Four field tests of Canadian software show that computerized interactive fiction teaches both history and independent reading/study skills. (ARH)

Self-expression is a key component that adolescents at a certain stage of development (eighth grade) need to be aware of and understand. Students are undergoing dramatic change during this time of their lives--they are moving from Erikson's Industry versus Inferiority stage to Identity versus Role Confusion stage. Poetry is a literary genre in…

Elaborated as a response to a traditional set of secondary school poetry examinations that are called "sterile and outmoded," this report resulted from a series of seminars held in England by literature educators. The report offers extensive guidelines for modernizing the exams, examples of student critical writing about particular poems, and…

"Write in the Middle: A Workshop for Middle School Teachers" is an eight-part professional development workshop designed to help teachers learn effective practices and strategies to use with middle school students in writing instruction. Through classroom footage of excellent teachers modeling successful strategies and interviews with teachers,…

Focusing on encouraging students to take responsibility for their own learning and giving them a sense of control over their efforts, this book explores how the response approach to writing instruction can be put to good use in teaching children to read. Respectively, chapters discuss (1) how the author learned about writing, reading, teaching,…

To help children better understand and exert control over the use of narrative language, teachers need not only to devote time to children's literature, but also need to emphasize other narrative forms including the mass media and children's own stories (in their talk, writing, drawing, and play). Giving children experience in mass media…

Describes the Dublin model, a program which uses thematic units or individualized reading assignments to focus on popular adolescent literature and includes projects that demonstrate students' comprehension of text. Discusses the formulation, implementation, and assessment of this program. (RS)

This unit of study involves high ability intermediate-grade students interacting with literature while enhancing reading comprehension and textual analysis skills. Students read literature and engage in shared inquiry to develop an awareness about the nature and importance of change, particularly as it affects people in various circumstances,…

Drawing from both research and practice, the articles in this collection address a number of issues related to the reading and writing connection. The 24 articles are grouped into five sections: "Reading, Writing, and Thinking"; "The Parts and the Whole"; "Reading for Writing"; "Contexts for Literacy"; and…

Peter Elbow's concepts of "pointing,""summarizing,""telling," and "showing" can form an effective method for training students to give reader-based feedback to peer writing. In pointing, students jot down all the words and phrases they can remember from an oral reading of a draft. These lists stimulate…

Intended for teachers, administrators, consultants, parents and students who wish to review and improve elementary and secondary educational programs, this handbook provides essays discussing educational research, teaching philosophies and methods, instructional materials, and curriculum planning strategies in relation to the teaching of…

Offers 58 suggestions for eliciting students' responses to literature, which will enhance reading development, critical thinking, writing quality, and personal expression. Includes writing activities, speaking activities about a book, drama presentations, media presentations, artistic representations, and literature response journal entries. Notes…

The language arts component of the California State "Model Curriculum Guides" series, this document sets guidelines for the elementary and middle school English language arts curriculum. The guide suggests a learning sequence--core, integrated, and across the curriculum--and delineates concepts, skills, and activities appropriate for…

Based on the philosophy, goals, and objectives of the Alberta (Canada) Education 1978 curriculum, this revised curriculum guide stresses the importance of students' active involvement in using language. The guide regroups the 1978 skills and concepts for junior high school into the following five language strands: speaking, listening, viewing,…

Designed to help implement the goals of the California state educational reform movement, this document presents a philosophical and practical framework for a literature based English language arts curriculum that will encourage students to read widely and in depth, write often in many formats, study important writings from many disciplines, and…