Describes how the author uses Franz Kafka's "A Little Fable" with his mainstream class of high school juniors. Considers how it is essential to show students how to stop reading when they don't understand something--to go back and reread it and begin making sense of it. Uses writing lists, student opinions, and classroom discussion. (SG)

Describes how subject area teachers at one high school used grant money to change their teaching styles, significantly improving students' reading abilities. Details how reading achievement testing was conducted and the results were translated into effective literacy reforms designed to go beyond "teaching to the middle." Tracks the experiences of…

Describes how a teacher educator uses an apprentice reading project to teach new teachers about the ways they read in the content areas. Hopes that asking preservice teachers to read across the curriculum will allow them to pay more attention not only to what, but also to how and why they read in their discipline. (SG)

Describes an integrated thematic unit designed for readers in grades 8 to 10. Contains a four- to six-week plan that encompasses reading strategies, inquiry projects, and assessment tools and includes an activity map (based on Jennifer Armstrong's "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the…

Considers how teachers can use linguistic diversity for inclusion and learning experiences in collaborative, cross-age literacy projects. Envisions a project that would extend the principles of collaboration across different age groups. Addresses the larger literacy issues that are entwined with cross-age, multicultural collaborative learning…

Investigates college students' beliefs about vocabulary knowledge and acquisition. Explains the study and how the findings have modified how the authors teach vocabulary to their students. Provides some concrete ways to help students learn new words and to use them in meaningful ways in order to improve reading comprehension and fluency. (SG)

Studies how the Internet is used by adolescents. Considers how the union of reading and technology on the Internet is causing educators to take a new look at what it means to be literate in today's society. (SG)

Shares the authors' personal narratives attempting to shed light on the many paths there are to literacy, especially when the gifts and talents that diverse families bring to education are honored and respected by caring and trusting educators. Imparts how their families' hopes and dreams made a decided difference in their education, future…

Explores the role of authoritative discourse in the "learning disabled" labeling of a student enrolled in a literacy course for preservice teachers. Provides a concrete example of the power of authoritative discourse and the role that teachers, through their pedagogy, may play in accepting or interrupting that discourse. (SG)

Describes how one teacher educator uses book clubs as a way to model and confirm the value and power of shared reading experiences. Considers how preservice teachers will act upon their new knowledge gained in book clubs to inform their planning and practice. Suggests bringing book clubs into classrooms. (SG)

Describes how a teacher and researcher in Australia engaged students in chat-room discussion as a bridge between speaking and writing. Discusses the characteristics of formal written argumentation and recent theoretical reemphasis on its rhetorical and dialogical nature. Describes the classroom strategies devised to develop the students' ability…

Considers how critical texts confront difficult topics. Argues that students need to read, write, and talk about these relevant issues. Suggests that reading literature can be an ethical as well as an intellectual process, and as such it can assist adolescents in coping with their tumultuous lives. Focuses on Laurie Halse Anderson's novel "Speak."…

Describes a unit in four steps that meets the challenge of teaching history in a meaningful way by incorporating role-playing with historical investigation. Hopes for each student to breathe life into a person from the past. Discusses the benefits of role-playing biographies. (SG)

Discusses labels, literacy, and education; defining truth; and the role of identity in literacy practices. (SG)

Presents a powerful story that helps students to realize that words can order the world around them and form realities of their own. Attempts to capture the rich reading experiences that Kingston's "No Name Woman" offers to students developing an understanding of words so strong. Concludes that reflecting on Kingston's experiences, students will…