library media activities to be used in conjunction with specific curriculum units in art, music and physical education, reading/language arts, science, and social studies. Grade levels, objectives, curriculum objectives, resources, instructional roles, activities and procedures for completion, evaluation, and followup…

Compares literacy in colonial and contemporary America along dimensions of conceptions of literacy; practice of literacy; relationships among speaking, reading, and writing; and sites for learning literacy. Comparisons suggest directions for refiguring literacy today, including more emphasis on literacy as a collaborative practice. (SLD)

Shows how a first-year science teacher met the challenge of an innovative program in which all sixth-grade content teachers at one school assumed responsibility for teaching content-area literacy. Describes the various strategies he taught for reading and learning in content-area instruction, including compare and contrast, sequencing activities,…

Describes a writing assignment in which students study and imitate the language of a minority author. Discusses how the assignment helps negotiate conflicts when students resist multicultural literature, as their creative responses mediate between themselves and works they might otherwise find foreign and antagonistic. (SR)

Investigates the nature of e-mail correspondence (as a kind of literature-response journal) between nine- and ten-year olds and preservice teachers. Finds children's e-mail almost equally divided between socialization and book talk, with reading levels not affecting these percentages. Concludes that children thought critically about themselves and…

Discusses five books that offer suggestions and strategies to help teachers balance their teaching, in a variety of ways: (1) "Balanced Literacy Instruction: A Teacher's Resource Book"; (2) "Educators Supporting Educators"; (3) "The Reading Connection: Bringing Parents, Teachers, and Librarians Together"; (4) "The Girl With the Brown Crayon"; and…

This study examined how two novice bilingual-education teachers, previously nominated as being effective teachers, integrated third-grade students with language and learning disabilities during language arts. Accommodations in these bilingual-education settings were similar to general education settings, in that teachers most frequently used…

A sample language arts/history curriculum based on state curriculum standards was created and implemented in a classroom for 22 secondary students with emotional/behavioral disorders in a residential treatment program. Emphasis on story elements and narrative summary writing resulted in improvements in both summary writing skills and academic…

Describes the school climate, the building-level specifics, and some effective teaching strategies that make Western Hills Elementary School an appropriate and successful setting for the development of multicultural language practices. Discusses the partnership between the school district and the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the role…

Argues that reading and discussing novels in which females meet challenges can help adolescents examine critical issues girls face, and can help to counteract the dangerous and significant losses of confidence, voice, and self-esteem suffered by adolescent girls. Summarizes 10 books that can engage girls in dialogue around these issues, and offers…

Discusses the life and artwork of Roger Brown and describes the imagery and content of his work entitled "Celebration of the Uncultivated -- A Garden of the World." Provides a reprint of the painting and activities in visual and language arts, the social science, natural science, and geometry. (CMK)

Describes how one eighth-grade teacher creates a safe, playful, literate environment for a four-week poetry unit which immerses students in the thoughtful, energetic, productive experience of poetry. Describes introducing poetry, setting up the unit, class activities, a wide range of requirements and assignments, and students' enthusiastic…

Presents six curriculum guides for health/nutrition, mathematics, reading, language arts, and social studies. Each activity identifies library media skills objectives, curriculum objectives, grade levels, resources, librarians and teacher instructional roles, activity and procedures for completion, activity samples, guidelines for evaluating…