This thematic curriculum unit on the adolescent novel, "The Outsiders" (S.E. Hinton) discusses issues that are relevant to students' lives and important to their future decisions. In the unit, students will discuss issues relevant to the novel and will use the novel as a bridge to analyze their own lives. The unit, with an overall theme…

Offers basic guidelines for college teachers in responding to students' writing in the disciplines, with the central principle that teachers' comments should reflect their instructional goals for individual students. Suggests that fewer, more carefully designed comments are likely to be more effective than many unfocused responses. Examples of…

Describes New York City Technical College's "Law through Literature" course, an English elective especially for Legal Assistant Studies students. Quotes from students' essays about personal experiences related to characters/events from Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird." Recounts class discussions about influences on…

I take up Silliman's challenge to explore the "moral logic" of "structural racism" largely absent in my book, "I'm Not a Racist, But..." I criticize and build on Glenn Loury's account of the normative assessment of racial inequality by examining three factors generating such disparities in educational achievement--stereotyping, performance-based…

This paper focuses on how social studies content and concepts can be explored through literature in which grandparents and grandchildren interact. The paper emphasizes that, through the intergenerational relationship, children can encounter and explore life in general, increasing their understanding of their own portion of the world and of…

Intended to help teachers explore the instructional use of computers meant for books and literature, this book describes how to organize classrooms for an online project, how to create a community of readers in the classroom, and how to teach children to talk about books. It also discusses such practical needs as computer equipment, staff…

A study examined how at-risk readers constructed meaning while reading, writing about, and discussing a full-length novel during Transactional Literature Discussions (TLD). Subjects were six fifth-grade students, four males and two females. Students chose the novel and participated in 15 group sessions of 45 minutes over 8 weeks. Scaffolded…

Using the right hemisphere of the brain in evaluating student writing means consciously and consistently incorporating its emotional, intuitive, and holistic functions with the more analytical functions of the logical "left" hemisphere when considering, judging, and directing improvement in student writing. Research seems to suggest that…

Responding to student writing is challenging for teachers, because it is difficult to write helpful, perceptive comments on student papers. Recent theory and research suggest that teachers can learn much about response, and that there are options available to writing teachers searching for better ways to respond to student papers. An important…

Focusing on young adult reading and instruction, this issue addresses teachers' concerns about recommended recent authors and books, integrating independent reading into the reading program, and student motivation. The titles of the articles and their authors are as follows: (1) "Some YA Authors Worth Knowing, and a Few Books, Too" (Ken Donelson);…

The literature selections serving as the basis for writing assignments in the articles in this journal issue range from time-honored English classics ("Beowulf,""Sir Gawain and the Green Knight") and American standards ("A Farewell to Arms,""The Scarlet Letter") to contemporary fiction. The articles deal with works by women writers (Shirley…

Before students are able to write fairly original, successful, critical essays on literature, they need to become experienced members of the audience for whom they will write, sharing fully the social context of critical writing by becoming part of an interactive, interpretive community. This reader-response technique appears to be the best…

Intended for students taking the English 30 Grade 12 Diploma Examinations in Alberta, Canada, this test (to be administered along with a questions booklet) contains the reading selections portion of Part B, the reading component of the June 1988 tests. Representing the genres of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama, the 10 selections consist of:…

Intended for students taking the English 30 Grade 12 Diploma Examinations in Alberta, Canada, this booklet contains 80 multiple choice test items related to the 10 selections in the reading booklet of Part B, the reading component of the June 1988 tests. The questions examine students' skills in: (1) understanding meanings; (2) recalling materials…

Intended for students taking the English 33 Grade 12 Diploma Examinations in Alberta, Canada, this test (to be administered along with a questions booklet) contains the reading selections portion of Part B, the reading component of the June 1988 tests. The following short selections taken from fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, and day-to-day…