The driving question for this brief is based on the most common question that teachers, principals, school leaders, coaches, and grant writers ask the Buck Institute for Education (BIE) about Project Based Learning (PBL): What evidence exists that shows the impact of Project Based Learning on student learning in core content areas? Research shows…

The importance of adolescent literacy is well established, and the topic continues to be of both local and national interest. Practitioners need to know not only which programs and practices appear effective, but which have the scientific evidence to support that claim. To identify effective programs and practices for general education students in…

This annotated bibliography surveys key resources and research related specifically to language learning and literacy. It focuses on resources that will be valuable to teaching professionals and researchers who specialize in the areas of foreign and second language teaching, language arts and first and second language literacy. Significant…

In language education, several recent curricular developments from expressive writing to interactional reading share a common core of assumptions rooted in British Romanticism. This article compares central tenets of the New Literacy and Romanticism, focusing on the former's reconceptualization of the teacher, the student, and the language arts…

Imagine a literacy-centered classroom where reading and writing are no longer viewed as school skills, but as life skills--a classroom where students voluntarily and spontaneously engage in discussions about their reading and writing. This book offers personal evidence of the workshop approach as it applies to a balanced language arts program for…

This summary reviews the rationale for defining English language arts standards for K-12 students and the perspective on language learning that informs them. After presenting 2 of the 12 standards and discussing them briefly, the summary provides a vignette to illustrate how the standards might be manifested in a classroom setting. (RS)

Viewing the English language arts standards developed by the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association as a point of departure rather than a final destination, this book presents a number of ways to increase student ownership of learning. The book details a pedagogy that recognizes, respects, and builds from…

The challenge of middle school teaching is brought to life in this book, a narrative companion to the Standards for the English Language Arts developed by the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association. According to the book, team teaching and student-created materials form the framework for myriad…

Why does one classroom hum with productivity and enthusiasm and the one next door sag under the weight of the work? To understand the invisible forces within a classroom of busy children, people must look beneath the surface to the relationships that shape behavior and determine daily patterns of teaching and learning. This book focuses on the web…

Success in literacy takes participation born of trust, a positive group dynamic built on sharing tasks, maintaining good working relationships, and examining group functioning. This book tells why and how a truly collaborative environment is at the heart of accomplishment in the secondary classroom. In the classroom profiled in the book, students…

This comprehensive sourcebook, unique in content and design, is a resource for teaching reading and language arts in Grades K-8. Aiming to combine the best features of an academic text and a practical, hands-on teacher's guide, the book provides educators with proven research and instructional strategies necessary for balanced reading programs. It…

This book gathers 25 essays and 80 shorter excerpts from the past 25 years of the K-8 journal "Language Arts." Essays in the book begin with (1) "Introduction" (Sharon Murphy and Curt Dudley-Marling). Under Section I--Opening Contexts for Thinking about Teaching the Language Arts--are the following essays: (2) "How…

Most books about teacher education processes are generic in their descriptions. This book, however, is designed to enable staff developers and teacher educators to help teachers become effective in their teaching of the reading and writing processes. The book offers specific suggestions for planning and implementing a literacy professional…

The first volume in a series and the foundation on which future volumes will build, this book explains the goals of the "Kids InSight" series, then highlights the threads that will run throughout all the books in the series. The goals of the book are to: encourage teachers to reflect on and reconsider their instruction; change their…

This video is one of a four-part series which is designed to introduce teachers and parents to standards and teaching in a standards-based environment, and aims to help teachers and parents understand how teaching with standards can change classrooms, work assignments, and student performance. This video demonstrates what starting to meet the…