A descriptive/observational study examined one teacher's approach to teaching literature in a heterogeneous, self-contained fifth-grade classroom in a growing suburban community in southeastern Michigan during one school year. The teacher (with 21 years experience) was selected by the Murray Hill School administrators and was observed once a week for 1.5 hours each time. Data included a teacher interview, conferences before and after classroom observations, field notes, audio tapes of each observed literature lesson, and interviews with and written and graphic response of six students. Results indicated that the teacher: (1) understood and valued the importance of exposing students to a variety of literary genre; (2) wanted students to understand that there were specific criteria and techniques to analyze literature; (3) emphasized in various ways that she thought literature should be valued for the aesthetic experience it offers; (4) often asked the students to engage in creative writing activities; (5) helped students develop collaborative learning skills; and (6) chose reading materials of keen interest to students. However, results also indicated that the teacher did not appear to help students recognize the criteria and techniques for determining the merits of a literary selection, and that the teacher appeared to need assistance in learning about the role that questioning plays in eliciting higher order thinking, especially critical aesthetic response to literature. (A group advertisement for one of the books read and several semantic webs are included; seven professional references and 16 children's literature selections are attached.) (RS)