Claims that the real value of a response journal is that it enables readers to make meaning as they read, to be actively involved in their own learning process. Includes guidelines for keeping a response journal. (JAD)

Reasons that teachers of literature should have as their focus not what writers do but what readers do in the process of reading literature. Concludes that readers construct literary works based on their own experience, education, and ability to imagine in response to a writer's suggestions. (JAD)

Discusses Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island," especially the characters of Long John Silver and Jim, and why the novel continues to be read today by adolescents. Discusses, also, the character of Jimmy Little, the adolescent protagonist of "Somewhere in the Darkness," a contemporary novel. Furnishes questions for…

Shares the work of one college freshman class whose journal entries demonstrate how reader response can be a powerful metacognitive tool. (RS)

Provides information on how teachers can contribute additional encouragement, direction, and guidance for exploring and expanding intermediate-grade students' personal response to literature. Describes eight response options and offers guidelines. (PRA)

Notes that literature-based reading approaches are becoming increasingly popular in Canada as well as in other parts of North America. Reviews the rationale behind shared book experiences and literary clubs. Provides a variety of language-rich tasks to guide children as they respond to the stories they are reading. (RS)

Discusses 10 reasons to end the senior year of high school with Bernard Malamud's novel "The Natural." (RS)

Argues that literature classes will grow more interesting and more effective if educators coordinate two kinds of emphases: allowing for discovery and moving toward productivity. Offers four principles for developing assignments: respect the process; nourish the participants; aim for a variety of products; and reflect together on process,…

Aims to help teachers find a way to help students enjoy Shakespeare through the process of performance. Provides guidelines gained from personal experience for teachers presenting the plays with secondary students that include the following: (1) audience consideration, (2) actor-ownership of the performance, (3) staging limitations, and (4)…

Notes how adolescents through young adult literature begin to discover the meaning behind the words and to explore their own emotions. Describes the use of small groups and an introduction of the concept of a literacy community. Discusses a whole-class reading and response to S.E. Hinton's novel "The Outsiders." (SC)

Describes how reader response journals encourage students to interact with literary works. Presents 20 questions, based on David Bleich's response heuristic, which help guide students' responses. (MM)

Summarizes the history of, and theory and research in, reader response approaches to teaching literature. Proposes an instructional process employing response-based teaching. (MM)

Describes a meditation assignment as a way for students to find connections between two levels of experience, the reader's level of transaction with the text and the level of the reader's own life. Leads students from close analysis to holistic consideration, and finally to philosophical implications. (MS)

Shows how one teacher used William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" to teach inference and implication. (ARH)

Provides a list of 118 reasons why the author's students claim they study American literature, including: (1) to broaden their vocabulary, (2) to learn from other people's experiences, and (3) to develop an open mind about different kinds of literature. (JD)