This short-form article introduces the Pre-Texts protocol (Harvard Cultural Agents Initiative) as a way to introduce new texts in class by using creation as a catalyst for reflection and dialogue. This current article briefly describes the benefits of this technique for the present generation of learners and teachers, as well as outlines clearly…

Cahnmann-Taylor draws on Boalian Theatre of the Oppressed to offer a practice for literacy teachers and coaches that can open up multiple perspectives and multiple levels of intentions and motivations for a teacher's decision making. She challenges coaches and teachers to engage in artistic examinations of multiplicity to move toward performing…

The ideal female, as portrayed in the media, has a perfect body, owns many trendy and costly possessions, and is submissive and sexy. Young girls are easily influenced by the media's portrayal of teens and women, therefore, they may begin to form unrealistic ideas about beauty and begin to judge themselves and each other based on these…

This article discusses the successes and vulnerabilities associated with combining the pedagogical methods of Theater, Composition, and Community Literacy in the Composition classroom. It examines how the ideas of Augusto Boal's "Theatre of the Oppressed" and Paulo Freire's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" can be combined to support…

In the 1960s, Augusto Boal created a process whereby audience members could stop a performance and suggest different actions for the actors, who would then carry out the audience's suggestions. Then, he began inviting audience members onto the stage to demonstrate their ideas and discovered that through their participation they become empowered…

Imaginative and attractive, cutting edge in its conception, this text explicates a model for the integration of language arts and literacy education based on the notion of framing. The act of framing--not frames in themselves--provides a creative and critical approach to English as a subject. "Re-framing Literacy" breaks new ground in the language…

In this article, the author explores the ways in which new teaching and learning geographies were crafted by adolescents and adults through the engagement and performance of multimodal literacy practices. They did so by communicating and representing knowledge through the manipulation of multiple expressive modalities, including pens for writing…

Literacy as a performing art refers to the act of representing and interpreting text, the transforming of thought to oral interpretation. This aesthetic perspective of experiencing reading is missing in many classrooms today and thus, reading is becoming a lost art. Students are expected to apply specific literacy techniques rather than use their…

This article describes a practical, sure-fire way for media specialists to boost student achievement. The method is called data-driven collaboration, and it's a practical, easy-to-use technique in which media specialists and teachers work together to pinpoint kids' instructional needs and improve their essential skills. The author discusses the…

In this article, the author explores the possibilities of teaching and learning through multiple-literacies in an arts environment. Acknowledging that technologies have a profound effect on our society, and often outpace our ability to properly assess or understand their implications, the author asserts that young people can become critical and…

The arts, multimodality, and new literacies studies, each with its own distinct principles, together can redefine literacy and what constitutes being literate. To recognize the roles that each of these fields plays in literacy necessitates a cultural shift in reading, interpreting, creating, and responding to a range of multimedia messages. The…

Shouldn't reading be aesthetically, emotionally, and intellectually enjoyable? Yet, as literature becomes complex in middle and high school with multiple characters, points of view, or difficult language, many adolescents forgo the idea of discovering enjoyment in literature. Based on the author's experience as an educator, researcher, and…

Learning to write well often proves to be one of the most difficult areas in the English language arts for young children. However, in these fourth- and fifth-grade language arts classrooms, children are offered opportunities to explore, think through, and express meaning across and within sign systems--in particular, using art, drama, and…

Analyzes selected issues and trends forged by the 1989 International Drama Education Research Symposium, including: literacy in the 1990s; the professional role of the drama/theater education specialist; research methodologies; and future research challenges. (MM)

Proposes that the Internet can be a valuable source of information for teachers who use or plan to use Readers Theatre in their classrooms. Provides a brief description of Readers Theatre and its many benefits for literacy learning. Describes Internet sources for scripts and for information on implementation, additional classroom applications, and…