If we listen to them, the words of our students can provide a road map for instructional responses that meet their diverse literacy needs. In this article, Cara Gutzmer, a middle school literacy coach, and Phil Wilder, a teacher collaborator at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, discuss how a responsive teaching framework guided their…

In the summer of 2009, this author devised a Saturday program with an emphasis on writing for publication targeting three students as his nucleus. One of the students, Mariano, was the only one of the three to accept the invitation. This was a strong indication of his passion for writing. Thus, three weeks before school began, the author and…

The "Literacy Cafe," a celebration of genre study and student writing, offers students (and visitors!) a positive environment in which to engage in reading and discussion of writing without self-consciousness or fear of criticism. It works because students learn to recognize writing as a learning tool and a relevant, authentic skill in the real…

Based on the belief that learning is deeper in meaningful contexts, Wilhelm makes a case for creating (authentically or simulated in the classroom) specific contexts that lead students into new identities, new perspectives, and new vocabulary. This is effectively accomplished by framing instructional units or curricular topics as inquiry,…

Describes a series of activities to help middle school students develop an artist's vision and then convey that vision through poetry. Describes how lessons progress from looking at concrete objects to observations of settings and characters, gradually adding memory and imagination to direct observation, and finishing with revision. Notes that…

Describes a six-week poetry writing workshop for an eighth-grade class. Discusses getting started, two weeks of immersion in reading poetry, students writing their own poetry, creating a community of poets in the classroom, evaluation, students' poetry, and what the teacher learned. Notes that students gained a much richer understanding of poetry.…

Argues that children are as deep as the ocean, with secret places inside of them waiting to be opened. Notes that it is powerful for students to learn they can make sense of the world through words, and describes inviting them into poetry as they read poetry, create poetry packets, and write and revise poems. (SR)

Reports on a study of stories written by eighth graders in three very different schools, stories carrying powerful messages about how girls understand their place in the world. Finds that, in one set of stories, females control their lives only as long as they are "good," and in the other set, autonomous female protagonists fail (often for no…

Describes the crisis that young women face--a kind of suffocation--at adolescence, calling it both developmental and cultural. Argues that responsive teaching, and regular, fast, expressive writing without evaluation about whatever is in their minds will help girls define what is most important to them and examine what is going on in their lives.…

Outlines the limitations of letter grades and the problems with giving percentage points. Discusses authentic evaluation and the author's daily process of evaluation with her low-reading students as they engage daily in reflecting, rethinking, selecting, and deciding. (SR)

Presents excerpts from a student's year-end self-evaluation, including a few excerpts from her portfolio. Includes her teacher's comments, intended to confirm what the student knows, and to consider how the teacher's classroom practices may have influenced or contributed to Sarah's learning. Appends an evaluation form to help students evaluate…

Describes why and what happened when a teacher changed from viewing English teaching as a value-neutral act to teaching what matters to her. Relates what she expects from the reading and writing workshop and how raising her own voice in terms of her passions and what she values has strengthened students' voices. (SR)

Describes three fifth-grade students in the author's school who used humor in their writing assignments. Offers samples of their work and their observations about it. (SR)

Discusses lighthearted writing, much of which has a serious intent as well as two highly desirable qualities: writer satisfaction and reader-appeal. Offers examples of all sorts of lighthearted writing including lighthearted writing from the classroom. (SR)

Describes how, after studying the Holocaust and other human-rights issues in their eighth-grade language-arts classes, students felt compelled to create a permanent memorial and reminder. Discusses how the project unfolded from finding and shaping an idea, collecting stories from around the nation, crafting the mosaic and the flower garden, and…