English Journal, Vol. 101, No. 4, March 2012

Table of Contents

Issue Theme: The Community in the Classroom

• Call for Manuscripts

• From the Editor [FREE ACCESS]

  Ken Lindblom

• From the Secondary Section: Community in the Classroom

  Katie Greene and Karen Conn Mitcham

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  Abstract: Members of the Secondary Section Steering Committee comment on topics of importance to English language arts educators.

• An April Fool’s Day EJ Extra: Will Your Students Get the Joke? How to Plump a Paper [FREE ACCESS]

  Douglas Pollock

• EJ in Focus: Connecting the Classroom, Community, and Curriculum [FREE ACCESS]

  Jim Burke

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  Abstract: Join the popular author and high school teacher as he brings the real world of work to his Generation Y students. He describes class projects, guest speakers, and other ways for helping students develop literacy skills that will help them find gainful employment.

• Inviting Parents In: Expanding Our Community Base to Support Writing

  Cathy Fleischer and Kimberly Coupe Pavlock

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  Abstract: Parents can be our greatest allies for ensuring effective writing instruction. Fleischer and Pavlock share strategies for engaging parents in supportive efforts with their children.
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• Digitalk as Community [FREE ACCESS]

  Kristen Hawley Turner

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  Abstract: Students aren’t just texting; they’re participating as members of a community of writers, developing skills of voice, purpose, and audience awareness.

• Wiki Literature Circles: Creating Digital Learning Communities

  Elizabeth Edmondson

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  Abstract: Edmondson brings us literature circles for the 21st century.

• Informal and Shared: Writing to Create Community

  Deborah Dean and Adrienne Warren

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  Abstract: Informal writing can provide excellent ways to create a classroom community that heightens students’ writing skills.

• Novelzine: Reading and Writing Community

  Karin H. deGravelles, Jacqueline Bach, Yvette Hyde, Angelle Hebert, with Debra Hale, Alesha Cavanaugh, and Monica Kimbrough

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  Abstract: Four different English classes participate in an innovative writing project that’s novel in more than one way.

• Powerful Writing: Promoting a Political Writing Community of Students

  Fahima Ife

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  Abstract: For students to act as responsible citizens, they must become comfortable writing with and about power.

• Where to Begin? Using Place-Based Writing to Connect Students with Their Local Communities

  Lauren Esposito

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  Abstract: Esposito asks students to compose public service announcements that hit them where they live.

• Bridging Gaps and Preserving Memories through Oral History Research and Writing

  Amy Dayton-Wood, Laren Hammonds, Lisa Matherson, and Leah Tollison

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  Abstract: When students interview real people in their communities, they develop a more personal engagement with local history and a greater investment in purposeful research and writing.

• “I Hate Group Work!” Social Loafers, Indignant Peers, and the Drama of the Classroom

  Megan Lynn Isaac

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  Abstract: Real-world collaborations aren’t perfect. Learn strategies for structuring positive group interaction in your classroom.

• Poem: Perfect Circle

  Tasha Graff

• Poem: The Boys Who Fish

  Allisa Abraham Hall

• Poem: Best Art is Force(d)

  Peter Fernbach

• Poem: Dead Sea Squirrels

  Beth DeMeo

• Adventures with Text and Beyond: Challenging Genre, Medium, and Text—Students as Authentic Readers and Writers

  P. L. Thomas

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  Abstract: "Adventures with Text and Beyond" explores various ways of teaching literary theory to high school and middle school students.

• Mentoring Matters: Rethinking Mentor Relationships

  Heather Coffey

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  Abstract: "Mentoring Matters" focuses on effective ways to support new English teachers and student teachers.

• Professional Writing in the English Classroom: Literature-Based Professional Writing: An Oxymoron Whose Time Has Come

  Kelley R. Newhouse, Michele L. Propper, Ruth M. Riedel, and Barbara S. Teitelzweig

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  Abstract: "Professional Writing in the English Classroom" publishes articles about teaching students to write effectively in the genres, conventions, and visual designs required for professional contexts and related rhetorical situations.

• Research for the Classroom: Punctuation: The Power and the Possibilities

  Mary Heveron-Smith

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  Abstract: "Research for the Classroom" publishes mini-studies of ELA classroom practices and suggests ways in which high school and middle school English teachers may study the effectiveness of their pedagogy.

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