Students in the English Language Arts classroom have access to more author commentary than ever. While following authors on social media may deepen students' engagement with their assigned reading, it also threatens to subdue students' own interpretations of the authors' texts. This essay explains how educators can introduce basic aspects of…

Shifts in generations from Millennials to Generation Z have brought changes to today's classroom. In turn, these changes indicate the need for reform and innovation in education. If the goal for education remains to put contributing members into society, then educators must search for the most effective ways to prepare students to enter society…

This article serves as an invitation to see the way the teaching of biography-driven writing has been increasingly pushed out of the secondary English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum in favor of highly structured, formulaic, and impersonal writing, and how this is a setback for students in their preparation for college and career writing. The…

This practitioner-based book provides different approaches for reaching an increasing population in today's schools - English language learners (ELLs). The recent development and adoption of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects (CCSS-ELA/Literacy), the…

This book adopts a questioning approach to studying history in which students become biographers who read, discuss, research, and write books about their subjects, providing their own original interpretations of the facts. By digging into the past and reflecting on what they have learned, students get involved in the process and are eager to do it…

This unit introduces students to activities and professions that require a mastery of language, written or spoken, and provides brief biographies of women who have made significant contributions in each of 12 different language arts areas. Areas addressed include: (1) Political Orators; (2) Journalists; (3) Letter Writers/Diarists; (4) Excerpts…

Childrens' historical books by author Jean Fritz offer teachers a stepping stone to fun and interesting history units. Make-believe journeys, time lines, role playing, and storytelling activities based on the Fritz biographies help children learn many different skills. (DF)

This book provides biographical information about 19 stylistically different illustrators of children's picture books. The illustrators and illustrations selected for representation demonstrate the many changes and styles in book illustration that have occurred during the past 50 years. Focus is upon how and why these individuals became children's…

This article describes an enrichment program for gifted fifth-grade students, which focuses on American presidents. Students develop biographical profiles of a president whom they portray in various individual and group activities over a five-month period. The program addresses issues of leadership, ethics, and collaboration as well as building…

This lesson begins with a very brief biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. The lesson identifies its educational objectives; addresses National Standards for Music Education; lists materials needed; details six step-by-step classroom procedures for lesson implementation; and provides curriculum connections for language arts, visual art, physical…

This guide is designed to assist media specialists in building resource collections and teachers in meeting state requirements for the study of Georgia; it will provide support to other curricular areas, as well. It is limited to print and non-print materials about Georgia, and is divided into sections on art, music, language arts, science,…

This document is a guide to print and nonprint materials about Georgia and Georgians. Entries are arranged under the subject headings used in "Essential Skills for Georgia Schools." Criteria for inclusion were appropriateness for K-12 students and commercial availability of the item. Six books containing pictorial and photographic…

This digest paper presents strategies and activities that can be used to encourage gifted students to develop their individual talents in the language arts. Suggestions for exploring poetic language especially free verse, include ideas for creating group poems and catalysts for creating individual poems. Suggestions for exploring the elements of…

Designed to develop students' abilities to follow directions and organize and write their thoughts, this junior high level activity involves students in creating a dream person using magazine or catalog pictures and then writing a biography of this person. Materials include teacher notes, follow-up suggestions, evaluation procedure, and a…

Presents two separate interviews on one topic. William Styron and James West discuss West's biography of Styron from the vantage points of subject and biographer. Styron reveals some of the painful incidents in his life and West delineates how these have influenced Styron's work. Includes several photographs. (MJP)