Relates the responses of eight teachers to the question: "How do you involve students in evaluating your teaching and your curriculum, and what have you learned from them?" (PRA)

Offers seven approaches to integrating foreign students and recent immigrants into the culture of the school and classroom. Discusses the meeting of the minds, growth through participation, mingling languages and literatures, a cultural-heritage project, sharing food and stories, new friendships through journals, and ideas for involving parents.…

Asserts that using popular music to introduce such concepts as irony, artistic influence, or the appropriation of cultural materials is a logical way to interest students and help them make connections and understand new material quickly, efficiently, and pleasantly. Outlines an approach to teaching English that uses music as a chief source of…

Discusses the teaching of cultural literacy and the problems in deciding "what every American needs to know." Describes a teacher's personal feeling of cultural illiteracy when reading the poetry of a student. (PRA)

Examines the history of research on the teaching and learning of English as reflected in the 20-year history of the Promising Researcher Award. Focuses upon changes over time in the kinds of questions asked, topics addressed, conceptual frameworks employed, and methodologies used in the studies. Reveals a strong but shifting influence of…

Relates a personal anecdote about trying to teach a child the difference between a "plane" and a "plain." Describes the difficulty of explaining the homonym to the child. Outlines the challenges of explaining such language nuances. (HB)

Literature instruction in today's schools is an exercise in information retrieval rather than critical thinking. Too many teachers regard literature as reward for learning to read. Recent research shows that studying literature can promote the kind of critical thinking and "skilled intelligence" touted in the push toward national standards.…

Describes why college English teachers should consider offering a literature elective in mystery fiction. Argues that mysteries are growing in popularity and in academic respectability. Provides methods and activities for use in courses designed around mystery literature. (HB)

Advocates a close collaboration and cooperation between teachers and librarians in all school systems, especially at the elementary level. Demonstrates how, through creativity and energetic cooperation, librarians can play a central role in the ongoing curriculum reform movement. (HB)

Considers the relevance of gender in the teaching of composition as a professional field. Contrasts the cultural images of the male versus the female teacher. Challenges such constructs to posit new images of teaching and teachers, especially with regard to women teachers. (HB)

Argues for the use of film in the teaching of William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" because the play was meant to be seen and heard and not just read. Outlines a method of teaching the play by which students select a scene and perform it. Gives an example of a successful student performance. (HB)

Argues for the consideration of food and gastronomy in the teaching of English in high schools. Provides methods of teaching writing in conjunction with student response to eating. (HB)

Examines four factors contributing to the polarization in the current debates concerning the literary canon. Investigates how two groups of teachers approach the study of literature not as an impasse but as a dialectical interchange. Argues that the four factors informing canon debates need not be resolved. (HB)

Presents methods and strategies for using gay literature in the English classroom, focusing on the experience of using Harvey Fierstein's play, "Torch Song Trilogy." Provides details about how the text was introduced and used in the classroom. (HB)

Describes the healthy discussions currently being undertaken concerning the teaching of grammar by English teachers. Argues for a variety of effective ways of teaching grammar. Gives attention to psycholinguistic models of grammar. (HB)