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,…

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…

"College readiness" has become a national buzzword in light of efforts to improve high school students' ability to successfully transition into postsecondary settings. One component of this transition that has long been an area of concern is students' readiness for college writing. Numerous stakeholders have weighed in on the question of…

This article details how one teacher-researcher developed a relationship with a refugee student through literacy activities.

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 piece describes an extended workshop in which reading, writing, listening, and speaking were used to build and sustain a feminist ecology intended to open up access to future lives in science for ethnically and linguistically diverse girls in an urban secondary school. The girls in the description above participated in a project called Girls…

This article is about a year-long teaching and research project conducted with 696 4th graders (mostly 10-year olds) and their 36 teachers in Wyoming/USA. The researchers employed an action research approach. They planned and taught a two-day, Wyoming-themed, interdisciplinary unit, "We Are Wyoming", which integrated Social Studies,…

This article describes a writing partnership that involved university preservice teachers and ninth grade students enrolled in an integrated social studies/language arts class. While the high school students found the experience exciting and satisfying, the preservice teachers expressed anxieties and concerns as they endeavored to foster academic…

The guide presents suggestions for enrichment activities emphasizing poetry for gifted and talented intermediate students. Information is arranged according to objectives, entry skills, teacher's approaches, student activities, and resources. The following poetry-related topics are addressed: poetic license; metaphors; poetry charades;…

Reviews materials in the ERIC system that level criticisms at creative writing in the schools and that present suggestions for activities that promote good writing that is also creative. (HTH)

Describes 24 activities for encouraging response to literature, designed for individual work and for classroom work with pairs, small groups, or the whole class. (GT)

On the premise that the aim of high school and college English teachers is to intensify students' powers of thinking and feeling and to keep themselves alive while doing so, this paper suggests numerous imaginative activities for use in the classroom. The activities include a Victorian panel discussion, a presentation of early English ballads,…

Several examples of classroom activities that promote effective letter writing. (MM)

Three activities designed to increase the reading, writing, and vocabulary levels of hearing impaired students (elementary through middle school level) are described. Activities focus on such tasks as recognizing similar attributes among objects, using comic books to understand story elements, and constructing definitions after reading and…

Describes an experiential lesson plan for using garden snails in secondary English. Shows how the observation of snails can be tied into reading, writing, and dramatics activities. (DF)