Argues that teachers who write are in a better position to guide students, provide useful feedback, and show the real value of writing. Discusses remembering the agony, sharing the ecstasy, giving authentic feedback, growing a community of writers, and remembering the reason people bother to write at all. (SR)

Describes a Web-based reading course for college developmental reading classes. Discusses course features, the first week of class, the benefits of Web-based instruction, old media versus new media, designing a successful site, and the benefits of patience. (SR)

Presents a description of anchored instruction, a model of curriculum integration combined with inquiry learning that builds prior knowledge and engages students in the application of the language arts. Sets out the eight steps involved in creating an anchored instruction unit. (SR)

Describes an assignment used by a college professor in elementary and secondary education courses that offers a framework for small-group discussion of student-selected articles dealing with class topics. Notes that after using this format, other classroom discussions improved as well. (SR)

Describes how college-reading and study-skills instructors can use the Internet as an extension of classroom activities. Discusses teaching students to use the computer, to search the Internet, to read the sources critically, to communicate, and to write opinion papers. Notes two useful articles that deal with instructional applications of the…

Describes an assignment used in a reading/language arts course for elementary education majors that uses Robert Ballard's factual book "Exploring the Titanic" as a focal point for a character journal assignment. Notes students' enthusiastic responses to this assignment. Describes how this assignment could be adapted to a middle- or high-school…

Shares an effective teaching strategy (developed by a university student in a content reading practicum) that enthusiastically engaged two reluctant, even confrontational, male seventh graders in a study of "Our Northern Neighbor, Canada." (SR)

Describes how a reading resource specialist in a middle school borrows advertising techniques to market books to students (a tough audience). Describes conducting a marketing analysis and making a marketing plan. Gives one example of giving a book talk that proved to be quite successful with a targeted group of students. (SR)

Describes a simple previewing procedure that provides support for second-language students dealing with challenging reading selections. Describes a preview, gives an example, and suggests why they are effective. Summarizes results of a study, and concludes with suggestions for using previews in the classroom. (SR)

Offers five suggestions which may be helpful to educators in responding proactively to criticisms of literacy-learning practices, as they work cooperatively with parents, Boards of Education, tutors, and other key players in reinforcing the perspective that literacy learning is genuinely valued and is connected to meaningful contexts during daily…

Describes a functional literacy program successfully carried out in a very remote district in the mountains of Nepal. Describes the program's successes in increasing literacy, self-confidence, community awareness, and social awareness among Nepali women. Discusses keys to this success. (SR)

Describes how one teacher uses news articles to teach connections between the present-day real world and the books that her students read. Notes that her intent is to help readers transfer concepts from one domain (their reading) to another (real life). Offers the example of how this was done with the book "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. (SR)

Following an introduction on "Taking Risks" (Martha Merson), this journal contains 11 articles on taking risks in teaching adult literacy, mostly by educators in the Boston area. The following are included: "My Dreams Are Bigger than My Fears Now" (Sharon Carey); "Making a Pitch for Poetry in ABE [Adult Basic Education]" (Marie Hassett); "Putting…

Argues that teachers must incorporate a range of reading practices generated from traditional and contemporary literary theories that provide different textual analysis to reconceptualize literary and literacy curriculum for the new millennium. Outlines four approaches to reading practices to replace traditional analysis with major focus on a…

Discusses external and internal influences, such as pressure from critics and drive for financial reward, which must be eradicated for a writer of children's literature to remain focused on the primary task of writing to entertain, enchant, and inform young readers. (NH)