Pointing out that influential movements in psychology, reading instruction, and curriculum development have greatly altered the terrain formerly occupied by the "teaching of literature," this literature review outlines the different ways education researchers have examined the following questions about literature instruction: (1) What…

A response-based pedagogy encourages the exploration of multiple perspectives regarding literary works and student construction of defensible interpretations of the same, with the quality of students' critical and creative thinking being the focus of assessment. The National Center for Research on Literature Teaching and Learning's ongoing…

Intended as a guide for teachers of grades 3-6, this book presents ideas for the use of literature groups in the classroom. In chapter 1, the author talks about her own reading background and her discovery of teaching methods for literature, and presents ideas for forming literature groups. Chapter 2 offers advice on selecting and collecting good…

A study analyzed the discourse in a variety of Hong Kong newspapers to assess how an individual takes on the role of reader in relation to the rather complex public discourse of a daily newspaper, particularly in a multicultural, politically charged context. Four categories of newspaper (Hong Kong English, Hong Kong Chinese, non-Hong Kong Chinese,…

"Questioning the Author" is a particular style of classroom discussion that tries to get young students (fourth and fifth graders) to actively grapple with the ideas they read about in class. It may be distinguished from other reading strategies by the following approaches: (1) it addresses a text as the product of a fallible author; (2)…

A study examined the theory concerning reader response and the rationale and practice of reader response in the high school English curriculum. Formal experimental studies existed that explored reader response practices in the high school setting, but no formal studies existed on the questioning practices of potential reader response teachers. A…

Whether questions embedded in expository text could improve the correspondence between adult readers' subjective assessments of test readiness and their objective test performance (prediction calibration) was studied with 168 undergraduates. In order to minimize the confounding effects of prior knowledge, the subjects were asked to read a text…

Suggesting that literature dealing with the Vietnam War can have a dramatic impact on students, this paper assists teachers in selecting young adult literature on the war, discusses a variety of assignments, and presents student responses to the literature. The paper begins with a discussion of the three main types of young adult literature:…

This paper proposes a reorientation of classroom practices in the teaching of literature, a reorientation proceeding from new understandings of literary reading. The first section of the paper reviews convergences in current theory and research on literary reading that teachers ought to consider when rethinking classroom practice. The second…

To investigate the higher level comprehension strategies used by children reading basal reader stories, a study compared the results of an earlier investigation of 50 fourth grade level readers' comprehension strategies with findings gained from 30 subjects using a sixth grade basal reader. Subjects were asked to read aloud from a basal and stop…

As an alternative to using written guidelines to direct peer feedback on student writing, teachers can allow students to use their own language and conversational habits in peer group conversations and then monitor peer feedback while modeling the type that is most conducive to true exchange. To create a collaboratively run writing workshop,…

Peer evaluation of writing, or conferencing, is a helping process in which the teacher or other students receive and respond to the writer's work. It promotes the writer's sense of ownership of the work and thus helps develop writing skills. A writing program that includes peer evaluation, then, is one that provides a setting in which the young…

"New Horizons in Adult Education" is an electronic journal started in the fall of 1987 by the Syracuse University Kellogg Project. In the spring of 1989, the project surveyed readers of New Horizons to find out how they were reacting to the journal and its method of transmission. Data were collected by sending the survey electronically…

Bringing popular culture into the composition classroom is useful not because it erases the conflict between student and academic discourses, but rather because it serves to heighten this already extant conflict, thereby allowing it to become one of the subjects of study. Writing samples by two students early in the semester and class discussion…

Intended for middle school teachers interested in helping students (especially those with no experience attending theater) learn how to read and see a play by themselves, this paper provides a lesson plan based on W. W. Jacobs's dramatic play, "The Monkey's Paw." After furnishing a rationale for reading this particular play, the paper…