Each year, seventh graders at Woodlawn School in Davidson, North Carolina, learn about Japan through a compilation of literature, history, and art. They are introduced to a wide range of ideas and materials: they study the Heian and Tokugawa Periods as well as modern Japan, the code of the samurai warriors, haiku and its components, and Japanese…

How can we prepare and encourage new teachers to take on the challenge of changing traditional views of literacy education? Teacher educator William Kist shares a first-year teacher's story of incorporating new literacies within an eighth-grade alternative classroom.

Describes a team-taught unit of study for 7th and 8th graders that used children's and young adult literature to integrate language arts and social studies to teach students about the United States Civil War. Offers an overview of the unit, describes a typical class period, discusses the role of reflective journals, and offers student and teacher…