Realizing that many find museums intimidating or boring, museum educators and curators are using the World Wide Web to bring children and museums together. This article discusses Web access to selected museums; describes curriculum tie-ins for language arts, careers, mythology, Pueblo Indians; and provides an annotated bibliography of online art…

Describes the work of the Literacy Unit of the New Standards Project and uses that description to raise a broader set of issues about assessment in the K-12 English language arts. Notes that the performance assessment uses on-demand tasks lasting three to five days and involves the reading of a selection and writing of an essay and portfolios. (RS)

Investigates multiculturalism and education in Sweden through historical accounts, national course plans and guidelines, current theory, discussions with scholars, classroom observations, and 23 interviews of late-secondary/early postsecondary teachers of civics and Swedish language arts. (EMS)

Discusses the role of teachers in relation to parents. Suggests English educators have much to do in helping teachers learn how to inform parents about the best practices in English/language arts. Posits that teachers--preservice and practicing--must think about their roles differently to see themselves as advocates, not just for students, but for…

Describes how the author has her students create "found poems" and use them in conjunction with the students' own Readers/Writers Logs to help students make more of a text, own it, and discover the power of effective language. Includes instructions, student samples of found poems, and samples of the entire process. (SR)

Discusses a high school unit involving the cartoon characters "Beavis" and "Butt-head." Examines how social values and social conflicts affect and mirror language use. Describes Beavis and Butt-head projects, and objections to the unit. Argues that schools must embrace nonprint texts to help students become skilled, literate,…

Presents a description of anchored instruction, a model of curriculum integration combined with inquiry learning that builds prior knowledge and engages students in the application of the language arts. Sets out the eight steps involved in creating an anchored instruction unit. (SR)

Offers a case study of three 11th-grade students who viewed tapes of their class discussions and commented on their own involvement. Argues that students are silent for wide-ranging reasons; that students who are quiet may be learning; and that teachers should consider multiple means to spur students' thinking. Lists ways to help students speak…

Considers how to "unfix" certainties about students' potential and their performances in class; uses three middle school students dealing with language arts as case studies. Describes how learning occurred over the school year. Includes responses that offer a record of success and comments on fighting "fixity" in teacher education. (PA)

This case study describes how a high school language arts teacher in a poor border community in southern New Mexico combined technology-based teaching strategies with multicultural elements to ensure learning and equitable access to technology for her minority students. Discusses bilingual and bicultural students, constructivist classrooms, and…

Discusses three pedagogical frameworks in which students have used hypermedia authoring tools to generate a practice of critical literacy, including critical inquiry into social worlds, critical response to literature, and knowledge construction in the classroom through hypermedia. Discusses how, in hypermedia authoring for critical literacy,…

Explores how word walls and the activities related to them function as conversational scaffolds and as visual scaffolds that help students take control of literacy skills and strategies. Describes word walls. Discusses purposes they serve, how to use them with beginning, developing, and struggling readers and writers. (SR)

Examines text and pictorial representations of the Inuit in juvenile reference books and in geographical and historical juvenile non-fiction works. Finds continuing prevalence of a wide range of stereotypes. Identifies strengths and weaknesses of a variety of such representations, aided by a discussion group of Inuit people. (SR)

This article describes the supported literacy approach, a middle school literacy curriculum based on sociocognitive principles that engages students, including those with disabilities, in collaborative interpretation through integration of reading, discussing, and writing about literature. It reports on classroom observations and outcomes…

Chronicles how the author first used creative drama in a summer reading program with first graders, and then over the years developed a much broader understanding of how drama is an important teaching tool. Describes writing "scaffolded" plays with sixth-grade students. Discusses implications for language arts teachers. Describes her annual…