Urges teachers to keep reading and writing alive in the classroom by assigning a variety of books, including the classics, and by integrating written responses with the reading assignments. (DD)

Suggests a course unit created in response to General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) guidelines which attempts to avoid the guidelines' inherent division between skills and creative response. (JAD)

Fifteen writing instructors report their favorite ways of getting students to write. (RL)

A flexible, point contract system is described which maximizes the advantages of a criterion-referenced contract system while eliminating some of the disadvantages of standard grade contracts. This model has been used by the author in a variety of high school and college courses. (Author/SJL)

Describes cultural studies as a framework for analysis and critique, not a political agenda. Shows how the author has used cultural studies as a way to get his students to write intelligent, reflective papers about topics that interest them. (SR)

Presents the responses of five professional leaders in young-adult literature in response to Edwin Greenlee's problem with recommending books which may contain sexually explicit text. (PRA)

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)

Argues that writing instruction should lead student writers to find their voice in their writing and that this will only happen if they write often for personal purposes and personal expression. (SR)

Describes a writing assignment based on a teacher-created scenario in which students discover a box (when visiting their grandmother's sister) containing a number of strange items including a written proposal for marriage. (TB)

Argues that asking students to write in concrete images about specific events and places serves to emphasize the importance of writing from detailed personal experiences. (RL)

Describes one teacher's difficulty in getting his eighth-grade students to revise their writing. Discusses his successful use of writing "skeletons" to help define what revision is and to teach a structure for one type of revision. (SR)

Offers a pedagogy that invites students to know firsthand how traditional poetic forms are both historic artifacts and living practices. (RS)

Asserts that contemporary women novelists from the Caribbean are writing a new chapter in the literature of adolescence--a study of connections. Discusses the works of Carol Gilligan, and the idea of measuring women's development against a different truth than the male standard. Presents a 10-item annotated reading list. (PRA)

Presents a student assignment which involves interviewing a family member and then drawing images and writing a description of their advice. Includes completed assignments from two students. (SR)

Argues the need for additional experience in language for social action in contexts where English teachers can provide scaffolding, monitoring and intervention. Concludes that students must have experiences in real writing contexts that lead them to face the linguistic and other demands which will enable them to develop the competencies they need.…