Many suggestions are given for directly involving students in the various forms of the media. Instamatic cameras, tape recorders, 35mm cameras, videotape recorders, Super 8 cameras, phonograph players, and film projectors are some pieces of equipment typically available to schools which can be used creatively by students. In addition to making…

Research based text materials will probably never dominate the textbook market. To begin with, translating theory and research into practice is a chancy business. There are also creative problems such as the inherent oversimplification involved in textbook writing. Every textbook writer who has been a classroom teacher will acknowledge that such…

Intended to show that English teachers' activities outside the classroom enhance their regular classroom work and permit them to teach new, larger audiences, the articles in this journal issue emphasize how English teachers can reevaluate their skills and express those skills in a language that businesses understand. Some of the articles explain…

The focus of the articles in this journal issue is helping students write for real audiences. The document contains the following articles: "Real Audiences: The Only Kind We Write For" (Margaret Queenan); "A Literary Magazine for Middle Grades" (Anthony R. Angelo and Marie-Jeanne Laurent); "Rewarding Understanding and Warmth" (Peter M. Ashe);…

Drama in the classroom is the theme of the 14 articles in this issue, which can be used as resource material for teachers concerned with incorporating drama into the English curriculum. Titles and authors are as follows: "All the World is a Stage--Except the American Classroom" (Charles R. Duke); "A Drama Program for All Seasons" (Paul Cervoni and…

Noting that students read and write nonfiction without noticing how the language of nonfiction shapes the subject they are studying, the articles in this journal demonstrate ways in which teachers can link their concern for language with their students' interest in content subjects. Titles of the 24 essays are as follows: (1) "Spreading the Word…

Intended for teachers, this focused journal issue contains separate rationales for teaching books that have been challenged as appropriate instructional materials. Following a discussion of the purpose for rationales and suggestions for using them, the journal presents rationales for teaching the following books: "To Kill a Mockingbird,""The Diary…

"Macbeth" is best understood by considering five specific elements: (1) the tragic view--a recognition of man's dignity as well as his vulnerability to evil; (2) the tragic plot--the reversals in the plans of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, the scene of recognition of impending disaster, and Macbeth's continual suffering; (3) the tragic hero--a man…

Drawing its materials from any genre, a Readers Theater differs from the usual theatrical presentation in that its action takes place in the reader's mind and is then projected to the audience. The one requirement for "production" is the reader or a group of readers--a stage is unnecessary. On a simple level, it emphasizes placement of readers,…

Fifty disadvantaged urban boys ranging from ages 11 to 16 participated in a 6-week summer writing workshop patterned on the ideas of James Moffett, Donald Murray, and John Dixon. The students were divided into groups of five, were trained in methods of group discussion (aided by video tapes to prepare them for profitable analysis of each others'…

Observations of American instructors and students in England, as well as English publications, reveal that English primary teachers treat writing as a way for children to share their personal experiences, and they correspondingly emphasize freedom of expression, fluency, and the retention and development of imaginative responses. Teachers enrich…

Remedial reading, or the teaching of the ability to decode and comprehend, taxes the skills and ingenuity of the English teacher. This problem, however, must be tackled on a day-to-day basis. Remedial reading programs can be made effective by utilizing the following techniques: a daily 5-minute quiz which embraces previously covered material; a…

Four short, inexpensive films used in conjunction with specific poems provide the basis for individual lessons or a single unit whose theme explicates man and his relationship to other men. "Two Castles," a simple film depicting the foolhardiness of pride is recommended for use in teaching an introductory unit on poetry. "The Wall," a film…

Impressions, observations, and conclusions about the conference on the teaching of English at the University of York in England are given in this brief report. Among the conclusions reached by the British and American participants are: (1) of primary and immediate importance is the construction of a model for organizing effective language-centered…

Pupils can learn to write more effectively if they go through the cycle of prewriting, writing, and rewriting practiced by the publishing author. The writing class should not be hampered through studying writing backward, from the process of reading, or through the restrictive efforts of a too-precise teacher. By becoming aware of his world and…