Summarizes the history of, and theory and research in, reader response approaches to teaching literature. Proposes an instructional process employing response-based teaching. (MM)

Suggests that the emphasis on problems in current American adolescent fiction could have a negative effect on teenage readers. (ARH)

Shares personal and profound experiences that permitted the emergence of a method of response to literature, circles of meaning, including excerpts of a master's thesis case study of a student making meaning of short stories using the method. Notes some of the learnings that this experience brought into the author's work with education students.…

Explores adolescent literature author Michael Dorris's depiction of the American-Indian adolescent experience. Suggests that Dorris writes in a way that challenges readers, eliciting responses from them that help them better understand American Indians and themselves. (RS)

Focuses on the use of writing frames in a secondary school in order to raise the achievement of boys in GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) English Literature. Discusses the inadequacies of some earlier frames before outlining a new departmental approach. Analyses examples of boys' work to show what a difference the frame made. (SG)

In his comment, A. Roelofs claimed that a feedforward-only theory of spoken word production (WEAVER++) can account for certain basic facts of spoken word production that B. Rapp and M. Goldrick (2000) argued could not be accounted for by feedforward-only theories. Rapp and Goldrick argued that to account for these facts, mechanisms such as…

After reading text such as Amanda was bouncing all over because she had taken too many tranquilizing sedatives in one day, young adult readers frequently fail to report that they noticed the anomalous noun phrase (NP). Although young readers of all skill levels are susceptible to this kind of shallow semantic processing, less-skilled readers are…

This article addresses the important issue of initial teacher preparation in relation to classroom management. It is based on a study of Post Graduate Certificate of Education (Secondary) students in one university department. The study sought to ascertain the ongoing concerns of trainees during the course of their year's training, and to identify…

The accuracy of information in a children's nonfiction book is one criterion the seven-member Orbis Pictus Award Committee considers when selecting outstanding children's nonfiction books for the award. The charge of the committee is to consider other criteria as well, including the clarity and coherence of the book's organization, the extent to…

Examines the key role that memory plays in the meaning-making process that children enact as they read and view images in a classroom that respects and encourages their own views and reflections. Discusses the six major categories of children's visual responses, and presents representative examples of children's illustrations. (TB)

Examines a young girl's responses to "feminist" and "patriarchal" folktales. Explains that issues raised by tales involved the exercise of personal agency, physical strength of males and females, and the symbolic significance of dress. Contends that findings challenge psychological theories about the appeal of folktales to young children, and…

Proposes that the "Girl's Own Annual 1927" displays a distinctly Victorian construction of womanhood which was at odds with the views of "modern" girls in the 1920s. Examines tensions created by these differing social expectations and focuses on the intergenerational debate about the role of women in work and marriage. Suggests that the magazine's…

Presents feedback from 14 teenagers in response to the Young Adult Library Services's 1995 Best Books for Young Adults list. Offers recommendations for librarians who create book lists: respect teens and their books; beware the influence of reviews and an author's momentum; make two lists; use real criteria for selection; and listen to them. (JMV)

Shows the need for teachers to acknowledge to themselves the extent of self censorship in their reviewing and purchasing decisions. Discusses teachers' and students' responses to the novel "I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This." Offers strategies that encourage and support the use of Social Issues Realism, and strategies that support a…

The opening remarks offered by Swensen, Rozema, Young, McGrail, and Whitin (2005) make a significant contribution by creating a space for reflection and subsequent action at the intersection of English teacher preparation and technology. This brief commentary addresses several points in Swensen, et al.'s article relating to the adoption of new…