Presenting a consistent, integrated approach to the English/language arts, this book describes integrated, research-based principles for the teaching and learning of language, accompanied by numerous examples drawn from either the author's own experiences in the schools or from the professional literature. New and expanded features in this fourth edition include: early emphasis on curriculum integration; a new chapter on creating classroom community; updated reading references for children and young adults; discussion of the role of national standards in curriculum development and planning; expanded material on oral English and drama, with emphasis on integrating them into the curriculum; and continued exploration of the grading/evaluation dilemma, providing strategies for teachers to derive grades and mark papers while still maintaining strong support for their students' efforts. After a prologue (A Documentary History of Teaching the English Language Arts), chapters in the book are: (1) Exploring and Teaching the English Language Arts; (2) The Integrated Curriculum; (3) Creating Instructional Units; (4) Creating Classroom Community; (5) Engagement with Literature; (6) Literature and the Young Adult; (7) Organizing to Teach Literature; (8) Teaching Writing; (9) Writing for the Here and Now; (10) Exploring Language; (11) Classroom Talk, Drama, and Performance; (12) Language: A Mass Medium; and (13) Assessment, Evaluation, and Grading. (Contains a coda (Idea(l)ism and Successive Approximation) and an approximately 200-item bibliography.) (RS)