Grounded in solid theory with new field-tested classroom activities, the fourth edition of "Critical Encounters in Secondary English" continues to help teachers integrate the lenses of contemporary literary theory into practices that have always defined good pedagogy. The most significant change for this edition is the addition of a full…

Robust vocabulary instruction is an important part of comprehensive English language arts (ELA) instruction. Vocabulary instruction supports students in learning the meaning of words to build a receptive vocabulary that they can rely on to comprehend the words they read and hear. Many students with significant cognitive disabilities (SCD) and…

Technological advancements continue to present a variety of learning opportunities for students. The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) study is to seek an understanding about students' experiences with a virtual reality (VR) activity in an Advanced Placement English course. Analyzing the observations and interactions…

ELA Guidebooks is an English language arts curriculum for core instruction. Made by teachers for teachers, the ELA Guidebooks units ensure all students can read, understand, and express their understanding of complex, grade-level texts, ensuring their readiness for college or a career. Each text collection has a shared idea and contains authentic…

ELA Guidebooks is an English language arts curriculum for core instruction. Made by teachers for teachers, the guidebook units ensure all students can read, understand, and express their understanding of complex, grade-level texts, ensuring their readiness for college or a career. Each text collection has a shared idea and contains authentic texts…

The researchers of this hermeneutic phenomenological study applied Colaizzi's (1978) method to analyze and interpret English Language Arts (ELA) teacher candidates' (TC) learning experiences with literacy quadrants and narratives while attending secondary writing instruction methods courses in diverse institutional settings. Qualitative strategies…

This paper offers insights into how the teaching of queer topics in English language arts classes can be reframed by bridging the goals, practices and conceptual tools of queer theory to literacy teaching. Drawing on an ethnographic classroom study, which explored a 13-week high school Gay and Lesbian Literature course, this paper discusses how…

How do English teachers, with their amazing gift, empower students to see and experience literature not as a burden that must be endured and memorized for the test and then mercifully forgotten, but as a vehicle for self-discovery and reflection? One effective way to help students experience and discover literature is through the characters. For…

This feature article explores the topic of trains from their early history to recent trends in railroading. A glossary provides related vocabulary, a sidebar called "Romance of the Rails" adds colorful detail about train songs and railroad lore. An additional section, "Classroom Activities," by John Silver, presents three…

In 2004, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) concluded that "literature reading is fading as a meaningful activity, especially among younger people." How can educators continue to teach students about the power of literary response when the priority is for them to achieve proficiency on standardized tests, whose scores can only be narrowly…

Literature students often fear poetry explication, supposing it is beyond their intellectual reach. As with many preconceptions that surface in the classroom, this is an impression I find helpful to tackle forthrightly. Years of teaching literature have convinced me that even English majors can become timid in the face of assignments calling for…

The purpose of this study was to examine the difference between students' scores in comprehension (English Language Arts) tests when they are led in Brain Gym® activities before class instruction and when they are taught using traditional teaching strategies. The sample for this study consisted of 11 males and 9 females. Data were collected by…

Learn how to increase rigor so that all students can reach higher levels of learning! With this new edition of a teacher-tested best seller, you get practical ideas for increasing text complexity, providing scaffolding during reading instruction, creating open-ended projects, and much more. The enhanced second edition provides important…

Written by teachers for teachers of English and the language arts in kindergarten through grade 12, this book presents 50 projects and activities that involve students actively in the processes of their learning experiences. Each project includes a statement of objectives, a brief description of the project, lists of suggested procedures for the…

Describes assignment sequence introducing secondary school students to finding and interpreting quotes from assigned literature by having students (1) respond in journals to a quotation chosen by the teacher, (2) analyze characterization by illustrating character traits with quotations, (3) create a collage or mobile visually interpreting quote,…