Offers annotations of 12 items from the ERIC database regarding research or classroom practices concerning the relationship between reading and writing in the primary grades. (SR)

Describes class activities for the primary grades based on Margaret W. Brown's book "The Important Book" which connects reading and writing. (SR)

Discusses how teachers can incorporate a science poetry contest into the curriculum to encourage students to use poetry to express their thoughts about the natural world. (BB)

Describes how one sixth-grade teacher of English/Language Arts stopped teaching from grammar texts and instituted a writing workshop. Describes flak he received from colleagues and parents, encouragement he received from students and from his principal, and how, over time, writing workshops have spread in his school. (SR)

Describes how the author uses a poem by Marge Piercy called "Barbie Doll" to help students discover for themselves the implicit power of gender. Describes how students (1) examine the poem's language and have lively and insightful discussions as they find meanings for themselves; and (2) extend and elaborate on these meanings as they…

Describes a literacy autobiography assignment used as the first writing assignment in a methods course for preservice English/language arts teachers to model some strategies for literacy teaching and to encourage reflective thinking. Discusses the kinds of information and insights the autobiographies can reveal, and notes benefits of the…

Compares the effects of different types of humor in the classroom: humor drawn from literature, humor at the expense of literature, humor that puts someone down, humor that builds up or shapes identity, and humor as a classroom-management tool. Shows how teachers can use laughter as a conduit for students to find humor in what they read and write.…

Argues that humor is an invaluable teaching tool in English classes. Describes how the author and her students: found humor an important means of discovering profound truths in Shakespeare's dramas; enjoyed the epic "Paradise Lost"; worked with satire in Chaucer; and used humor in students' own creative activities. (SR)

Presents brief accounts from four secondary English teachers describing short stories and short story units that they have successfully taught. (SR)

Presents hand-on, standards-based activities in language arts, math, science, and social studies, including a daily almanac; bookmark buddies; word palettes; bowling for numbers; math thought teasers; plant puzzles; fingerprint fun; a travel bureau; and an end-of-the-year bulletin board of people involved in interesting activities. Reproducible…

Presents information on the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) and the Early Adolescence/English Language Arts (EA/ELA) assessment. Comments on "insiders and outsiders" as a guiding metaphor and on the differences in positioning of teachers as insiders to assessment development, administration, and evaluation and…

Addresses what standards for English teachers should be and how they should work. Questions the value of the standards movement as it is playing out in the United States, especially as a vehicle for school reform. Suggests ways of positioning standards within a different rhetoric. (RS)

Supports ideas for implementing John H. Ritter's "Choosing Up Sides" and "Over the Wall" as touchstone texts in a middle school language arts program. Discusses these two novels and the use and power of metaphors. Reveals literary connections made by young adolescent readers and writers strengthening overall comprehension, synthesis and analysis…

Music can be a powerful force in the language arts classroom and an important vehicle for teachers who want to lead students into literature. The paper discusses the power of popular music to first attract students, notes how to use other musical genres, describes guided listening, and explains important parallels between poetry and song. (SM)

Argues that regular homophone practice enhances vocabulary knowledge, spelling skills, pronunciation ability, and overall reading proficiency. Describes how card games played with decks of homophones helped to accomplish these things. Notes particular benefits of homophone games to English-as-a-second-language students, and outlines key advantages…