Describes a method of teaching poetry in which students are handed random volumes of poetry and instructed to browse through them, starting with the first poem and not stopping until they find one that engages them. Reports that on average students browse through 22 poems before finding one they like. Gives excerpts from five student responses to…

Burn (2005) proposes a "genetic approach" to teaching limits of numerical sequences. The article includes an explanation of the Method of Exhaustion, a generalization of this method, and a description of how this method was used for obtaining areas and lengths in the seventeenth century. The author uses these historical and mathematical analyses…

An increase in the Mexican American population within the predominantly African American community and school was the basis of this qualitative study. The purpose of the study was to introduce African American second grade students to authentic Mexican and Mexican American children's literature. Interactive read-alouds of nonfiction and realistic…

Includes the following short articles describing teaching techniques: (1) "S-RUN: Beyond SQ3R" (Nancy S. Bailey); (2) "Read-React for Unique Responses" (Barbara Zynda); (3) "Use a Literacy Van"; and (4) "Summaries Improve Comprehension" (Milford A. Jeremiah). (MM)

Describes an approach to teaching George Orwell's "1984," emphasizing the main characters' struggles through the themes of innocence and experience, conformity and rebellion, love and hate, discovery and creation, and death. Notes that this reader-response approach forces students into the process of self-examination. (MM)

This column shares innovative lesson ideas grounded in current literature or action research. Two books are discussed: Lesley Atwater Kahle's book "Cut Word Story," which allows students to become individually engrossed in words and grammar within stories that they create; and Anete Vasquez's "Literary Analysis 101", which gives teachers a simple,…

This article describes pertinent information regarding national and state standards and tests; instructional techniques for teaching word recognition, fluency, vocabulary knowledge, and comprehension skills; the selection of appropriate texts and materials; reader response; the diverse student learner; and a variety of authentic assessments that…

The author responds to reviews by Kai Nielsen and Murdith McLean on his article "Indoctrination and Religious Education."

Shows how one teacher answered student questions about how a particular piece of literature came to be regarded as worthy of in-depth examination. Proposes that students be taught about various critical approaches, including Jungian/archetypal criticism, formalism, reader-response criticism, socio-historical and biographical criticism, and…

Shows how teachers can use the videotapes and writings of Joseph Campbell to help students see patterns in literature and respond personally to it. Presents Campbell's explanation of the monomyth of the hero's journey, and discusses three works in which the pattern is present. (SR)

Presents guidelines for introducing secondary students to "King Lear" before and during engagement with the text. Includes providing opportunities to (1) improvise, (2) examine specific speeches in depth, and (3) speed write about a character's thoughts. Presents questions used during auditions and explanations of characterization in…

Brings to focus, on Paterson's novel "Park's Quest," the author's own experiences. Emphasizes the importance of personal engagement with literature in the present as the foundation of a commitment to literature. Discusses transactional theory of response, a personal transaction with "Park's Quest," and implications for…

Shows why aesthetic reading is a crucial pedagogic component in lessons using historical fiction and non-fiction. Provides criteria for selecting high quality books dealing with historical subjects for use in aesthetic reading activities. Discusses specific teaching strategies for promoting aesthetic reading. (SG)

Describes a writing project for which students corresponded with students at other schools about their responses to literature. Focuses on how the teachers became their own researchers and learned through collaboration with other teachers. (SRT)

Reviews five sets of thematically related books with the intent of helping instructors make connections between children's literature and real living. Investigates five areas, all broadly speaking to the issue of "security": (1) unsettling experiences; (2) nature study; (3) overcoming evil; (4) exploring adolescent angst; (5) journeying for…