Explains how students can be introduced to the delights and problems of lyric poetry by reading A.E. Housman's "Lovliest of Trees, the Cherry Now." (HOD)

Outlines a method for introducing poetry to two-year college students, many of whom have negative feelings about poetry after years of schooling that required them to read bad poems and that presented explication as a puzzling, frustrating activity. (FL)

Describes a "fiction into film" class course, in which students are brought to many significant insights about the workings of literature by collaborating on a short film based on a literary work. (FL)

Discusses ways to introduce literature to students in a manner that will encourage them to read and prepare them for the concepts and themes they will encounter when they read assigned materials. (FL)

A high school English teacher used her weekly Impromptu Poetry session to find out what 11th graders thought veterans had accomplished. The teacher developed a writing prompt that asked the students to describe a family member who had served in the military and to show what they understood about that person. Students who did not have a family…

This book constitutes the first comprehensive overview of service-learning in composition studies and should be of particular interest to educators at the high school through university levels who want to combine writing instruction with community action. In the book college-level case studies are woven into discussions of how service-learning…

This paper examines the controversy surrounding the use of Ebonics among African American students in schools in the United States, with a twofold purpose: (1) to focus on the primary function of language as a tool of communication that varies in its use according to the social context; and (2) to provide suggestions to teachers of ways to support…

Providing a description of what Mississippi students should know and do in English, language arts, and reading classrooms from kindergarten through twelfth grade, this curriculum framework addresses the interrelatedness of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing with the intent to raise expectations for student performance in the…

This lesson plan complements study of plot and characterization in "Romeo and Juliet" by focusing on Shakespeare's use of lyric forms and conventions to spotlight moments in the drama and thereby heightens the impact of the action on the stage. Students look first at the sonnet in which Romeo and Juliet meet, analyzing the imagery to…

This book was born of a desire to provide students, teachers, and all interested readers with a collection of essays that address issues of selection, pedagogy, and worth of the young adult novel. A primary purpose of the book is to enter the world of young adult readers through a literary form they know well, the modern young adult novel. Another…

Pointing out that increasing questions about and attacks on various methods used in teaching English language arts led to a 1994 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Resolution on the right to teach (reaffirmed in 1996) calling for the identification, definition, and defense of methods most often attacked, this brochure is the result of…

Presents ideas for teaching the beginnings of literary criticism to secondary school English students that build on the confidence the students have in their command of the English language. (HOD)

Argues against the use of rigid syllabuses for the teaching of literature and advocates instead a seminar approach in which students are required to read and think beforehand, with one or two of them having been given specific assignments as stimuli to discussion. (HOD)

Discusses the notion of schemata in theories of reading comprehension: what they are, how they might enter into comprehension, and the two kinds possibly used by readers. Explores teaching implications, using examples for literature classes. (FL)

Recommends assertiveness training for the English teacher. Argues that such training can lead to improved confidence and better relationships with students. (JL)