Discusses five recent books about language that address issues that arise in classrooms with an increasing number of diverse dialects and varied home languages. Discusses the complexities of language, misunderstandings in the Ebonics controversy, socioeducational issues, and classroom ideas for teachers. Describes two web sites. (SR)

Offers a review of nine books, presented in the form of an imagined conversation between the authors (leading scholars in the English-language arts today) as they discuss changes in language-arts curriculum, interdisciplinary curriculum, community-building in the classroom, teaching rather than showing films, and literature as a living tradition.…

Presents resources for secondary school reading teachers. Looks in depth at two books: "Into Focus: Understanding and Creating Middle School Readers," and "Mosaic of Thought: Teaching Reading Comprehension in a Reader's Workshop." Discusses three online resources about teaching reading and selecting materials (READPRO, "Reading Online," and the…

Describes and discusses four resources (one quarterly magazine and three books) which are compilations of writing (and sometimes artwork) of students in grades 6 through 12. Argues that these writings can help to engage students with literature, to explore new ideas, and perhaps to stretch their own wings further as they see new possibilities for…

Offers a review of a book by John Gaughan, "Cultural Reflections: Critical Teaching and Learning in the English Classroom," a book filled with teaching ideas and insights that challenge English language-arts teachers to immerse students in text and topics that are important in their lives and to genuinely consider students and communities in…

Evaluates four textbooks recommended by junior high and high school teachers for teaching writing and literature: "Enjoying Literature" (published by Macmillan, 1985); "Exposition: Critical Writing and Thinking" (Robert J. Gula); "Situational Writing" (Gene Krupa); and "Double Exposure: Composing through Writing and Film" (W. V. Costanzo). (MM)

Examines four novels for children, each told in the voice of a bicultural child, which express four states of cross-cultural experience--dual rejection, selective rejection, attempted dual identities, and self-created inclusive identity. (MM)

Presents classroom teachers' recommendations for a variety of dictionaries that may heighten students' interest in language: a reverse dictionary, a visual dictionary, WEIGHTY WORD BOOK, a collegiate desk dictionary, OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY, DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN REGIONAL ENGLISH, and a dictionary of idioms. (ARH)

Reviews a videocassette, two sound filmstrips, and one set of computer courseware; all intended to motivate students to discover and release the stories within them. (ARH)

Suggests that peer group instruction is one of the most significant benefits to have emerged from the process approach to writing instruction. Presents a teacher's classroom research on the peer group response method. (ARH)

Presents classroom teachers' recommendations for a variety of poetry anthologies, as well as one teacher's suggestions on making one's own anthology. (ARH)

Reviews five books that help high school students select and gain entrance into a college. (ARH)

Reviews two books by Ivan Doig: "This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind" and "English Creek." Notes that both books provide a picture of life in the American West that is not pervaded by Western stereotypes of cowboys and Indians. (MM)

Reviews the Prentice Hall Literature Series, focusing on: (1) the series' authors and editors; (2) textbook content; and (3) pedagogy suggested in the teacher's guide. (MM)

Reviews four young-adult novels written by Chris Crutcher, whose characters provide an honest depiction of life. (PRA)