Analyzes the effect of grade level on stances students take when responding to literature. Finds that a two-way analysis of variance for grade and text on the variable of stance reveals no significant main effects for grade. (PRA)

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)

Finds that, when middle school students write about relevant personal experiences before reading, they enjoy and comprehend the text more, are more on-task, offer more sophisticated responses to characters, and like the texts more. (SR)

Offers a discussion of audience representation versus self-representation in the study of writing. Discusses hypertext, Web pages, hub pages, and links. Probes how writers represent themselves in the way they structure links in hypertext documents on their Web sites. (CR)

Investigates four experiments on whether the addition of a representative picture to a news item improves recall of that item by undergraduate students in journalism courses. Finds that it does; that concrete news items were recalled better than abstract news items; and news concreteness was strongly correlated with various picture attributes,…

Reports on a survey designed to identify how Talking Book software is being used to support reading development in U.K. classrooms and the potential benefits of adapting such software to meet individual learners' needs. Preliminary results highlight the success of this software for both early readers and older children experiencing difficulties in…

Examines the use of four versions of narrative inquiry with preservice teachers: response to practicum experiences, responses to reading, small and large group discussions, and reflection papers. Each helps students explore narrative assumptions that contribute to their images of teaching, enabling them to explore unexamined parts of their…

Illustrates how studying fourth-grade students' language-play response discourses and sharing students' patterns of thinking with them can lead to authentic assessment that fuels learning. Discusses open activities (providing challenge, autonomy, and social collaboration) that foster language-play response. Discusses what is meant by language…

By having students use their knowledge of real-world cultural contexts to construct text-world contexts, teachers help them understand how cultural forces within those contexts shape characters' actions. This paper describes the process of linking real- and text-world contexts, offering examples from one college class. Implications for helping…

Describes a collaborative research study working to plan instruction and assess student learning. Describes the dilemmas encountered and the decision-making process as the teachers collaborated to develop a vision of how best to create an integrated unit on the Civil Rights Movement that fostered student learning but also facilitated aesthetic…

Sets up a contrast between the traditional pedagogical practices in secondary school and in whole language practices of elementary schools. Maintains that the level of interest and involvement being so much greater in elementary school argues strongly for reform in secondary schools. (TB)

Describes the ramifications of a writing assignment for preservice teachers about their relationships with literature. Reports on several of the students' personal writings in response to the assignment. Presents responses of two teachers, Greg Hamilton and Deborah Kinder, about doing personal writing assignments. (PA)

Presents an interview with distinguished educator Louise Rosenblatt. Discusses teaching methods, reading processes, application of theory to practice, literature-based curriculum, and what she is working on now. (SR)

Maintains that reader response, a cooperative learning exercise where peers critique one anothers in- and out-of-class writing assignments, assists students in becoming better writers and enables them with some control over their education. Gives examples of how reader response can be used in the classroom and offers two handouts. (CMK)

Suggests that the direct teaching of written language features is no substitute for extensive experience of written language. Gives a brief preliminary account of a recent Centre for Language in Primary Education (CLPE) research project on the influence of children's reading of literature on their writing at Key Stage 2. Highlights the value of…