English Journal, Vol. 96, No. 3, January 2007

Table of Contents

Issue Theme: Words At Play

• Call for Manuscripts

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  Abstract: Abstract for this article is currently not available.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• Letters to EJ

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  Abstract: Abstract for this article is currently not available.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• From the Editor

  Louann Reid

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  Abstract: Abstract for this article is currently not available.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• From the Secondary Section: Paradoxical Oxymorons

  Roger W. Shanley

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

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• Snapshots: The Legacy of Teacher Comments

  Linda K. Shadiow

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  Abstract: “Snapshots” offers insights about teaching and learning through teacher stories about a particular classroom event.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• Speaking My Mind: Growing beyond Circumstance: Have We Overemphasized Hopelessness in Young Adult Literature?

  Peter Thacker

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  Abstract: “Speaking My Mind” invites readers to speak out about controversial issues relevant to the teaching of English language arts.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• More Than Words: Comics as a Means of Teaching Multiple Literacies

  Dale Jacobs

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  Abstract: Historically, comics have been viewed as a “debased or simplified word-based literacy,” explains Dale Jacobs, who considers comics to be complex, multimodal texts. Examining Ted Naifeh’s Polly and the Pirates, Jacobs shows how comics can engage students in multiple literacies, furthering meaning-making practices in the classroom and beyond.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• Acting Out: Using Drama with English Learners

  Penny Bernal

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  Abstract: High school teacher Penny Bernal reflects on the success of using drama in her English Language Development classroom over the past ten years. She shares various steps for preparing a play as a means of promoting language learning and literacy, such as familiarizing students with language intonations through toning activities, practicing stage directions to prompt multicultural discussions, and accessing drama games to decrease inhibitions and increase concentration.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• Wordplay: The Poem's Second Language

  Margo A. Figgins and Jenny Johnson

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  Abstract: Students’ relationships with language are likely to change when they are permitted to play with it, but teachers must construct multiple classroom situations for experimentation, and thus change, to take place. Margo A. Figgins and Jenny Johnson give several ideas for how to foster wordplay among students, describing use of eponyms, word invention, surrealist activities, and a word lottery to “cultivate more excited attitudes toward language study.”

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• Words, Words, Words: Helping Students Discover the Power of Language

  Robert Perrin

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  Abstract: Robert Perrin emphasizes the active and playful power that can be discovered from specificity of language. Students observe the impact carefully chosen words have in their daily lives by examining names of products and colors used for particular contexts and audiences, as well as names given to inventions, highlighting the vibrancy of language—“the ways words develop and meanings change.”

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• Sex and Violence: Words at Play in the Shakespeare Classroom

  Maryellen G. Paquette

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  Abstract: Maryellen G. Paquette reveals the excitement and learning that can occur when high school students are presented with multiple opportunities to play. Activities that employ playful language and the whole body allow students to embody, name, and identify with complicated emotions and situations in Shakespeare’s plays. In addition, play can be effective preparation for success on the state test and in life.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• Play is Not Just for PE

  Stacey Brown

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  Abstract: Stacey Brown energizes high school students with “brain-twisting” writing prompts, word games to hone vocabulary and spelling skills, and art to show complex ideas. Additionally, reading aloud to her class models fluent reading, expands students’ vocabularies, builds community, and stimulates student-led discussions about the novel.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• Polysemy: A Neglected Concept in Wordplay

  Michael B. Garcia, Lynne Geiser, Corrine McCawley, Alleen Pace Nilsen and Elle Wolterbeek

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  Abstract: Four doctoral students and their professor contemplate the value of play in their high school and college classrooms. They discuss their experiences teaching children’s books, student illustrations, and excerpts from magazines and newspapers that convey the intricacies of the English language through homonyms, homophones, homographs, and polysemy.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• The Reality of Unreality: Using Imagination as a Teaching Tool

  Amy Rosoff

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  Abstract: Inner-city high school teacher Amy Rosoff stresses the importance of play for survival. She offers examples of activities requiring imaginative play from students in classes at all levels from ESL to AP.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• Raising the Bar for Classroom Publication: Building a Student Press Initiative

  Erick Gordon

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  Abstract: Erick Gordon, founding director of the Student Press Initiative, illustrates collaborations with teachers and students that have motivated students to invest themselves in the process and product of writing, including research, oral history, revision, and an immersion in and commitment to community.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• Finding Center: How Learning Centers Evolved in a Secondary Student-Centered Classroom

  Allison P. Movitz and Kerry P. Holmes

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  Abstract: The authors elaborate on the experience of creating for high school students effective multisensory, hands-on learning centers that address a full range of elements from the English language arts curriculum. Allison P. Movitz and Kerry P. Holmes detail the centers Movitz designed for a Mostly Medieval unit to show how learning centers can help students become more involved in and responsible for their learning.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• A Multidisciplinary Approach to Literacy through Picture Books and Drama

  Anne Burke and Shelley Stagg Peterson

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  Abstract: Anne Burke and Shelley Stagg Peterson argue that “picture books offer a medium for teaching visual and critical literacy across the curriculum.” To support this idea, they describe a multidisciplinary unit on World War II that pushes high school students to utilize visual and print literacies to analyze, comprehend, and relate to public events and private struggles from history.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• Mississippi Trial, 1955: Tangling with Text through Reading, Discussion, and Writing

  Sirpa Grierson, Jacqueline S. Thursby, Deborah Dean, and Chris Crowe

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  Abstract: The authors proffer practical critical-reading strategies for teaching Mississippi Trial, 1955 to increase students’ vocabulary, comprehension, and background knowledge of historical eras. They use nonfiction, a PBS documentary, the Web, folklore, and picture books among other tools for inciting thoughtful discussion and writing.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• Research Matters: What Kinds of Classroom Discussion Promote Reading Comprehension?

  Rick VanDeWeghe, editor

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  Abstract: “Research Matters” provides teachers with review and application of research that illuminates the daily concerns and activities of English language arts teachers and classrooms.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• New Voices: When Play Gets Serious

  Tiffany J. Hunt and Bud Hunt, editors

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  Abstract: “New Voices” raises questions, offers insights, and provides a forum for novice teachers to engage in the professional conversation surrounding the teaching of English.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• Teaching English in the World: Playing with Critical Theory in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter Series

  Kenneth Lindblom, editor

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  Abstract: “Teaching English in the World” examines the teaching of English in a global context.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• Taking Time: Developing Students' Stamina in the English Classroom

  Tonya Perry, editor

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  Abstract: “Taking Time” addresses challenges in teaching and curriculum that affect middle level education through focusing on the middle child in urban, rural, and suburban settings.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• Tools for Teaching: Resources for a Feast of Fun

  Colleen A. Ruggieri, editor

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  Abstract: "Tools for Teaching" helps you find the best print and electronic resources for teaching English language arts.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• Bold Books for Teenagers: Making Time for Literature with Middle Eastern Perspectives

  Don Gallo, editor

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  Abstract: “Bold Books for Teenagers” provides dynamic, informative viewpoints on important issues in publishing and teaching contemporary literature, especially literature for adolescents. Reviews of young adult literature also appear in this column.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

• Poetry

  James Brewbaker, editor

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  Abstract: “Poetry” features poems by teachers and professional poets.

  Keywords: Middle, Secondary

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