Summarizes the development of English language arts standards and discusses the role standards might play in achieving educational reform, both in the classroom and within larger educational units. (SR)

Reviews a number of books for language arts methods course instructors that address a tension between their professional obligation to represent a broad range of theoretical issues current in the field and their students' urgent desire for practical skills and information that will help them get an English class up and running. (TB)

Describes how a teacher and her grades one through three children made poetry come alive and serve as an authentic part of their lives. Describes the factors underlying authentic classroom instruction, and notes how poetry moved out from lessons and even school time to become something that will continue to be with many of these children…

Argues that, as educators embrace new technology, it is important to look at the tradeoffs. Proposes and discusses five "common denominators" that cut across media and communications technologies, past and future. Offers generalizations about common elements in all language that permit analysis and critique of the new media and help students…

Argues that the prohibition against the comma splice has no logical basis whatsoever, and offers numerous examples. Maintains that English teachers should relax prohibitions against comma splices, accept that usage is flexible, and allow students a freedom which more confident writers take for granted. (SR)

Presents descriptions of influential individuals who have shaped language arts education as it is know today. Elaborates on contributions of: Sylvia Ashton-Warner; Natalie Robinson Cole; Julia Weber Gordon; and Alvina Treut Burrows. (SG)

Addresses the questions of how literacy is defined, by whom, and for what purposes, using critical literacy as a lens of analysis. Considers the "normative assumptions" that are present within the language arts curriculum. Suggests that any methodological approach to what it means to be a "literate" person is based on an…

This article employs rhetoric to examine the poetic dimensions of one performed narrative in teaching. The analysis stems from a larger study of oral narratives in classroom talk during a Holocaust unit in a middle school language arts classroom. A corpus of seventy-five teacher and student narratives was transcribed and analyzed for the broader…

Technology offers a number of opportunities for connecting classrooms with the world. The advent of the Internet has offered unprecedented prospects for classroom connections, but the recent diffusion of digital cameras throughout society offers instructional possibilities as well. This document provides a detailed examination of digital…

The educational enterprise is awash in standards, but little attention is paid to what the term really means. Without carefully crafted, widely accepted definitions of standards, standards projects are rife with problems and frequently fail. The absence of careful definitions typically leads to confusion, rejection of standards, and can actually…

The way in which the culture of ethnography has been developed in classrooms that encourages teachers and students to question, doubt, reflect, revise and remain open to new possibilities, is discussed. Through the documentation of interactions and talks between teachers and students, a critical examination of the teachers and capabilities and…

A teacher's commitment to social justice challenges her to move from literature response as answers to literature response as inquiry. It is believed that teaching and learning must be linked to understanding and transforming social inequities.

Collaborative learning is widely used in elementary classrooms. However, when working without technological support, some problems can be detected. We describe how weaknesses in coordination, communication, organization of materials, negotiation, interactivity and lack of mobility can be solved with a mobile computer supported collaborative…

English language arts teachers play a vital role in helping students to connect skills they learn in school with the larger purposes of democracy. Hence it is noted that the future of the US depends, at least in part, on the commitment of the language arts teachers toward democracy and social justice.

Edith Graybill, English instructor at the Henry Ford Academy in Dearborn, Michigan, speaks about her school's English language arts curriculum, the influence of the school on the role of English language arts, the theories of teaching and learning used at the Academy, and other related topics. She believes that most of the students appreciate…