Presents three assignment sequences--covering both canonical and noncanonical stories, mini-anthologies, and novels--that encourage secondary school students to think critically about the concept of literature. Notes that students can learn to analyze literature critically by comparing both canonical and noncanonical texts. (MM)

Describes how a high school English teacher's belief that text contains a single, unchanging meaning evolved to an understanding that students create their own meanings through their own experiences. Discusses ways he tried (with mixed success) to provide students with the opportunity to bring their own experience to their reading. (SR)

Presents a literature cluster composed of stories about schools that are adaptable to readers' theater and appropriate for use with grades 3-6 students. Presents a synopsis of each text (a book of poetry, 2 nonfiction books, 6 novels and 2 picture books) along with suggestions for adapting and presenting them as readers' theater. Includes a brief…

Reading workshop employs teaching methods to accomplish the goals of preparing self-disciplined readers who read and write by choice, motivating students to read and write because of a genuine interest, and developing students who learn to read and write by doing. Reading Workshop came into existence as a reaction to the disproportionate amount of…

Intended for use in classes in children's literature at the preservice and graduate levels in education or English departments and in library schools in colleges and universities, this book provides a rationale and suggestions to teachers for planning and evaluating a literature-based curriculum. The three-part organization of the book emphasizes…

Differences in readers' interpretations of a given text illustrate premises of the transactional or reader response theory of literature. The theory holds that: (1) meaning resides in the coming together of reader and text; (2) the reader affects the reading of the text and is affected by the text; and (3) there are potentially as many meanings to…

This paper presents four introductory activities designed to help students with their reading problems, motivate them to read, and help them turn their interpretations of literature into effective compositions. The paper presents samples for each of the four activities ("Opinionnaires," Scenarios, Simulations, and Role Playing),…

Observing that basal readers and standardized testing lead teachers to focus on facts when dealing with novels or poetry in class, this monograph discusses research on response to literature. The monograph also presents classroom activities designed to allow students to explore the forms, the language, and the imagery of fiction, poetry, and…

Notes that when assigned writing topics requiring sophisticated reading students circumvent interpretation by rewriting the text in their personal idiom. Suggests that since meaning is discovered through process, students should be given numerous opportunities to respond to the same text. Offers several kinds of response activities. (JG)

Demonstrating a critical stance requires readers to stand apart from the text and consider it objectively. It involves a range of tasks including critical evaluation; comparing and contrasting; and understanding the impact of such features as irony, humor, and organization. According to this paper, the selection of appropriate literature is a…

Although "Othello" has been one of William Shakespeare's most popular plays, its performance history has been marked with risk and tension because of the play's focus on racial prejudice, gender conflict, and sexuality. The controversies surrounding conflicting attitudes toward race and religion, love and marriage, and war and the…

Discusses the Facts and Feelings Response Diary strategy for assisting middle school students in inclusive settings to connect both efferently and aesthetically with informational text. Notes that this activity stimulates students to focus their attention on important facts and details and to use their prior experiences, feelings, interests,…

Presents several class activities for eighth and ninth graders that explore how different readings of a text are constructed, what values each reading supports, and whose interests it serves. Discusses multiple meanings, constructed readings, dominant and resistant readings, and reading character. (SR)

Describes an assignment in writing documentation that turns the classroom into a laboratory for usability testing, giving students a clear sense of the reader responding to their text. (SR)

Describes how a middle school English/language arts teacher had students paint in watercolors their responses to the novel the class was reading. Describes how this approach signficantly improved the rate and quality of student participation, and brought out new voices and fresh readings of the text. (SR)