Describes a workshop on "slam poetry" and details how this form of performance poetry can lead students back to the written poem with a renewed sense of connection and understanding. Suggests a class exercise that can be adapted to either a creative writing or a literature unit. (SG)

Discusses a summer institute that examined the shifting shape of American Literature, and teaching American Literature. Includes ways in which students help "make" literature with their own writing. Discusses the contributions of new technologies, pairing unlikely combinations of texts, and including middle school teachers who teach individual…

Describes and analyzes an elective course which enables students to relate the viewpoints presented in literature to their own personal philosophies. (DD)

"A Natural Dialogue Unit" by Vincent Wixon and "Introducing Simile" by Patty Stone are provided as examples of successful techniques for helping students draw upon their knowledge of language. (DD)

Describes problems with standardized testing and urges teachers to educate the public about weaknesses in statewide minimum competency testing. (DD)

A defense of the study of the humanities in light of the back-to-basics movement. (DD)

Describes a vocational-technical English program for high school seniors which involves a simulation of job related activities. (DD)

Presents and analyzes Judy Brown's exercises to increase innovative thinking for fiction writing. (DD)

Interviews with University of Washington students majoring in 24 areas revealed tremendous variety within and across disciplines in the amount of writing they were asked to do for their courses. (DD)

Encourages beginning teachers to take a reflective approach to their early teaching experiences, to acknowledge that they will encounter difficulties, and to accept some initial defeats as preparation for successful, effective teaching. Lists some applicable resources. (JT)

Offers opposing views of the merit of EQuality project, a high school reform movement designed to improve students' performance through curriculum changes. (JL)

Suggests that oral interpretation units in language arts courses have value in themselves in addition to their value in helping students improve their writing skills. (DD)

Challenges the identification of literacy with intelligence and abstract reasoning ability. Suggests nonverbal projects as a way of broadening the definition of intelligence in the English classroom. A bibliography is included. (DF)