Notes and discusses resources on the World Wide Web that deal with grammar and that may be useful to teachers. Lists traditional grammar websites, including online handbooks and style guides, but warns that the isolated teaching of grammar has little impact on student writing. Concludes that websites are needed that actually show teachers how to…

Discusses four books that will be useful to teachers who are rethinking how and why they teach grammar, and who want to connect and imbed the study of grammar in students' thinking and writing. (SR)

Describes how the author's eighth-grade language arts inquiry-based instruction blossomed into student-based community learning, with students defining and seeking their own relevant goals, bringing the community to school with an art exhibit of tolerance, volunteering at a nearby elementary school, creating community gardens to fulfill a…

Introduces a cooperative learning approach on human physiological systems based on a debate to decide on the most important body system. Includes a human systems debate assignment sheet. (YDS)

Describes a project in which language arts sophomores creatively and cooperatively produced a book titled "Parents, Are You Ready for This?" Explains how the project transformed student notions about research. Notes that the project involved press conferences and interviews with parents and their children. (TB)

A comprehensive character education program produces students who understand moral character and incorporate this knowledge in their actions. California advocates coursework in history, the social sciences, and language arts that connects students to political, social, and ethical issues central to our society. Cites examples of projects in four…

Discusses 10 obstacles a teacher might encounter when incorporating technology into the classroom. Argues that with technology, like any other teaching strategy, teachers just need a few strategies that work for them, which they vary and adapt as needed. Lists some small, medium, and large projects using technology in the English classroom that…

Presents brief responses from six educators describing the best young adult novel they have ever read, and why they chose that book. (SR)

Describes how using prereading opinionnaires enhances students' understanding of literature while satisfying many of the demands of Standard #3 of the Standards for the English Language Arts. Offers examples of such opinionnaires, and shows how one was used in a 9th-grade English class to promote students' understanding of the novel "The Giver,"…

Explains why implementing integrated curricula is probably a lost cause in the long term. Argues that there are hidden possibilities in a fragmented school curriculum that, ironically, may provide teachers with more opportunities to respond to both their own and students' needs. Presents evidence from a comparative study of three school libraries.…

Illustrates how sports literature can be used in character education. Focuses on 10 ingredients for being a successful or "highly effective" person, and includes examples drawn from sports or sports literature. Discusses setting goals; proactive responses/positive thinking; a strong work ethic; a never-surrender attitude; physical and…

Uses four traditions of geography (spatial, area studies, human-environment interaction, and earth science) to show how poetry can be used to enhance the teaching of geography. Illustrates the explicitly spatial concepts present in selected poetry. (DAJ)

Presents brief annotations of 11 articles that consider the place of young adult literature in the classroom. Notes that these 11 are judged the best of Hipple's compilation (published in "The ALAN Review") of 99 fine articles about young adult literature, articles that were written across several decades and published in a variety of journals.…

This article discusses the need for activities that foster critical thinking within secondary literature-based courses. The rationale for teaching thinking skills and activities that focus on synthesis and evaluation are presented. Teachers are urged to become critical thinkers in their determination of content, process, and product choices.…

Contends that children assimilate enormous amounts of information from society. Reveals the presence, in one child's fictional piece of writing, of complex layers of gender (including gender stereotypes), societal tensions, and economic social forces which one might expect to be beyond the grasp of a seven-year-old. (SR)