The purpose of this article is to present the findings of a qualitative content analysis of historical documents related to the teaching of literature. Through a social semiotics framework, we analyzed 10 national standards documents in the field of secondary English. Our analysis details the evolution of the standards paradigm for teaching…

It is not clear that the literary genre called poetry has a future in the face of a reduction in literary study that Common Core's English language arts standards implicitly mandate-- and in the context of Common Core's drive for workforce development. Common Core claims the standards will prepare students equally for "college and…

Development of the senses is necessary to understand poetry. Author made children seek poetry in prose with much success. (AF)

Intended to acquaint students and parents with the English program at Bellaire High School (Michigan), this guide contains the curriculum for grades 7 through 12. After a short introduction stating the program's philosophy and student requirements, a style sheet for all student papers, and a list of the program's sequence, the curriculum for each…

Suggests ways to include readers theater in the English curriculum. (MKM)

Advocates a thematic union of readings, essay topic, music and art to expose gifted students to the great thinkers of the past and present, and to make them aware of the limitless range of literature as well as to the effectiveness of different media. Gives examples of themes. (RB)

A study investigated the contention that secondary school literature programs have offered, and continue to offer, what could be construed as a literary canon, a relatively small body of literary texts to which a majority of students have been and are continuing to be exposed. Several surveys of the literary works teachers assign, dating back to…

Describes one teacher's successful use of a wide range of paperback books to stimulate students' interest in and enjoyment of reading. (TO)

In order to provide 11th and 12th grade English students (in both standard and academic classes) with a more stimulating set of course offerings, a program was developed which incorporates one required course, communication skills, to be taken during the first school quarter and three elective courses to be taken during the remainder of the school…

The secondary English curriculum outlined in this guide consists of a required course during the freshman year followed by three years in the elective program, during which each student is expected to complete a one semester course in each of the three basic areas of language, literature, and writing plus three more courses from any one area. This…

This paper describes a mini-modular program for the tenth grade. The program operates within a year-long course of study which covers all four of the language arts and groups students in classes heterogeneously so that skills and concepts can be taught to all students and special needs and interests handled as they arise and are identified.…

Argues that the English language arts can play a major role in arriving at practical coherence in school curricula because of the unique nature of the discipline and the unique integrative role of language in human experience. Discusses literature in interdisciplinary English and the contributions of English to interdisciplinary curriculum. (SR)

Tells the story of one English department's struggle over curriculum controversies and the implications of that struggle for the integrity of specific teachers' classroom curriculum and the literary education of their students. (TB)

The research orientations and perspectives of people participating in the international dialogue about the redefinition of English language studies have been varied. Two broad and overlapping areas are distinctive to English studies: the exploration of human values and experience through the study of literature and the media, and the development…

An authorized course of instruction for the Quinmester Program in Dade County (Florida) public schools is given for study of Norwegian dramatist and social critic Henrik Ibsen. The course includes an introduction to four dramas which reveal that man's dream of perfection can sometimes lead to destruction, sterility, and estrangement from life.…