The English Journal

While in middle school, my daughter exited school one day, and as she climbed into the car, she complained that all anyone cared about was PACT, the high-stakes assessment implemented in South Carolina. At 11, she was already aware of the mania in our schools for tests and, although she was not aware of them, the state standards those tests were designed to measure. Her exasperation led me to write about that mania and its negative impact on literacy instruction (Thomas, 2001b). Since then, our fate as teachers of literacy has worsened because of No Child Left Behind (NCLB)—the federal component of the current accountability movement. The layering of federal mandates on top of state accountability has created a dynamic that is destroying the few strides we had made in the teaching of reading and writing throughout the mid- and late-1900s—notable movements toward whole language approaches and the tremendous contribution of the National Writing Project to the teaching of writing in authentic settings and best practice in the English Language Arts. Within a few years after the implementation of NCLB, evidence was mounting that this unprecedented federal assault on education was having a profound and negative effect on literacy instruction at many levels (Thomas, 2004). In this chapter, I will discuss the evolution of the Bureaucratic Script for literacy instruction that began with A Nation at Risk (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983) and continues to escalate as we approach the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century. In many ways, the Bureaucratic Script is twenty-first-century literacy since, as I will discuss, the political mandates and the measurement systems connected to those mandates have become the de facto literacy of our students and the de facto literacy curriculum of our schools.

This is a book about readers and for them. It describes the delights of reading and the psychological mechanisms that take skilled readers out of the world and lead them, absorbed or entranced, into the world of the book. Students of reading—librarians, critics, cognitive psychologists, and reading specialists—may also find it helpful. Part I explores the social forces that have shaped reading: the growth and consolidation of the reading habit, the social value system, and the pervasive appeal of narrative. Reading for pleasure is often light reading, but not always: one of pleasure reading's paradoxes is that for many sophisticated readers, a wide range of materials, from the trashiest to the most literate and demanding works, may induce reading trance, and such readers are intrigued by the pleasure they derive from material they know to be culturally worthless. Reading for pleasure ("ludic reading") is an enormously complex cognitive act that draws on an array of skills and processes in many different domains—attention, comprehension, absorption, and entrancement; reading skill and reading-rate variability; readability and reader preferences; and reading physiology. These component processes of ludic reading are the subject matter of Part II. Ludic reading is a consciousness-changing activity, and Part III relates reading to fantasy processes such as dreaming and hypnotic trance, on the one hand, and to the sovereignty of the reading experience and the uses readers make of it, on the other, in order to show how the components of reading relate to one another in achieving the capture of consciousness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Considers some of the satisfactions readers find in literature and suggests that teachers initially just share their students' involvement with literature and later begin to teach about literature. (TO)

Jeanine M. Staples led a group of students, ages fourteen to eighteen, in developing a critical stance about words and images found in 9/11 media. Through questions, comments, and declarations toward these texts, the students labeled as "disengaged" actively participated in constructing a collaborative poem to confront repressive thinking. (Contains 1 figure.)

Traces the roots of composition instruction to the nineteenth century and shows the origins of many current traditions in writing, as well as describing the first "crisis" in basic skills, which took place in about 1870. (DD)

AT DARTMOUTH COLLEGE, IN THE SUMMER OF 1966, OVER 50 EDUCATORS FROM THE UNITED STATES, ENGLAND, AND CANADA PARTICIPATED IN THE FIRST ANGLO-AMERICAN SEMINAR ON THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH. THIS REPORT, WRITTEN FOR THE ENGLISH TEACHING PROFESSION, IS NOT A SURVEY OR SUMMARY OF THE CONFERENCE, BUT RATHER IS AN ELABORATION OF THE CONSENSUS OF THE SEMINAR. HOPEFULLY, IT WILL BE A STARTING POINT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW AND MORE EFFECTIVE ENGLISH PROGRAMS BASED ON THE CONCEPTS THAT ENGLISH, AS A SUBJECT, IS LEARNING TO ORDER EXPERIENCE THROUGH LANGUAGE, AND THAT LANGUAGE IS LEARNED THROUGH THE EXPERIENCE OF USING IT. A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF HOW THIS CONCEPT SHAPES CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES WHICH LEAD STUDENTS TO UNDERSTAND AND ARTICULATE NEW ROLES, SITUATIONS, AND LEVELS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE IS FOLLOWED BY A DISCUSSION OF HOW STUDENTS CAN BE DIRECTED TO USE A BODY OF KNOWLEDGE AS THEIR GUIDE TO ACTION OR POINT OF REFERENCE. SUCCEEDING CHAPTERS DEAL WITH THE PROBLEMS OF CONTINUITY AND EXAMINATIONS IN SUCH AN ENGLISH PROGRAM AND WITH THE WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF SUCH A PROGRAM AS IT AFFECTS TEACHER EDUCATION AND THE SCHOOL'S RELATIONSHIP TO ITS COMMUNITY. FINALLY, A SUMMARY CHAPTER ASSESSES THE PLACE OF THIS CONFERENCE IN THE CONTINUING EFFORT TOWARD DEVISING MORE REALISTIC, MEANINGFUL, AND EFFECTIVE ENGLISH PROGRAMS. THIS DOCUMENT IS AVAILABLE FROM THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH, 508 SOUTH SIXTH STREET, CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS 61820, STOCK NO. 02507, $1.50. (DL)

This document is a slightly revised version of author's Ph.D. Dissertation, "A Forecast of Responsibilities of Secondary Teachers of English 1970-2000 A.D., with Implications for Teacher Education" (ED 049 253). A study in two parts, Part I presents the need for future planning in education; discusses briefly methodologies for forecasting the future; explains why the Delphi technique was chosen for forecasting; describes the selection of experts to participate in the study; examines forces within the society that may affect the future functioning of education as an institution. Part II presents the forecasts of panelists in learning theory, educational technology, secondary curriculum, and English; and discusses some general implications of the study for programs of teacher education and some specific implications for the preservice education of secondary teachers of English. (This document previously announced as ED 053 138.) (DB)

An annotated list of 33 books chosen by sixteen- to nineteen-year-olds from a list of 300 newly published books. (DD)

Emphasizes attention to the sound of a poem in both teaching and writing poetry. Provides selected poems written by students and teachers. (JT)

Relates changing student reaction to George Orwell's "1984" over 20 years of teaching. Finds present high school students' acceptance of Orwell's bleak world vision both a sign of student honesty and a frightening indication of the growing reality of the book. (MM)

Argues that William Shakespeare's "The Tempest" is the play that is best suited for the high school English curriculum of the 1990s. Discusses historical and critical aspects the play's key themes. Shows ways of using the play in high school classes, and describes 19 works to read alongside of"The Tempest." (HB)

Describes the findings of the National Assessment of Educational Progress's "Reading Report Card" issued in September 1993. Critiques the report for methodological reasons. Argues that the report is virtually worthless regarding the reading skills of American students and should receive a failing mark. (HB)

The author describes what future teachers should know about the quality, opinions of, developmental stages in; and the variety, use, and availability of adolescent literature in the years to come. (CRH)

Cross-age tutoring, in which older and younger students work together to improve their ELA skills, is not a new concept; Linda D. Labbo and William H. Teale explored it as a tool for poor readers as early as 1990. The author has found that using tutoring with video games also works well. Students have the opportunity to read aloud collaboratively while interacting with the game itself, giving reluctant readers the opportunity to become experts in the game. When working with a classmate, the stronger reader acts as the "model" for interpretation and guidance, but both students learn from the experience. Students today look to technology and pop culture for their entertainment, and most of them revel in competitive games. The author discusses how tutoring with video games can help reluctant or unsuccessful readers, and gives teachers practical ideas for making reading fun for 21st-century adolescents. (Contains 1 note.)

Intended to inform both the new and the experienced English teacher about the present state of knowledge in the field, this textbook is also addressed to students preparing to teach English language and literature in junior and senior high schools. The book stresses application rather than theory, presenting specific classroom procedures drawn both from the author's own teaching experience, the experience of other teachers, and research. The chapters include discussions of the changing world of the English teacher; what makes a good English teacher; how to plan instructional units; the improvement of reading; the teaching of literature, fiction, poetry, non-fiction, composition, grammar, punctuation, spelling, vocabulary, creative listening, speech, film; and teacher development. (Author/DI)

An open letter by the President of the National Council of Teachers of English; appears also in College English," vol. 32, no. 2 (November 1970), pp. 237-38, and English Journal," vol. 59, no. 8 (November 1970), pp. 1154-56. (RD)

More than 7,000 answers to the question "What can I write about?" are offered in this collection of writing topics for high school students. The topics are categorized in 12 sections: (1) description, (2) comparison and contrast, (3) process, (4) narrative writing, (5) classification and division, (6) cause and effect, (7) exposition, (8) argumentation, (9) definition, (10) research and report, (11) creative writing, and (12) critical writing (common themes in literature for critical analysis). Notes heading each of these 12 sections briefly define the different kinds of writing and indicate how the book may be used to locate topics suited to them, leaving little need for formal classroom instruction. (RL)

Describes how pairing Wordsworth's poem ("Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey") with a contemporary novel ("The River Why" by David James Duncan) makes the classic poem come alive for students. Argues that, regardless of the poem, Duncan's novel is ideally suited for classroom study. (SR)

Effective evaluation is an ongoing process rather than a terminal event. (JH)

Appraises the results of an exercise in which students in a composition class attempted to write detective stories. Concludes that many of their syntactic errors result from their intentions exceeding their level of writing skill. (RBW)

Presents one teacher's tongue-in-check suggestions for how to behave on an accrediting team. (JD)

This article relates the experience of Mrs. Vernon, who teaches two sections of an English course at her high school, and has evaluated her high- and low-track students based on cultural and social groups. She uses these evaluations to shape her expectations for the students' academic performance, their future life goals, and her daily method of teaching. Researchers conclude that for students to have an equal opportunity to excel, it is necessary to ensure that all students learn in optimum and consistent conditions.

An English teacher discusses the advantages and disadvantages of discussion-based teaching approaches, student understanding, and student achievement. It is noted that the discussion-based approaches in the classroom have a direct impact on students' development as readers.

According to a growing body of research, discussion-based instruction, in the context of high academic demands, significantly enhances student achievement in reading. The effects apply to below- as well as above-average-ability students. These findings confirm what secondary English teachers have believed all along about the value of discussion. After all, most secondary English teachers identify discussion as the heart of their approach to teaching literature. All English teachers dread the discussion where no one will say anything, students stare awkwardly at the teacher or each other, or students become disruptive. In this article, the author discusses some strategies which help to start a true, authentic discussion. One strategy for sparking a discussion is to introduce conflict or controversy. A blog is an effective technological tool. Many students who tend to be hesitant to talk in a classroom discussion are more willing to comment and make lengthier comments using the blog. Though increasing the amount of class time spent in authentic discussion of literary texts is not easy, recent research findings suggest that doing so can be highly effective in increasing student achievement in English language arts at all levels.

High school teacher J. Arias recommends valuable activities that teachers can use to "build communities of respect, tolerance, and acceptance" for language diversity in schools. Many of the activities are directed toward helping native English speakers empathize with and better understand English language learners' experiences with language acquisition. (Contains 1 figure.)

Certain thinking and language skills are common to content disciplines. Different types of thinking are triggered by factual, convergent, divergent, and judgmental questions. The four levels of oral and written response are factual, logical, creative, and judgmental. An effective school language policy balances and integrates these skills in the content areas. (DF)

Outlines educational arguments about attitudes, methods, and accountability. Surveys some teachers to find out how they craft a blending of pedagogical perspectives. Concludes that educators can maintain creativity in the face of demands for standardization of curriculum. (PM)

Outlines the 15 major points the author has learned while being involved in a three year commitment to the National Council of Teachers of English's Reading Initiative. Concludes that reading/writing across the curriculum is a viable incentive to student learning when there is a trained faculty willing to recognize individual differences, both in student learning and in teacher methodology. (SG)

Describes the contents of three books which resulted from the University of London's Writing Across the Curriculum Project: "Understanding Children Writing,""Understanding Children Talking," and "Writing and Learning Across the Curriculum 11-16." (DD)

When students take a stance on authentic social issues in their English classrooms, they have the opportunity to imagine their world as otherwise. Along with attention to other intellectual skills and civic skills, educators should prioritize the development of imagination, as it is "crucial" if students are to "project and embrace a vision for the future." Social action literacy projects can provide openings for this imaginative way of thinking. In turn, students can see the world as activists, conscious of the potential for social change and prepared to engage in the effort. In this article, the author describes the unfolding of the social action literacy project and two students' experiences. She shares these cases with the belief that teachers can learn from youth, as their responses to the project illuminate the ways social action can provoke adolescents' imaginations in English classrooms. (Contains 1 note.)

The author remembers a class when he asked his students to discuss in small groups how Edgar Allan Poe suggests a judgment of the main character in "The Cask of Amontillado". During their discussion it became clear to the author that the students couldn't come to consensus because they had no grasp of the narrator's explanations of his motivations and actions. He halted the task he had initially set for them and asked them to revisit the story looking for the details that had to have been in place for the narrator's plan to work. The reading levels that provided the author with a specific framework for a task that would match the students' current levels of comprehension and provide support for thinking at higher levels were derived from a set of question types established as a hierarchy by George Hillocks Jr. and Larry H. Ludlow in "American Educational Research Journal" in 1984. As an English teacher, Hillocks developed Reading Level Inventories to determine his students' ability to make increasingly complex inferences about fiction. The author suggests specific methods for employing George Hillocks Jr.'s reading levels to raise students' reading comprehension and support higher order thinking skills. (Contains 4 figures.)

Although attention should be drawn to the fact that girls in children's and adolescent fiction are stereotyped, it seems more serious that boys in such literature are far too often stereotyped as attaining manhood by a violent act against an animal--whether a pet or wild--or against other aspects of the natural world. Of greater impact are those books in which both evil, symbolized by animals, and nature, represented as alien to man, are forces against which a young man must pit himself. In contrast, few books portray the acceptance by a young boy that to become a man, he must face the trouble within himself rather than externalizing it. Teachers should emphasize this point, affirming that violence and destruction are not necessary steps to manhood. (JM)

Some of the most popular teenage novels perpetuate the sexual double stanard. (JH)

Presents annotated bibliographies of new commercial products and publications on black literature with direct appeal to adolescents. (RB)

Writing plays an important role in adolescent literacy development, but school writing is often too rigid to accommodate their personal needs, not allowing them to write for different purposes and different audiences. Studies of writing generally focus on learning to write or writing to learn. Using a sociocultural lens, the authors focused on writing to live or writing for "personal growth" by engaging students to anchor their writing into four platforms--(1) defining self; (2) becoming resilient; (3) engaging others; and (4) building capacity--in a collaborative writing environment that was both engaging and supportive. This article illustrates how writing became a social act for the young adolescent males participating in the second annual African American Adolescent Male Summer Literacy Institute (AAAMSLI) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Reading Clinic during the summer of 2009. The authors discuss the potential and anticipated benefits of raw writing and share their experience during the summer institute which highlights the need to grant adolescents opportunities to write texts that they find meaningful and significant.

Because most poetry education is ineffectual, this book attempts to help the teacher stimulate student interest in poetry by (1) suggesting a rationale and objectives for teaching poetry, (2) warning the teacher to avoid those poems for which he has no personal enthusiasm and to avoid overexplaining those poems he likes, (3) urging, for example, that students frequently be allowed to choose the poetry they will study and they they occasionally be asked to say something poetically, (4) dealing with 12 approaches to teaching poetry, such as reading poems chorally or stimulating student awareness of the interrelationship between exterior and interior form, and (5) including sample pages from eight reference books for poetry to illustrate how thesebooks are arranged and how they should be used. Requested to explicate a few of their own poems for this book, poet Robert Francis uses an analogy between sports and poetry to suggest concrete approaches to teaching poetry; while Philip Booth emphasizes ways in which the teacher can communicate an understanding of the fusion of image and idea. (DD)

Intended for teachers-to-be at the undergraduate level as well as for teachers with experience, this book presents the premise that the short story--with its appropriate length and natural interest for students--is a unique teaching vehicle. Five parts comprise the volume: Part 1 discusses four teaching principles illustrated by actual short stories; Parts 2 and 3 consist of discussions by Jack Schaefer and Roald Dahl on the teaching of short stories, plus two of each author's stories followed by their comments; Part 4 treats approaches to the short story using excerpts of stories as examples for exercises in taste, style, and structure; and Part 5 explores the library resources available to students who should be encouraged to become independent library patrons. (JMC)

In this book designed for the high school drama teacher, several commonly-taught plays are used to illustrate (1) ways to use the adolescents' experience with TV to increase their appreciation of other forms of drama, (2) practical means for removing some of the barriers to understanding plays and producing an active response to the world of the play, (3) adolescents' interests--especially in character--and ways to capitalize on these interests, (4) approaches to dramatic form as a means by which the playwright generates audience response, and (5) stereotyping and oversimplification, special difficulties when trying to understand the tragic hero. Materials include suggestions for classroom approaches to specific dramatic concepts, such as visualization and audience response; interviews with Arthur Miller and Rod Serling; and the full texts of 3 plays--Arthur Miller's "Pussycat and the Expert Plumber Who Was a Man," Rod Serling's "Requiem for a Heavyweight," and a Japanese Noh play, "The Damask Drum." (DD)

Argues that guided reading and discussion of good young-adult literature should be part of English/Language Arts, guidance, and interdisciplinary programs for gifted as well as typical teens. Recommends and describes a list of applicable books. (KEH)

Discusses how stages of adult development might affect the attitudes and performance of teachers. (DD)

Reviews and critiques a new collection of essays edited by Virginia R. Monseau and Gary M. Salvner: "Reading Their World: The Young-Adult Novel in the Classrooms." Considers especially the "literariness" of literature. (HB)

Describes the kinds of books that adolescents tend to choose to read on their own, including the influence of series books on the genre. Lists positive and negative aspects of series book publishing. Argues for teachers to stay up to date in adolescent literature. (HB)

Though classroom time is an adventure of its own, it is when working with the Carlisle High School Shakespeare Troupe, an extracurricular acting company, that the author most consistently and happily experiences this illusion of indefinite time. She has been working steadily with the troupe since the fall of 1984, and the troupe has produced a variety of scenes and shortened versions of the plays. Through trial and error, success and failure, a troupe philosophy has emerged: If they hold to their core beliefs in the primacy of the words, the fluid nature of the text, and the power of comedy, they are in line for a most excellent adventure. In this article, the author shows how she has developed her students' excitement during 20 years of dramatic performances.

Advertising copy should be given classroom attention in literary as well as moral terms. (JH)

Gives advice for first-year English teachers. Advocates keeping a journal of daily activities, meeting regularly with other teachers, and asking lots of questions. (HB)

N/A

The first year of the author's job as a high school newspaper adviser was marked by her overenthusiastic acceptance of responsibilities, a plague of printing mistakes, and a search for ways to instill standards of accuracy in student reporters. (RL)

Suggests that English teachers are in an excellent position to help students learn about the aged and aging because they know literature that treats the joys and pains of later life and they understand how language shapes and reflects cultural attitudes. Proposes objectives and presents samples of activities to be used in an aging unit. (MM)

Provides evidence of students' varying cognitive styles. Notes the implications of these differences for English teachers, especially those teaching students from various cultural backgrounds. (JT)

Outlines one junior high school's method of improving students' reading habits through a book fair, a book exchange club, and a weekly read-in. (MM)