Argues that secondary teachers should take an interest in students' languages and cultures in English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms because culture is part of identity; identity relates to students' performance in school and in society. Examines different concepts of teaching and learning, racism, the importance of practicing English with…

Describes "new literacy," and offers a rationale for creating a new literacy classroom. Discusses five characteristics of a pedagogy for a new literacy, offering a brief overview of each characteristic with examples of how each may be demonstrated in a new literacy classroom. (SR)

Describes "ZAPME!," a company operating an Internet site geared toward educators, students, and parents offering computer hardware to schools in exchange for student-targeted classroom web advertising. Examines the design and web content of the site, and visits the corporate web site. Finds a calculated attempts to influence pedagogy and the…

Describes how preservice teachers in a content area reading course experience an assignment involving reading regularly outside their required reading and reflecting about it in writing. Shows how they came to understand science as a discipline that is engaging and provocative; and designed reading assignments that resembled the collaboration,…

Describes how text sets (a group of related texts of varied genres and reading levels) can help meet the needs of the diverse population of students enrolled in community college developmental reading courses. Describes how to develop a text set, and describes four text sets used by the author. Discusses how cooperative learning and journal…

Describes how the author came to love poetry, and how she taught a poetry unit with an adult literacy class. Argues that poetry is a way of taking literacy "by the throat." (SR)

Responds to an article in a prior issue of this journal. Argues that "South Park" is a deconstruction of the reality of American constructions of media, fame, and pop culture, and that more adolescents than adults understand that "South Park" is about the adult world of media. Includes a response by the author of the earlier article. (SR)

Examines what happens when seventh-grade students share their personal reading with peers as "Reader of the Day," a way for them to define themselves publicly as they interact within the literacy community of the classroom. Discusses cultural value associated with "Reader of the Day," operations and task demands, and scripts for reader and…

Discusses "open source": a method of distributing software in which programmers make available to all the actual text of their programs. Notes that this makes possible "open-source" writing in the same way that the printing press made possible "open-source" reading, enabling mass literacy. Examines implications of open source for how people…

Describes how the authors taught their students to read "Hamlet" from a critical literacy perspective, analyzing how particular readings of texts and characters are constructed or produced; how they are determined by historical and cultural conventions; analyzing values that various readings support or challenge--rather than trying to get closer…

Describes how profiles of individual readers are valuable constructs in assessing independent word learning strategies and how such information can drive instruction. Describes the independent word learning strategies of three learners of varying ability, illustrating what information think-alouds can provide teachers. Discusses instructional…

Reviews research investigating strategies for reading and studying at the college level. Examines 5 generalizations that emerged: (1) task understanding is critical to strategic learning; (2) beliefs about learning influence how students read and study; (3) quality instruction is essential; (4) a variety of research-based strategies should be…

Discusses issues related to women's use of new communication technologies and, in particular, how women use personal images to connect with one another online. Offers a glossary and notes some listservs. Offers suggestions for further reading. (SR)

Addresses the value of integrating critical thinking and information literacy in library instruction for students of all grade levels. Sites specific examples of successful implementation of critical thinking and library instruction and how these promote information literacy. (SR)

Notes the relationship between thinking and playfulness. Demonstrates that playful language is a valuable way for adolescents from varied cultural backgrounds to express their thinking. Explores in depth four approaches to writing that encourage linguistic play: choosing playful topics; emphasizing characteristics of linguistic play; selecting…