Approaches a writing assignment in an all-girls classroom by differentiating between what men think is funny ("guyfun") and what women think is funny ("galfun"). (NKA)

Provides activities to be used when teaching novels, including reading aloud to students, using student-generated questions for discussion, having students write on key words selected from the text, having students brainstorm together on butcher-block paper before writing an essay, and playing bingo with students to help them recall the…

Recounts a teacher's experience at the week-long IFTE (International Federation of Teachers of English) conference at New York University, which attempted to help educators respond to conservative criticism of educational pedagogical approaches and trends. Describes a small group experience. (TB)

Discusses influences on the English curriculum of the l966 Dartmouth Conference and the educational and societal changes since then, some differences between British and American education, beginning language study with the language of speakers and writers in the classroom, and an interview with John Dixon about gaining knowledge from…

Describes a method of peer group teaching that stresses group responsibility and awareness of goals. (JL)

Examines the benefits of group discussion in English classrooms. Demonstrates how small group discussion yields qualitative learning among participants and enhances questioning skills. Advocates the growth and challenge that can come from such activities. Provides student discussion transcriptions. (HB)

Lists four ideas for gaining help from administrators in dealing with alienated remedial students. Suggests and demonstrates choosing materials that appeal to the students rather than to the teachers, and creating activities that engage and challenge the students. (PRA)

Promoting positive attitudes and then measuring attitude growth will help teachers of reading to know if kids like books and how to improve reading instruction. (JH)

Offers peer-response groups as a method for teaching composition. Discusses published and student models, practicing in class with a teacher's draft, and how to form and run peer-response groups. Lists five observed qualities of successful groups, and describes how the teacher fits into the process. Includes examples from students' papers. (PRA)

Describes a course designed to challenge students to look at the way they are influenced by the mass media. Provides details of the procedures for forming the cooperative groups, the material used, the issues discussed, and the students' responses. (PRA)

Answers and rebuts an article by Larry Johannessen (in the same issue of the journal) that offers ways for teachers to deal with and help alienated remedial students. Addresses the issues of administrative help, the effect of the interests and enthusiasm of the teacher, and the inner resources of teachers in despair. (PRA)

Examines patterns of talk and the nature of talk in two different classrooms discussing Shakespeare's "Hamlet." Finds that the images of Hamlet and Gertrude were strikingly different: in the college class, the characters were confined to stereotypical gender roles; while in the high-school class, such stereotypes were refuted. (SR)

Examines the discussions and writings of a group of working-class female high school students reading popular romances as a group independent-study project. Offers a resistant view of what "escapist" reading might be escaping from. Demonstrates the thoughtful and critical responses of these students, all in low-track classes, as they…

Relates the experience of a teacher who discovered that students enjoy studying literature if they are allowed to experience it rather than analyze it. Contends that the effort to teach books at the secondary level using literary criticism is a misguided response to a national literacy crisis. (SRT)

The authors realized that participating in a book club with friends has often provided the incentive to read books they normally wouldn't choose on their own. Book clubs have offered them relaxed and informal places to share and compare opinions, to explore texts and authors they wouldn't as readily appreciate or fully understand without friends…