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.

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…

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…

Points out that there is an enormous amount of material from the world of art that can help people see and, therefore, help them write. Notes the connections between writing and visual art as expressed in the work of many writers, including the author. Offers suggestions on how to explore the connections between writing and art. (SR)

Presents an interview with award-winning author Karen Hesse, discussing her writing for children and young adults. Discusses how ideas for particular books arose, as well as the research and writing processes that went into them. Appends reviews of nine books by Karen Hesse. (SR)

Discusses the merits of three familiar classroom tools: overheads, whiteboards, and television monitors. Notes that each of these different tools offers a different means by which to introduce ideas and information, illustrate connections, and organize information. Concludes that using resources is important in the light of cutbacks many teachers…

Explains a shift in reading instruction theories, from defining reading as a set of discrete skills to understanding the role prior knowledge plays in comprehension. Presents annotations of 11 web sites that give teachers ideas about how to help students construct meaning and how to transact with text in powerful ways. Notes that these strategies…

Presents an appreciation in honor and praise of language arts educator Donald H. Graves. Describes the rewards, now compounding through the generations, of his gentle encouragement and his continual modeling as a learner himself, teaching students and classroom teachers to value all they know and all they can do through writing compassionately and…

Maintains that the author's authentic voice as a writer is "constructed more than it is gushed." Describes how, when the author tinkers with words, when he shifts, cuts, changes, and arranges them to achieve certain effects, it isn't the writing only that he crafts: he is also crafting an identity. Notes how this applies to teaching…

Considers five ways in which the theories that inform writers' workshop have been oversimplified to the point where the power and intent of the original idea is lost. Argues that these oversimplified ideas need to be examined and made complex again. Presents Donald Murray's supportive response to the article. (SR)

Describes events and mountain places that influenced the writing of the author's young adult novel "Beardance." (SR)

Discusses the question of precisely what multicultural education is, noting two interwoven strands: product and process. Notes a variety of ways the classroom can be transformed to consciously reflect this liberating, inclusive process. Clarifies several misconceptions about multicultural education. (SR)

Discusses issues of translation, particularly the translation of poems, focusing not on how much gets lost in translation but how much gets found: the vast shared world of objects and ideas. Discusses the making of anthologies of translated poems. (SR)

Discusses why the use of multiple perspectives is critical for classroom teachers. Outlines the serious limitations of a monofocal curriculum, as well as issues that must be addressed in striving for multifocality. (SR)

Describes how the author, growing up loving to read, never dreamed that real Black people like herself existed in everyday, fun books--all of the characters she came to love and secretly conversed with were White. States that now she fills the shelves of her classroom with fun books that tell of simple, joyous moments of all human kind. (SR)