This article shares a literacy strategy to support students' analysis of the theme of text and provide evidence to support their assertion. The strategy is called Visual to Print Transfer (VPT). The VPT strategy leverages students' out-of-school literacy practices involving media images of Hollywood icons as a way to support their understanding of…

Media messages are increasingly packaged in ways that blur distinctions between genres. The U.S. Army National Guard's recent campaign incorporating rock stars and popular music to appeal to potential recruits exemplifies this trend, as commercials and music videos become one and the same. Given this increasing trend, critical media literacy…

The speed with which the technologies of literacy are changing is dazzling and unsettling. Almost every year, it seems a new way of combining words, images, and video emerges and becomes a phenomenon among students. Meanwhile, teachers are left wondering how to respond to these new ways of writing and reading and the identities that students…

The question is not whether literacy practices are present in contemporary popular culture--it is hard not to find a movie or program without some representation of literacy in it. The more important and useful question is, How do we in the audience interpret the literacy practices we find in popular culture? What do such representations tell us…

The nation's focus on the literacy skills of students--especially boys--has produced many notions of reform. School districts reorganized and changed curricula to meet the needs of struggling readers and writers. In New York City, where this author was teaching, "Balanced Literacy" (a reading and writing workshop) had been implemented in…

This article reports on a UKLA-funded project in which a group of 10 teachers in South Wales were involved. The televised science fiction drama "Doctor Who" was chosen as the theme as it was based on popular culture as well as being of local and national interest. The main character in this television drama is an alien who can fly…

An edited collection describing key issues in supporting literacy development, this book helps to "unlock" the mysteries behind helping children learn to read, write, speak and listen. It explores ways to help children develop their skills in literacy, thinking and learning and shows how literacy teaching can be used creatively and…

The second edition of "19 Urban Questions: Teaching in the City" adds new questions to those in the original volume. Continuing the developing conversation in urban education, the book is provocative in style and rich in detail. Emphasizing the complexity of urban education, Shirley R. Steinberg and the authors ask direct questions about what…

Incorporating popular culture texts in the classroom can motivate students--particularly reluctant or struggling readers. This resource gives the reader everything they need to use television, movies, video games, music, magazines, and other media to enhance students' literacy learning. The reader will find a balance of research, theory, and…

Argues that fiction, poetry, and music can make history come alive for high school students. Outlines a number of activities that use an interdisciplinary and thematic approach. "Riders to the Sea," captures the pathos of Ireland while the Doors'"Riders on the Storm" reflects the ambience of the play. (MJP)