Describes a successful use of portfolios to assess the development of eleventh grade students' writing skills by inviting self-reflection and encouraging students to assume control over their writing. (KEH)

Argues that writing instruction is most effective when instruction focuses on inquiry which includes: utilizing concrete data, solving problems by using thinking strategies inherent in various writing tasks, focusing on student-centered problems, and encouraging student interaction with a minimum of teacher lecture. (JAD)

States that psychological models help shape students' responses to literature. Explains how a Freudian model can be used to explore the meanings inherent in Emily Dickinson's "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass." (MM)

Outlines the importance of essay tests as a method of learning and discovery. Suggests ways of helping students approach essay questions, how to determine what information is necessary for a complete answer, and how to fulfill those requirements. (KEH)

Discusses the issue of students buying papers on the Internet. Considers how educators reconcile their ability to teach effectively with their students' ability to cheat and steal without the teacher's knowledge. Suggests a solution by assigning essays that cannot be bought. (SG)

Presents a student-guided approach (based on Louise M. Rosenblatt's "Literature as Exploration") to teaching Willa Cather's MY ANTONIA. (MM)

Considers how high school students can see reading "The Canterbury Tales" as daunting. Shares a series of units of study "combining the literary and the vulgar" that fully engage the students with the text. Suggests that with a masterpiece like "The Canterbury Tales," students are better served when educators take it…

Describes "Tell Me A Story," a class activity that serves as an open stage for performers to tell tales of adventure, horror and romance and during which students are encouraged to have fun and diverge from the expected. Proposes that a class learns valuable skills and lessons by collaborating in the creation and assessment of such…

Lists 10 ways to involve students in the teacher's writing that can be beneficial to both teachers and their students. (MS)

Describes one high school English teacher's experiment with assigning stories instead of analytical essays. Argues for retelling and storytelling as a valuable resource in the high school curriculum. (RAE)

Describes a high school composition teacher's research comparing researchers' observations on students' composing attitudes and habits against those of her own students. Emphasizes the importance of classroom teachers' involvement in research. (ARH)

Explains an eleventh grade literature unit on Transcendentalism which employed a wide variety of supplemental materials and literary connections and which provided alternate assessment opportunities. Details how this unit revealed meaningful connections through comics, music, free reading, and multiple intelligences. Concludes that many students…

Describes how an 11th-grade English teacher promoted active learning in her class through a hands-on project that required group problem solving, decision making, and technical writing skills. Discusses how the students simulated a toy factory by working collaboratively in teams to design, build, and market a LEGO toy. (RS)

Discusses a four-week unit of study for an 11th-grade honors class on Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God." Notes how they listened to the novel on audiocassette; discussed it in "Porch Groups"; reflected on what they read and heard in their notebooks; responded to each other's entries during Notebook Swaps; and invited a visiting…

Investigates the writing processes of nonstandard dialect, basic writers through the case study of an eleventh grade minority student. Offers teaching methods which utilize the strengths and address the underlying problems of nonstandard dialect students. (MM)