Having students read news articles or novels, watch television snippets, engage in class discussions, essay-writing, emailing, and drafting letters are excellent ways to broach any number of society's systemic and oppressive social maladies. Engaging in these activities in the English language arts classroom can serve as a catalyst to encourage…

Educational policies in the United States often adhere to society's ideal scenario for the perfect college and career ready student, but the realities of and differences in classroom instruction are often not considered. Whether or not policies will effectively improve student performance is unknown until implementation. The Common Core State…

This article explores the experiences and literacy practices of an adolescent boy enrolled in an academic support class, in which students received an open-ended invitation to respond to S.E. Hinton's novel "The Outsiders" with the software programme Comic Life. In constructing this "telling case", we highlight how traditional…

Addresses the task of teaching plays, emphasizing both the written script and the live performance. (AEA)

Argues that schoolwork with the plays of Shakespeare should be rooted in the twin concepts of performance and audience, for which the teacher needs to understand the scripts in terms of Elizabethan theatrical presentation and response. (FL)

Students should be invited to write dramatic scripts rather than reporting or discussing. (JH)

In this article, the author deals with a screenplay adaptation assignment that he gave to his students. The purpose is to make readers out of some students who don't like to read, and to teach them something about film as an art form. He starts with a film entitled, "Ernest Hemingway's Soldier's Home." He used it because of the technical…

Describes a classroom program in which students adapted and then produced a play based on the adolescent novel "The Chocolate War." Notes group improvisation strategies for adapting internal monologue to dialogue. Argues the advantages of such a project over class discussion and book reports. (JG)

Gives an overview of how one English teacher uses students' inherent understanding of film by asking them to write movie scripts. Advocates the use of screenwriting in the classroom. Details numerous reasons for such methods, and describes eight specific suggested class activities employing script writing. (HB)

Describes the use of improvisation in English instruction, focusing on understanding the elements of fiction, writing monologues and playscripts, and collaborating. (RL)

Noting that English and drama have a major common concern which is central to the educational process--namely, language--this book shows English teachers how to implement improvisational drama in their classrooms. Two chapters present theoretical background on the way in which individuals alter their language patterns in response to different…