In a world where countries vie with one another for power, where religious extremism breeds hatred, where school shootings are becoming commonplace, and where children are routinely exposed to violent images and texts, is it any wonder that teachers feel frustrated as they try to help students deal with a culture of violence? Terrorist attacks around the world have made even more immediate the need to help students cope with personal conflicts and the reality of war. Many teachers feel helpless as they listen to their students express fear of attending school, concern about the future, and anger at those who would take away their freedom and way of life. This book attempts to answer the question "What can I do as a teacher?" by providing a collection of eminently practical articles on teaching for peace that have appeared in past issues of English Journal, an NCTE periodical geared toward middle and high school teachers. With a focus on successful classroom activities such as conflict resolution, assertive communication, silent reflection, and simulation with role playing, these articles offer peaceful approaches to conflict that teachers can modify to accommodate their own students and classroom situations. After an introduction (Virginia R. Monseau), the book is divided into three parts. Part I, Peace and War, contains the following chapters; (1) Young-Adult Literature and the Vietnam War (Larry R. Johannessen); (2) Adding Voice and Perspective: Children's and Young Adult Literature of the Civil War (Carolyn Lott and Stephanie Wasta); (3) World War II: A Research/Presentation Project for Eighth Graders (Joan Ruddiman); (4) New Wars, Old Battles: Contemporary Combat Fiction for the High School Canon (Randal W. Withers); (5) An Interdisciplinary Approach to War-Peace Studies (Rita Bornstein); and (6) Group Investigation, Democracy, and the Middle East (Jack Huhtala and Elaine B. Coughlin). Part II, Peace and the Arts, and the following chapters; (7) Empathy through Ecphrastic Poetry: Entering a Curriculum of Peace (Nancy Gorrell); (8) Peace by Piece: The Freeing Power of Language and Literacy through the Arts (Mary F. Wright and Sandra Kowalczyk); and (9) Warriors with Words: Toward a Post-Columbine Writing Curriculum (G. Lynn Nelson). Part III, Peace and Our Schools, and the following chapters: (10) A Place for Every Student (Sara Dalmas Jonsberg); (11) Get Real: Violence in Popular Culture and in English Class (Marsha Lee Holmes); (12) "Who You Dissin', Dude?" At-Risk Students Learn Assertive Communication Skills (Barbara R. Cangelosi); (13) The Teaching of Anti-Violence Strategies within the English Curriculum (Rosemarie Coghlan); (14) The Ada Valley Simulation: Exploring the Nature of Conflict (Daniel Mindich); (15) A Thousand Cranes: A Curriculum of Peace (Linda W. Rees); (16) The Value of Voice: Promoting Peace through Teaching and Writing (Colleen A. Ruggieri); (17) Giving Peace a Chance: Gandhi and King in the English Classroom (David Gill); (18) Slam: Hip-hop Meets Poetry--A Strategy for Violence Intervention (Heather E. Bruce and Bryan Dexter Davis); (19) Writing to Heal, Understand, and Cope (Vasiliki Antzoulis); and (20) The Silent Classroom (Marion Wrye).