Perhaps no factor has a greater influence on children's literacy learning than exposure to engaging, authentic, culturally relevant texts. This concise practitioner resource and course text helps K--8 teachers make informed choices about using children's literature in their classrooms, from selecting high-quality texts to planning instruction and…

Grounded in theory and best-practices research, this practical text provides teachers with 40 strategies for using fiction and non-fiction trade books to teach in five key content areas: language arts and reading, social studies, mathematics, science, and the arts. Each strategy provides everything a teacher needs to get started: a classroom…

The well-planned writing workshop is an effective tool for expanding the mathematical discourse of students and helping them become more skillful writers in the discipline. This article reviews a step-by-step process for conducting a workshop and details different reader response strategies. It also offers suggestions for various types of…

Discusses how "close" reading led to "closed" reading (a work's one true meaning is available only to a select few). Advocates "open" reading, returning authority over the text to students. Espouses the detective story as an open text which has been "closed" by the author but which resists closure. (SR)

This unique set of multimedia resources for middle and high school teachers of history, literature, social studies, and the arts, provides background, lessons, and ideas for studying and discussing the book "The Children of Willesden Lane" (2002). This book is based on the true story of Lisa Jura, a young girl who escaped Nazi persecution, as told…

On an outdoor stage, a boy named Peter addresses the audience. "If you believe in fairies, clap your hands," he urges. There is a deep sadness in his voice for he is dealing with the possible loss of a special friend. Peter is begging the audience to respond and enter his make-believe world. This is the only way, he explains, that the poisoned…

The reading of science-related, historical nonfiction alone does not necessarily lead students to make personal connections to science or understand science as a human endeavor interdependent with culture, society, and history. Teachers must structure students' reading to ensure that they consider specific aspects of science while reading and…

Describes two "found poetry" projects that provide a bridge between verse and prose, and which help students focus on a particular poet or literary character. (MM)

Discusses a class activity in which students engage in a mock trial based on a hypothetical charge that could have developed from the plot of a novel. Discusses the six-step process, and the five procedures and requirements. Suggests that students win more than just the case--they win the knowledge of process. (RS)

Describes a method of teaching poetry in which students are handed random volumes of poetry and instructed to browse through them, starting with the first poem and not stopping until they find one that engages them. Reports that on average students browse through 22 poems before finding one they like. Gives excerpts from five student responses to…

Includes the following short articles describing teaching techniques: (1) "S-RUN: Beyond SQ3R" (Nancy S. Bailey); (2) "Read-React for Unique Responses" (Barbara Zynda); (3) "Use a Literacy Van"; and (4) "Summaries Improve Comprehension" (Milford A. Jeremiah). (MM)

Claims that capturing an adolescent novel in shaped, found, or structured poetry gives students ways to tell others what the novel meant to them. Discusses five poetic forms (riddle poem, found poem, character poem, poem for two voices, and repeat poster poem) and presents student poems. (RS)

Describes an approach to teaching George Orwell's "1984," emphasizing the main characters' struggles through the themes of innocence and experience, conformity and rebellion, love and hate, discovery and creation, and death. Notes that this reader-response approach forces students into the process of self-examination. (MM)

Examines and discusses several fifth-/sixth-grade students' written responses to literature in terms of what they reveal about the writer's knowledge and understanding of how literary texts work. Suggests that students' written responses to literature can provide invaluable pedagogical information and support to encourage children in their growth…

Describes how students in secondary classrooms create artistic "symbols" in response to literature, thus becoming a connection between a student's interpretation of meaning and an author's text. (SR)