A college class newsletter project was undertaken by senior undergraduates teaching language arts in an elementary school. The purpose was to introduce the idea that teaching is a community-wide endeavor. They planned and wrote newsletters about the program to parents and others in the community. (JOW)

Describes inviting fourth-graders to use their own language to describe mathematical ideas, postponing the use of technical vocabulary so students can explain the significant concepts and ideas in their own way first. Discusses how this use of metaphorical language to teach math concepts can enliven student interest and understanding, and infuse…

Examines over a dozen poems by William Carlos Williams. Notes that these poems can be incorporated easily into an elementary reading/language arts/literature program. Shows how Williams' poetry can help children see others, themselves, and the world in a more imaginative and multiperspective manner. (MM)

Recalls memorable moments from the author's public school life which imply that the best possible learning environments are active, meaningful, personalized, and collaborative; nourished by conversation, by reading, and by writing among teachers, administrators, parents, and students; and that the best teachers are learners. (SR)

Discusses curriculum reform in California. Suggests choosing works that have quality and depict what is universal in human nature in order to select literature that is meaningful to all. (MS)

Discusses two passages from novels (Sheri Tepper's "After Long Silence" and Cynthia Voight's "A Solitary Blue") that feature music. Discusses ways language arts teachers might use these passages in the classroom. (SR)

Offers seven annotations of books and journal articles (published between 1992 and 1994) from the ERIC database on the topic of language and literacy in upper elementary grades. (SR)

Describes the English Language Arts Standards project, whose principal purpose is to develop content standards that set out how students best learn to speak, listen, write, and read effectively. Encourages feedback from educators around the country. (RS)

Discusses why elephant riddles are viable catalysts for word play and language development in the primary grades. Explores some relationships between children's thinking and elephant riddles. Offers some suggestions for incorporating them as a regular part of the classroom flow. (SR)

Discusses the importance of Vietnam War literature by and about women and provides ideas for incorporating it into the reading/English language arts curriculum. Provides a rationale for such literature; discusses types of Vietnam War literature by and about women; and addresses pedagogical aspects. (RS)

Discusses five guiding principles (from scholars' work in semiotics) for helping teachers explore the arts and literacy instruction, intended as a framework for understanding representation of meaning, in whatever sign system or art form. Discusses why understanding semiotic systems is important to language arts instruction that represents meaning…

Nancy Martin and James Britton are two retired teachers whose collaborative research on the use of language in learning is profiled. Their language education project promotes personal and democratic uses of literacy.

The theme for the 58th annual conference of the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers (ALER) was Bridging Cultures Through Literacy. In the first section of the Yearbook, Parker Fawson's presidential address captures the unique nature of ALER and its role in his professional development, and then moved beyond to capture the changing…

This paper presents an addendum on Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) Academic Support Programs for the fiscal year 2006. This addendum supplements the report submitted in January 2006 regarding MCAS academic support programs for students who had not yet passed the grade 10 English language arts and mathematics MCAS tests…

A follow-up analysis of data collected in 2003 was conducted to determine the effect of peer helping programs on student achievement at 47 middle schools in Western New York. The mean scores and the percent of students achieving at or above the New York State passing cores on The New York State Eighth Grade Science Achievement Test and The New…