Describes one teacher's methods for introducing to secondary English students the concepts of book design and gift books. Outlines the methods by which English teachers can have students design gift books for friends and family members. Argues that this activity fosters family literacy. (HB)

Presents five responses from practicing teachers to the question, "How do you incorporate commercial and/or public television in your English curriculum?" (HB)

Presents annotations of 11 works of young-adult literature (published in 1992 or 1993) representing the diverse cultures found in most classrooms. (HB)

Gives responses of six practicing teachers to the question, "Who is your favorite writer of science fiction or fantasy?" Provides citations, plot summaries, and/or thematic overviews of some of the authors' works. (HB)

Provides an account of the importance of story poems in the English classroom. Describes how one teacher wove the teaching of poems, stories, and writing into a single coherent unit of study. Argues that bringing these diverse materials together is a useful method of literary study. (HB)

Describes two recent books that encourage the publication of student writing as a method to develop student literacy. Provides citations and detailed analysis of the two books. (HB)

Asserts that poetry is a basic way for individuals to learn enough about their culture to become a welcome member of it. Offers the views on poetry of several poets. Discusses the benefits of using poetry, rather than logical mathematical thought, to teach students how they view reality. (PRA)

Compares poetry to a dead body that teachers, like mad scientists, are trying to revive. Suggests that teachers stop trying to teach students to find the meaning in a poem but to simply accept the experience in a nonjudgmental, open way. Offers three activities designed to help students to explore poetry in their own way. (PRA)

Describes a teacher's experience in presenting her students with James Dickey's poem "The Leap." Focuses on the primary visual images of the poem, the space where memory lives, the space where contemplation thrives, and the space where emotions dwell. (PRA)

Describes a teacher's modern literature class, where she encourages her students to write freely and to create cubist or abstract works of art. Describes the students' progress and asserts that their attempts to search for insight without having definite, preset answers is enough to help them appreciate modern literature. (PRA)

Describes how a teacher integrates art and literature in teaching English and world literature, by using slide presentations of modern art to graphically demonstrate the characteristics of modernism--fragmentation, alienation, heightened subjectivity, narrative distancing, and discontinuity in time. Describes and relates specific works of Dali,…

Asserts that teachers of contemporary literature should enjoy the advantages of poetry written in response to, or interpreting, paintings or other works of art. Illustrates the advantages of such poetry with two examples. (PRA)

Discusses the benefits of integrating the teaching of literature and painting. Describes the benefits to students in the understanding of both forms. Asserts that using visual arts improves students' motivation as well as their overall understanding of modernism. (PRA)

Describes a teacher's efforts to introduce her students to modern poetry and to teach them that the value of poetry is not merely aesthetic but can actually be a voice of rare clarity. Asserts that what rubs off on students is a sense of richness of language--an ear and an eye for a rooted expression. (PRA)

Offers a selection of resources on modernism and modern poetry for secondary teachers of modern poetry to use for independent study. Comments on a rhetorical approach to poetry, backgrounds to modern poetry, and four modern poets. Describes the benefits of these resources to a poetry teacher. (PRA)