The author pushes two desks together in the front of the class and pile supplies on them: markers, drawing paper, rulers, and pencils. As the students enter a combined English language arts (ELA) and English as a New Language (ENL) tenth-grade classroom, they select what they need and settle in to their work. As an ELA educator who is also a…

How teachers can use such materials as parallel-text editions, graphic novels, and film adaptations to increase students' understanding of and interest in Shakespeare was the impetus for a classroom action research project that examined the effects of teaching methods on student comprehension and engagement. The author of this article…

"Oedipus Rex" dramatizes a collision of past, present, and future. Once Oedipus recognizes the connection between the past and his horrific present, he stabs out his eyes, ashamed at what he has wrought and unwilling to look upon his future. The 21st-century English language arts classroom is in the midst of a collision as well. Coming into…

YouTube, the video sharing website that allows viewers to upload video content ranging from cute dog tricks to rare rock videos, also supports a lively community devoted to the performance of Shakespeare and Shakespearean adaptations. YouTube is also a popular site for student producers of Shakespeare performances, parodies, and other artistic…

Maryellen G. Paquette reveals the excitement and learning that can occur when high school students are presented with multiple opportunities to play. Activities that employ playful language and the whole body allow students to embody, name, and identify with complicated emotions and situations in Shakespeare's plays. In addition, play can be…

Describes how high school students can give J. Alfred Prufrock (from T.S. Eliot's serious poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock") a "makeover" so he can acquire more self-confidence. Shows how this makeover exercise can lead students to a deeper general understanding and appreciation of complex literary characters and of a…

Argues that humor is an invaluable teaching tool in English classes. Describes how the author and her students: found humor an important means of discovering profound truths in Shakespeare's dramas; enjoyed the epic "Paradise Lost"; worked with satire in Chaucer; and used humor in students' own creative activities. (SR)

Describes a high school elective English course that matches books of American Literature, at least one classic and one contemporary, so that students can begin to see the patterns. Discusses some of these pairings, such as Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" with Toni Morrison's "Beloved" and B. Mukherjee's "The Holder of the World." (SR)

Offers brief descriptions from four teachers of middle school or high school students concerning how they have successfully used particular young-adult books in their English classrooms. (SR)

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)

Discusses six books that offer beginning and veteran teachers classroom-tested ideas to help students read and write poetry and other literature, and interact with each other as they strive to understand and appreciate classic drama and novels. Notes four websites that are good sites for teaching poetry. (SR)

Presents a debate between two English teachers (in the form of a critique of a March 1997 article in this journal, a response to that critique, and a rebuttal of that response) on the classics, student choice in reading, and teaching. (SR)

Argues that "love of reading" should be listed as the top goal of the English curriculum, but that teaching the classics has the opposite effect. Argues that reading and analytical skills can be taught using contemporary teenage fiction that holds students' interest, helps them feel understood, and teaches them about life. Lists numerous books…