Language Arts, Vol. 74, No. 1, January 1997

Table of Contents

Issue Theme: Equity And Language Arts Education

• Innocent and Not-So-Innocent Contributions to Inequality: Choice, Power, and Insensitivity in a First-Grade Writing Workshop

  Jo Anne Pryor Deshon

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  Abstract: Describes a first-grade teacher's research in her own classroom, and shows how an apparently minor decision contributed greatly to inequality, unintentionally giving an already privileged group of students more knowledge and power, and decreasing the opportunities for knowledge and power of an already oppressed group of students.

  Keywords: Elementary

• Learning

  Karin Johnson

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  Abstract: Poetry by Karin Johnson.

  Keywords: Literature

• Writing Back: The Teacher as Respondent in Interactive Writing

  Nigel Hall, Leslie Crawford, and Anne Robinson

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  Abstract: Notes that most studies of teacher-student interactive writing have examined only what the students do, ignoring issues of power, status, and experience in such situations. Examines one teacher-student exchange of messages, focusing on what strategies made the adult writer effective. Argues that the teacher used his experience but not his power.

  Keywords: Elementary, Writing

• Expanding Curricular Conversations Through Unification, Diversity, and Access

  Cecilia Silva and Stephen B. Kucer

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  Abstract: Proposes a shared conversation curricular framework and two ways that diverse student populations can be brought into common curricular conversations: through the use of conceptually-related materials, and multiple communication systems. Argues that such a curriculum helps children who are in the process of acquiring English fully participate in the educational experiences of the classroom.

  Keywords: Elementary, Assessment, Pedagogy

• "That's Not Fair!": A White Teacher Reports on White First Graders' Responses to Multicultural Literature

  Joyce S. Macphee

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  Abstract: Describes the responses of white, affluent, ethnically-encapsulated first graders to four books that featured African-Americans as the central characters. Finds that students' responses showed a sensitivity for the feelings and actions of people they seldom interact with or even think about. Notes that the students frequently addressed issues of racial prejudice, calling them unjust.

  Keywords: Elementary, Literature

• "And They Wrote Happily Ever After": Literature-Based Mini-Lessons in Writing

  Susan H. Lunsford

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  Abstract: Describes how a first-and second-grade classroom teacher learned to design mini-lessons on story beginnings, descriptive language, and story structure that suited the needs of her primary-grade writers, by using examples from the real writing experts--the authors of the children's favorite books.

  Keywords: Elementary, Literature, Writing

• Bookalogues: Heroes and Heroines

  Miriam Martinez and Marcia F. Nash

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  Abstract: Presents brief annotations of 25 children's books that focus on heroes and heroines: ancient, traditional, and modern; real-life and fictional; and prominent and not prominent.

  Keywords: Elementary, Literature, Reading

• Materials That Make the Mark: Making Literature Instruction Authentic

  Jennifer Hester, Maribeth Lynch, and Karen Brodzik

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  Abstract: Reviews five professional books for teachers that promote the use of literature in the classroom. Discusses four commercially-prepared instructional guides for literature, which in some cases make instruction a step-by-step, predetermined process.

  Keywords: Elementary, Literature, Reading

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