This article describes literacy practices and outdoor activities in high school English classrooms--framed as critical rambling, a pedagogy seeking to raise awareness of issues like climate justice--with illustrations from a dissertation of teacher research and additional student work.

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) Education is one of the approaches that teachers adopt as they shift from content delivery focused teaching to skills development teaching. Also, effective STEAMING requires connection to issues outside the classroom (outdoor STEAM) and hence the coinage of the term Transdisciplinary…

This study explores how English Language Arts (ELA) teachers' experiences with grief shape their approach to teaching tragic texts that explore themes of loss and tragedy. By analyzing teachers' narratives, we examine how their emotional responses to personal losses influence their pedagogical practices when dealing with tragic literature.…

In this article, the authors share an account of an eighth-grade personal narrative unit designed to support students in composing accounts of life during the 2020-21 pandemic school year. The article provides an overview of the four phases that comprised this nine-lesson unit and the materials and resources used. Students' voices, perspectives,…

This book can help you incorporate critical literacy pedagogy into your high school English Language Arts (ELA) classroom, so that your students can use what they study in class to work toward making a more just and equitable world. Through the acronym CHANGE, the book explores how critical literacy pedagogy can support students as they Challenge…

In the English classroom, narrative writing is often separated from the work of reading literature or used merely to coax reluctant students into discussing textually relevant topics. This article discusses a close writing activity, Image Explosion, that engages students in narrative writing that brings attention to the smallest details of…

This article discusses four exemplary activities to highlight imaginative approaches that encourage critical literacy: building a jackdaw, responding to text through multimodal journaling, engaging in dramatic roleplay, and practicing multi-genre writing. Each activity connects imaginative approaches to critical literacy as learners view the world…

Inspired by the work of Muhammad (2020) and building upon the previous work of Hays (2021) in using young adolescent literature as a tool for social change, the authors highlight the ways in which educators such as Amardeep Bajwa can cultivate students' intellect through literature circle-based activities. More specifically, Hays worked with local…

The natural rhythm and inflection of language offer multiple and authentic ways for music teachers to connect their curriculum with learning in English Language Arts (ELA). While still addressing the National Core Arts Standards, music teachers can connect with ELA skills such as reading, writing, and speaking-listening. In this article, we…