Freshman and sophomore composition students who are required to write in response to literature frequently find that they are not yet secure enough in their basic writing skills to discuss a literary work. In order to help these students, writing center tutors must be familiar with the assigned writing tasks and what instructors expect from an…

A detailed teaching model designed to develop effective reading skills in content areas (ERICA) is presented in this document. The paper begins with a discussion of the four stages of the ERICA model: (1) preparing for reading, (2) thinking through information, (3) extracting and organizing information, and (4) translating information. The paper…

Articles in this journal issue explore the relationship between the reader and the literature text, and discuss ways that instruction can enhance reader response to that literature. Following an introduction summarizing the nine articles, the titles and their authors are as follows: (1) "It Is the Poem That I Remake: Using Kenneth Burke's…

Discusses teaching junior high students Ann Sexton's poem about remembrances of childhood. Notes the strong personal connections students make with the action and feelings of the poem, and that the poem helps thirteen- and fourteen-year olds understand their own developmental transformations. Suggests related writing assignments based on multiple…

Presents results of a study of how readers fill in information "gaps" in a text to make meaning, using adolescents' response to a story by Brecht. Concludes that such gaps bore children uninterested in making meaning, and that those who make meaning from a mechanical stance may be limited in their comprehension unless deeper ways of…

Discusses a young adult novel with an unusual theme: a neglected boy roams the New York City subways by day and makes his home in a cave. (NKA)

Claims that literacy and literature become interrelated in classrooms where there are many opportunities to engage in the narrative mode of thought. Discusses how the potential of literacy/literature experiences is enriched when students draw from the narrative reservoirs of the community and school. (JD)

Reviews several books that seek to explain what some of the structures of meaning are that stories present to readers and feed into their memories. (HOD)

Explores some of the issues raised when teachers are committed to giving students choice over the literature they encounter and over the ways they respond to it. (HOD)

Argues in favor of a reader-response approach to the process of selecting the literary works students read in introductory or survey courses. Offers a rationale for using "The Tempest" in such a course. (FL)

This book challenges current paradigms of literature instruction by making a strong case for teaching critical theory in high school literature classrooms. The book urges teachers to expand their theoretical repertoires. It argues for the importance of multiple perspectives in enabling students to better read and interpret literature, as well as…

Discouraged and dissatisfied with their students' responses to a compilation of Arthurian legends, two ninth-grade teachers developed an approach to teaching the legends that exposes students to numerous versions (including those written and illustrated for children) of the legends and allows them to pick their own Arthurian legend for reading and…

Based on the idea that conversational interaction between students and teachers in the classroom is the best way to learn, this book focuses on classroom talk about book-related topics. The teachers represented in the book initiate literature discussion groups, book clubs, and literature circles, and students share the thoughts and feelings that…

Examines the effects of increasing adolescents' awareness of their own response strategies to reading. Illustrates the importance of ensuring that all students discover for themselves not only what they have learned, but how they have learned it. (SR)

Describes a sixth grade reading workshop in which every class begins with a five-minute minilesson focusing on reading strategies and in which students choose their own books from a variety of sources. Discusses the required assignments in which students write at least one letter per week in a reading dialogue journal. (KEH)