Relates how the Standing Committee on Teacher Preparation and Certification of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) came together and worked together to develop guidelines on English and language arts teacher education which will stand from 1996-2006. Discusses getting from drafts to a published document. (PA)

Discusses how to teach students the values of "understanding, tolerance, caring, and respect," and to help them understand and appreciate cultures other than their own. Focuses on five levels: building a classroom library of multicultural literature; using "lit sets" (multiple copies of the same book) to promote multicultural…

Discusses concerns (curricular, diversity, and community concerns) teachers have about multiculturalism and multicultural education in the language arts classroom. Discusses also teachers' ideas and solutions to these concerns. (SR)

Argues that the "Standards for the English Language Arts" (SELA) gives English teachers direction. Discusses what "teaching English" means. Suggests that SELA is not a prescriptive list of measurement items nor a cookbook for skillful English teaching: SELA is a statement of principles of, for, and by professionals, and a K-12 statement of…

Traces the public furor that greeted the National Council of Teachers/International Reading Association's "Standards for the English Language Arts." Discusses responses to criticisms. Argues that the language in the "Standards" is flat; the standards are meant to be guidelines, not mandates; and the emphasis was on process. (RS)

Presents an annotated bibliography of 57 World Wide Web sites grouped by subjects, including language arts curricula and pedagogy, writing tools, "fun" writing tools, on-line libraries, on-line books, miscellaneous on-line collections, language arts indexes, technology planning guides, technology plan examples, censorship and copyrights,…

Reports how students use raw data to create a number of narratives integrating group observations in the laboratory with individual responses to humanities readings. (Contains 21 references.) (DDR)

Discusses reader-based and text-based approaches to teaching literature to high school students and then offers suggestions for questions and activities for the teaching of Robert Cormier's "The Chocolate War." (TB)

Presents a short section from a science fiction/fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett called "The Colour of Magic." Discusses its usefulness as a read-aloud for mathematics instruction of geometry, particularly the concept of circumference. (SR)

Presents an activity to connect language arts, social studies, and technology in a meaningful way while encouraging students not only to read for details but to "read between the lines" and draw conclusions about a historical figure's inner thoughts and personality. Notes that the biopoem is a simple 10-line poem with a specific, easy-to-follow…

Examines novels in which children or teens in an urban environment, left on their own for a variety of reasons, join together to form a community that explores alternative versions of home and family. Notes urban survival novels encompass a wide variety of genres, and involves dramatic shifts of perspective which challenge protagonists (and…

This activity to meet the basic literacy goals of sixth-grade students shows how to incorporate language arts into the classroom while introducing the principles of technology. Includes a design brief with evaluation rubric. (JOW)

Describes several academic and behavioral issues involving males in schools, such as males score lower in language arts on standardized tests than females and males dominate school discipline statistics. Suggests several strategies to address these issues: Offer more technology, use multiple literacy approaches, encourage mentoring relationships,…

Reviews three professional resources which discuss the issue of the best time to present specific components of the language arts curriculum. (MG)

Offers nine citations from the ERIC database which point to resources for developing students' critical thinking skills. (MG)