Describes the school climate, the building-level specifics, and some effective teaching strategies that make Western Hills Elementary School an appropriate and successful setting for the development of multicultural language practices. Discusses the partnership between the school district and the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the role…

Argues that reading and discussing novels in which females meet challenges can help adolescents examine critical issues girls face, and can help to counteract the dangerous and significant losses of confidence, voice, and self-esteem suffered by adolescent girls. Summarizes 10 books that can engage girls in dialogue around these issues, and offers…

Discusses the life and artwork of Roger Brown and describes the imagery and content of his work entitled "Celebration of the Uncultivated -- A Garden of the World." Provides a reprint of the painting and activities in visual and language arts, the social science, natural science, and geometry. (CMK)

Describes how one eighth-grade teacher creates a safe, playful, literate environment for a four-week poetry unit which immerses students in the thoughtful, energetic, productive experience of poetry. Describes introducing poetry, setting up the unit, class activities, a wide range of requirements and assignments, and students' enthusiastic…

Presents six curriculum guides for health/nutrition, mathematics, reading, language arts, and social studies. Each activity identifies library media skills objectives, curriculum objectives, grade levels, resources, librarians and teacher instructional roles, activity and procedures for completion, activity samples, guidelines for evaluating…

Responds to a study that found that group art therapy, bibliotherapy, and whole language instruction provide a good match for interdisciplinary learning for special needs students. Reviews and analyzes published literature in these areas, as well as in interdisciplinary instruction. Looks at program procedures and strengths and weaknesses. (RJM)

Sketches out several projects and assignments that focus on the family and suggests some contexts that can be used to give them structure. Suggests that this is an appealing way to end the school year, offering strong material to keep students involved. (SR)

Discusses and reviews World Wide Web sites of use and interest to English teachers. Discusses particular sites to browse, such as ERIC, KIDLINK, and some teacher discussion forums. Notes particular sites on the Internet for use in English Humanities classes; books online; famous author home pages; library links; writing sites online; literature;…

Examines the effect of ritual in different elementary school subjects through observations in mathematics, language arts, and social studies in public, private, and home schooling. Rituals in teaching concepts and in how teachers and students related were very different in mathematics. Sharing of student and teacher experiences was more common in…

Illustrates how studying fourth-grade students' language-play response discourses and sharing students' patterns of thinking with them can lead to authentic assessment that fuels learning. Discusses open activities (providing challenge, autonomy, and social collaboration) that foster language-play response. Discusses what is meant by language…

Describes the use of teacher stories (both positive and negative) in teacher education, explaining the long-term goal of getting students to internalize stories that would help guide their actions in the classroom. Student reactions to teacher stories varied depending on the stories and contexts of the readings. A comprehensive list of teacher…

Argues that the contemporary language arts curriculum encompasses eight areas: literature, language, composition, speech and drama, critical thinking, technology, media literacy, and interdisciplinary studies. Offers a rationale for "cosmos" as a new metaphor for the language arts. Discusses the content of each of the eight curricular areas, and…

Describes the Notable American Project, which focuses on the First Ladies and other notable people in the United States for students in grades 8-12. Explains that students select their subjects and then write biographical research papers, create historical posters, and present first-person speeches in costumes. Offers handouts. (CMK)

Offers suggestions for building school library collections in English and language arts. Discusses how the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) tests for proficiency in three purposes of reading and how it can be used to evaluate a library collection; and includes four annotated bibliographies of books suitable for elementary…

Summarizes five important studies that teachers should be aware of, which offer direction about how grammar should or should not be taught. Summarizes useful theory as well, concluding that the teaching of grammar in the language arts classroom must happen within the context of larger lessons and experiences with written and spoken language. (SR)