Muses on whether a literature teacher's primary function is to instill an appreciation of literature in students or to involve students in the act of reading. (SR)

Describes how Mark Twain's essay "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses" helped students to get interested in writing and inspired them to write a similar essay critiquing the movie "Batman." Provides excerpts from students' essays. (PRA)

Describes the difficulties in assessing writing improvement in high school students based on national reports. Discovers that students' fluency, their use of dialogue, and their ease in moving between the abstract and the concrete is increasing. Suggests the resources of the National Assessment of Educational Progress might yield the information…

Provides 14 high school teachers' responses the question, "Who is your favorite writer of detective fiction?" Finds that Tony Hillerman is the most popular. Features other favorites such as Ellis Peters, Dorothy Sayers, Janwillem van de Wettering, James Melville, K. C. Constantine, Amanda Cross, Jane Langton, Ross MacDonald, Robert B.…

Compares poetry to a dead body that teachers, like mad scientists, are trying to revive. Suggests that teachers stop trying to teach students to find the meaning in a poem but to simply accept the experience in a nonjudgmental, open way. Offers three activities designed to help students to explore poetry in their own way. (PRA)

Describes the positive experiences of a teacher who motivates her students by having them listen to audiocassettes of literature and by asking them to produce audio versions of the literature that they are studying. (PRA)

Reviews 12 new books dealing with mystery, suspense, and adventure from several tried-and-true authors of adolescent literature. (PRA)

Describes a teacher's awakening to the possibilities of teaching nonfiction, including autobiography and biography. Provides approaches to teaching nonfiction, with emphasis on plot, setting, characterization, and theme. Reviews specific teaching skills needed for nonfiction. (TB)

Argues that outlining should not be abandoned as a means to teaching students how to organize their thoughts because it can be an invaluable tool in certain circumstances. Describes in outline form how one teacher goes about teaching outlines to her students. (TB)

Describes the author's own entry into the use of technology as a teacher, which showed him that different people talk when you change the arena of discussion. Focuses on how learning happens differently when different technologies are employed, and explores how this learning applies to different facets of the English teacher's work. (SR)

Notes that by exploring Depression-era teens' letter writing, language arts teachers can enjoy more fruitful uses of nonfiction with their students. Discusses how reading, analyzing, and responding to the letters could help minimize the widening gap between the 1930s and the twenty-first century. Concludes that researching everyday Americans'…

Describes the 2000 Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, the largest poetry event in North America. Notes the festival was designed to create opportunities for personal communication between poets and teachers, who share so many similar concerns for the future of language arts education. (RS)

This article deals with texts that effectively raise issues related to 9/11 for secondary students, as discussed by several teachers. Kevin J. Collins from St. Thomas Aquinas High School says, "Elephant," Gus Van Sant's exploration of a Columbine-like tragedy, underscores the current generation's attempt to define the meaning of events in…

Describes a workshop approach to teaching writing which involves peer evaluation of student papers. (DD)