This book sets out to examine the "new literacies" in today's technology-intensive world, and it presents ideas, concepts, and practical methods for improving learning about and with the whole range of information technologies. It follows a pattern designed to inform and challenge current educational practices. Chapters in the book are: (1)…

In this lesson plan, students learn the rules and conventions of haiku, study examples by Japanese masters, and create haiku of their own. Its 4 lessons seek to help students be able to: (1) describe the traditional rules and conventions of haiku; (2) interpret examples of haiku; (3) characterize the image-evoking power of haiku; (4) develop a…

This teacher guide contains teaching and learning activities to accompany "Room for Five," a video series developed by Alberta Learning. The teacher guide is designed to give teachers ideas for using and connecting the videos from the series to the outcomes of the new Alberta curricular programs. It features student activities for the…

This paper provides an overview of Houghton Mifflin's Invitations to Literacy, a commercially published, integrated reading/language arts program for use in K-6 classrooms. The program provides instructional resources that seek to: build on the foundation that students bring to school and foster home-school cooperation; hold all students to the…

This retrospective paper highlights pedagogical approaches that best engaged at risk middle school (sixth grade) males at a private school that opened in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1997, the year after civil disturbances there made national news. Because of the "treachery" of students' neighborhoods and the isolationist policy of many…

The 1999 version of the "North Carolina English Language Arts Standard Course of Study" (SCoS) specifies grade-by-grade standards for students in grades K-12. As a complement to SCoS, "In the Right Direction" is intended to help teachers take the next steps. While not comprehensive or prescriptive, this document should help…

This activities booklet focuses on the story of Alaska's flag. The booklet is intended for teachers to use with primary-grade children. Each activity in the booklet contains background information, a summary and time estimate, Alaska state standards, a step-by-step technique for implementing the activity, assessment tips, materials and resource…

This activities booklet focuses on the story of Alaska's flag. The booklet is intended for teachers to use with students in the intermediate grades. Each activity in the booklet contains: background information, a summary and time estimate, state standards, a step-by-step technique for implementation of the activity, assessment tips, materials and…

This activities booklet focuses on the story of Alaska's flag. The booklet is intended for use in teaching high school students. Each activity contains: background information; a summary and time estimate, Alaska state standards, a step-by-step technique for classroom implementation of the activity, assessment tips, materials and resources needed,…

Based on novels and books about the Mississippi River, this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that the Mississippi River has made its mark on America's geography, commerce, and literature; and that booktalks provide a summary, explains what kind of reader the book will appeal to, and may also contain a oral…

This book takes an up-close and personal look at elementary school boys and their relationship to sports, movies, video games, and other avenues of popular culture. The book views these media not as enemies of literacy, but as resources "for" literacy. It contains a series of interviews with young boys and girls who describe the pleasure…

Based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that: a close study of the characters of a literary classic will yield important clues to an understanding of the work as a whole; an effective analysis of stylistic devices depends upon selection and interpretation…

Based on George Orwell's novel "1984," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that the historical context of the novel is based on the mood and political climate of 1949 Europe; the society Orwell created and modern society in the United States have similarities and differences; and modern privacy issues and the…

Based on Gustave Flaubert's novel "Madame Bovary," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students explore the theme of "illusion versus reality" in the novel; identify and list alternate themes in the novel; and cite specific examples of illusion versus reality from the novel. It includes objectives, materials, procedures,…

Now revised and updated, this book's second edition aims to guide teachers in providing effective, engaging literacy instruction that meets the challenges of today's legislative mandates. Identified in the book are principles of best practice that reflect cutting-edge scientific research as well as decades of hands-on classroom experience.…