Suggests three strategies to help students hear the sounds in words: developing phonemic awareness; explore sound/symbol relationships; and discover spelling patterns. This method is most effective if teachers continuously encourage students to think about how these strategies will help them as readers and writers. (SM)

This poetry workshop has students read Monica Gunning's poem about her childhood in Jamaica, create lists of what they want to know more about, search for and share the information, then find poems from other parts of the world. The Gunning poem and lists of resources are included. (SM)

Suggests that authentic discussion is "classroom talk that is purposeful and engaging." Shares two activities that the author has used to create classrooms that are inquiry driven and characterized by an emphasis on dialogue rather than monologue. Describes two activities that utilize seven strategies that are helpful in initiating authentic…

Recollects the author's teaching experiences during the attacks of September 11, 2001. Relives the events that took place in his classroom discussing "White Angel," a short story by Michael Cunningham, in light of the fact that they had no idea what was happening in the area until class was over. Notes that the morning's lesson took on…

Shares five activities for use in the classroom that require active participation in reading by all students. Notes that in addition to ensuring time with text, the activities incorporate repeated reading, a practice that has been demonstrated to have a positive impact on students' reading ability. (SG)

Presents a university teacher educator's perspective and a middle school classroom teacher's perspective of Adrian Fogelin's fiction. Discusses the use of "Crossing Jordan" in the schools. Discusses activities that can be used with this novel. Describes how pre-service teachers learn about teaching literature in the middle schools. Presents four…

Notes that the goal of phonics instruction is to help students develop the alphabetic principle. Explains how the words "explicit" and "systematic" are used in multiple ways in the context of phonics instruction. Suggests that educators should engage in serious discussions about how multiple approaches to phonics instruction…

Examines the assumptions that underlie critical reading and critical literacy. Argues that there are fundamental philosophical distinctions between liberal-humanist critical reading and critical literacy, and demonstrates why educators need to acknowledge and understand these differences. Suggests that practices associated with critical literacy…

Describes "CultureGrams" and "StateGrams", sources that provide practical cultural information including attitudes, appearances, greetings, gestures, dating, family life, transportation, health, and education. Focuses on the edition suitable for elementary school students, explaining specific features and suggesting assignments…

Discusses ideas for establishing rituals and celebrations to ease enrollment and staffing transitions during the child care center school year. Recommends ways to make transitions part of the curriculum through the use of daily routines, picture books, celebrations, and gift giving to mark significant events and changes. (JPB)

Provides classroom activities centered around how the electromagnetic spectrum yields vital insights about the evolution of the universe. Activities targeted for grade levels 6-12 illustrate the importance of light and color in space exploration. Includes a poster. (Author/SOE)

Describes a process to help journalism students in feature writing break left-brain dependence and make right- and left-brain connections to enliven their writing. Adapts William Gordon's six "synectics modeling" steps: topic description, direct analogies, personal analogies, compressed conflict, new direct analogies, and topic rewrite. (SR)

Discusses approaches for helping upper elementary-age children learn about words through integrated study of spelling, grammar, and meaning. Describes what word study is, discusses word study in an integrated language arts unit (providing several examples), and offers reasons for including word study in a language arts program. (SR)

Presents some examples of bilingual and Spanish materials that can be prepared in the classroom based on current practical theories on the teaching of literacy. Describes ways to incorporate the alphabet into bilingual activities. Considers the use of an illustrated songbook. (SG)

This article suggests using drama activities to teach target vocabulary words to students with limited vocabulary development. It presents specific drama activities to implement when introducing new vocabulary, conducting guided practice, facilitating cooperative learning groups, and assigning independent practice. Suggestions are also offered for…