The author was invited as a teaching artist into a first-grade classroom in New York City to teach a 14-session poetry residency culminating in an anthology of student writing. They began by sitting together on a carpet by the interactive whiteboard and read aloud several examples of "I wish" poems from Kenneth Koch's (1970) wonderful…

This article examines a service-learning project held in conjunction with a reading of the nonfiction text "The Other Wes Moore." The assignment asked for high school students to provide a day of service focusing on literacy skills for an elementary school different from their own background. Service learning became a tool for…

This article introduces a new framework for teaching adolescents to read: Connected Reading. By sharing instructional practices and describing digital tools, the authors argue that a mindful, social model of connected reading is a crucial part of any research activity. As teacher-researchers, the authors led teens through lessons on digital…

When the author first started teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) students, she was incredibly naive about the second language acquisition process. One of the first moves she made was to look at the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) goals, and she began to think about the purposes and situations in which her…

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)

Explores how asking students to abstract a theme statement from a literary text as a main reading objective can actually disempower students' reading experience. Bases the claims on original research on how 288 readers read a short story. Considers how teachers might more profitably talk about theme. (HB)

Describes a method of including students into a community of readers through which they are encouraged to respond individually to literary texts. Shows how writing prompts can be used in the classroom to foster reader response and the integrity of each reader's interpretation of a text. (HB)

Cites research suggesting that extensive reading is as effective as intensive reading in developing general reading ability and is more effective in promoting good attitudes among elementary and secondary school students toward reading. (MM)

Details the results of allowing student choice in reading and writing. Contends that introducing choice late in a student's schooling complicates that student's ability to reap the full benefits of autonomy. Concludes that choice as a key component of teaching reading and writing is problematic in a traditional setting filled with prescriptive…

Offers student-centered reading activities designed to bring students to reading maturity and involvement in literature. Discusses partner reading, dramatizing and performing texts, transforming texts, journal writing, discussion, and writing. (PRA)