Reports on ways of having fun with the classics of literature. Describes classroom uses of parody and satire to emphasize the themes and characterizations found in Shakespeare, J.D. Salinger, Ernest Hemingway, and other noted authors. (RL)

Describes an introductory economics course in which all of the reading material is drawn from the Great Books of Western Civilization. Explains the rationale and mechanics of the course. Includes an annotated course syllabus that details how the reading material relates to the lecture material. (RLH)

Notes that with so many multivoice novels accessible to teens, there is a great opportunity to expand students' reading repertoire. Proposes that young adult novels are an excellent transition to classic literature that may seem remote or difficult. Offers advice on teaching multivoice novels. Concludes that multivoice novels show young readers…

Discusses six books for teachers and educators that consider what makes reading attractive and even irresistible. Notes the books deal with author studies and elementary school students, broadening student response (to reading) to include art and music, a project approach to the classics, using computers to teach literature, effective school media…

Discusses six recent books for educators that focus on young adult literature, and on responding to literature. Describes how adolescent literature can be the center of transdisciplinary, concept-based units in a middle school curriculum. Outlines use of reading response logs and learning journals. Lists recently published books by and about…

Discusses and answers objections to young adult literature which generally fall into one of two categories: that young adult books are bad because they are not the classics, and/or they corrupt the young. Offers brief descriptions of 12 new or overlooked young adult books worth reading. (SR)

Describes the discomfort experienced by students and teacher as they explored how blackness is portrayed and understood in "To Kill a Mockingbird." Grapples with fundamental pedagogical questions: how to talk about race with a diverse group of students and how to examine victimization and oppression. Suggests tandem teaching with M.…

Offers quotes from articles about English teaching in the United States published in professional journals from 1847 to 1955. Suggests there never was a "golden age" of English teaching. Shows discussion and controversy about teaching writing, about what literature should be allowed in the schools, whether teaching grammar is worthwhile, and…

Describes a unit wherein students reading "The Odyssey" produced visual representations of important story elements, considered differences in Homer's use of language and their own, enacted scenes from "The Odyssey," and wrote goal-setting and interpretive essays. (NH)

Throughout seven years of teaching in urban schools, the author discovered that the most effective ways to teach difficult literary texts was to refer to students' out-of-school activities. In other words, to connect the "leaky edges of the "social outside"" with the "individual inside" is to create a curriculum of…

Reports findings of a survey in which approximately 800 fifth and sixth grade students chose their favorite children's "classics." (FL)

Recommends several strategies to make reading novels in class more enjoyable and rewarding for students, so that they would not depend so much on "Cliff's Notes." (NKA)

Describes how an English teacher in a Queens, New York, ghetto school introduced her grade nine students to Charles Dickens's "Great Expectations." Focuses on students' responses, which eventually became enthusiastic, and discusses the use of classics within the curriculum. (KH)

Questions the use of classic literature in the lower secondary school grades and reports on a survey of reading experience and habits, both in and outside of school, among 380 students in grades 6-12. Suggests that young adult literature can do what schools have not--turn adolescents into avid readers. (TB)

A discussion of the liberal arts'"great books," specifically in political philosophy, reflects on the value of the core curriculum, the value of expanding the traditional canon, the use of reading to learn, results of true learning, and the danger of shunning works traditionally seen as important. (MSE)