Incidents of terrorism and other forms of heinous violence around the world are so dramatic and painfully wrenching that they often dictate change: in politics, in social convention, in battle, and in the classroom. The five years since the 9/11 attacks, in particular, have brought about huge shifts in the collective global view of Arabs, and it…

Four years after the 9/11 attack on the United States, the country continues to be in considerable turmoil. Children have lived through the devastation of the September 11th attacks, the panic over the anthrax mailings, the hunt for terrorists in Afghanistan, elevated homeland security threat levels, the war in Iraq, the tsunami disaster, and…

In this article, the authors designed a study to explore what children's own drawings reveal about their viewing skills and to examine the interplay between visual and verbal literacies. Specifically, the authors wanted to determine how two communication systems--visual and verbal literacies--contribute to children's abilities to extract meaning…

The purposes of this article are to: Give a historical perspective on religious diversity in the United States; Develop a rationale for teachers and children to learn about religious pluralism; Provide basic information, resources for teachers, and appropriate children's literature about major religious groups; Explore developmentally appropriate…

Reviews five books peace studies and conflict resolution: (1) "Voices from the Future" (Susan Goodwillie); (2) "War and Peace Literature for Children and Young Adults" (Virginia Walter); (3) "Teaching Young Children in Violent Times" (Diane Levin); (4) "Whose Language? What Power?" (Frank Smith); and (5)…

Reviews four professional books: (1) "Changing Teaching, Changing Schools. Bringing Early Childhood Practice into Public Education: Case Studies from the Kindergarten" (O'Connell); (2) "Whole Language Plus: Essays on Literacy in the United States and New Zealand" (Cazden); (3) "Audacious Kids: Coming of Age in America's…

The following article describes how Mrs. Mansfield (Mary), Ms. Bortz (Elaine), and the author combined their talents in order to promote students' literacy learning through the integration of multicultural literature and information technology with a reading/writing curriculum. The students in Mary's and Elaine's classrooms, who come from diverse…