Recently, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) helped create the National Center for Literacy Education (NCLE) to help support literacy across all disciplines. NCLE Director Kent Williamson notes, "Schools that sustain progress in literacy learning pay attention to the little things and the big things. They create organizational…

Pablo, a Spanish-speaking student from the Dominican Republic, had entered the ESL program. During the first few weeks, he could not understand most instruction in English. He was not able to produce full sentences in English. He proved to have relatively advanced skills in terms of reading and writing in his home language, Spanish, and in turn,…

Teach "The Little Prince" to senior English students? Senior Advanced Placement English students? What could these people who had analyzed "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," wrestled with "The Sound and the Fury," dissected "Heart of Darkness," and deconstructed "East of Eden" possibly find of value in a "children's book"? The tendency to…

Teachers unions are under increasing scrutiny these days, and teachers are being asked to give up or reduce benefits, salary gains, and pensions. At the same time, teacher preparation and induction programs are encouraged to explore the medical training model as an exemplar. What a wonderful idea! Educators should charge for their work on an…

Why do educators teach literature? The author thinks they can hear the answer in the voice of Huckleberry Finn and David Copperfield and Holden Caulfield and the omniscient narrator in "Beloved." It's the wonderful sound of those words, the gorgeous flow of those well-crafted sentences, and the marvelous way Twain and Dickens and Morrison and…

Imagine two classfuls of American high school students, separated by 1,500 miles and profound differences in local cultures (East Coast urban and Midwestern rural) as they correspond and collaborate in writing between their geometry classes. Reading the students' observations, one sees authentic voice, specific detail, precise language, what…

The author discusses five novels with characters on the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and integrates her readings with her brothers' experiences with autism and Asperger's syndrome. Diverse in scope and approach, each of the books surveyed offers unique insights on facets of the autistic perspective. Lord's "Rules," Stork's "Marcelo in the Real…

After teaching in rural North Carolina for about six years, the author was on the verge of giving up on teaching Shakespeare to her students. Although they seemed to enjoy the action and the drama of Shakespeare's plays, the lack of connection between the students and the language and culture of the plays interfered with her ability to generate a…

Here, the author looks at four diaries, more specifically three conventional diaries and a blog: "The Diary of a Young Girl," by Anne Frank; "Zlata's Diary," by Zlata Filipovic; and "Last Night I Dreamed of Peace" by Dang Thuy Tram. "Baghdad Burning" is the transcript of a web log, a blog, by a young Iraqi woman who went by the pseudonym…

Sharon Creech's book, "Love That Dog," is the story of a young poet named Jack, a good teacher, and a dog. Using free verse, Jack describes how he becomes a writer in dated journal entries. He is just an average kid, like so many of the kids in one's classes. But Jack has an excellent English teacher in Miss Stretchberry. She assigns freewriting…

In the 18th century, critics grumbled about a new literary form that supposedly threatened the abilities of youth to distinguish between reality and artificiality. This form was the novel, one of the literary forms that critics now hold dearest. Currently, the graphic novel receives a great deal of criticism. Yet many teachers have shown how…

In the spring of 2010, the author had the pleasure of working with four fifth graders, exploring reading engagement with graphic novels. During her research study, she became inspired by the connections these fifth graders made between the graphic novels they discussed and the film medium and ultimately concluded that this connection contributed…

Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen assert that language-based pedagogy is not sufficient reading in the technology-driven society. Educators need to incorporate ways for students to read other signs and symbols and redefine what it means to be literate in a digital age. Still, there are many ways in which print-based texts can be used effectively…

In two projects described in this article, the authors discuss the use of Photovoice and Elder Interviews to draw upon visual and spoken forms of community-based literacy, generate ideas for written projects, promote a connection to community and culture, and engage students in critical analysis of writing process. Both projects took place in…

For students, writing is too frequently a matter of going through the motions, perhaps no truer than with the traditional academic essay. Although there are many culprits for this disengagement, one is surely an over-emphasis on form--and particularly set form--to the detriment of content. When form becomes formula, planning is stultified, losing…