This article discusses an exemplary EL program grounded in research-based literacy strategies. World War II and the Holocaust served as the backdrop for a program that stressed vocabulary and concept development, and then connected that understanding to reading and writing. The "five streams" used to address literacy competencies included reading…

Marzano offers a brief review of research in vocabulary instruction, focusing on the concept of "tiers" to describe words used with different contexts and purposes. He then suggests teaching tools that may work to help specific student populations learn and retain those words across the K-12 curriculum.

Borrowing her title from Parker Palmer's "Courage to Teach", Kathy Egawa revisits her own professional learning journey and contrasts traditional, one-size-fits-all professional development with her own more meaningful learning from teaching. Her stories and research from the field focus on 1) learning from students, 2) learning among colleagues,…

While publishing has not typically been part of the official job description of teachers in the same way it has been for university scholars, a significant portion of articles in journals like "Voices from the Middle" are written by practicing teachers. Writing about your teaching practice or classroom inquiry for an audience of fellow teachers…

Few would argue that teaching in community--sharing ideas, constructively critiquing, talking out decisions--expands our knowledge, our experience, and our sense of support. There are some important differences, however, between talking with our teaching colleagues and talking to other stakeholders. Fredricksen urges us to hold these discussions…

Teachers are busy. And sometimes that results in putting off valuable professional development. But the face of professional development is changing, as are our need for it and our options for getting it. Shanklin makes a case for PD starting early in any teaching career and suggests several outlets for ongoing, in-depth PD that can make a strong…

"Now seems an opportune time to turn our attention back to the question of how our education system is going to contribute to helping our children become thoughtful, ethical, caring, and contributing democratic citizens." Wilhelm documents the fact that students "crave the doing of significant work," and posits that this is what we are teaching…

The benefits of service-learning are numerous, and some are hard to come by any other way. Service-learning projects help teachers and students come together in new ways, demonstrate how language skills can help accomplish real-life tasks, and engage students in a way that spurs them to learn more thoroughly and quickly. The lessons can last a…

This article contains excerpts from the author's two seminal texts: "Literature as Exploration (New York: MLA, 1938) and "The Reader, the Text, the Poem" (Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1978). In "Literature as Exploration," the author first presented her transactional theory of reading as she explored the personal, social,…

In this article, the authors discuss how Louise Rosenblatt's work influenced many teachers' teaching and learning practices. Rosenblatt was known for helping readers find their rightful place in the act of reading. Louise argued in the 1930s (and steadfastly maintained until her recent death) that the act of reading was a dynamic transaction…

In this article, the author answers specific questions: Just how do I foster an aesthetic stance? What types of activities encourage an efferent stance? She carefully explains her position--that the aesthetic stance in reading is missing in schools--and outlines what teachers must do to balance efferent reading with aesthetic. She also discusses…

The authors outline a research study that explores the plight of students who direct so much effort into decoding that comprehension suffers. They make the case that difficulties in reading for older readers (intermediate, middle, and high school) could be due to reading fluency difficulties, and they offer strategies for helping these students…