Search

This book contains eight case studies of critical literacy in action in Victoria, Australia. The following papers are included: "Preface" (John Dewar Wilson); "Introduction" (Delia Bradshaw); "Making the Time and Space for Critical Literacy: Why Bother?" (Barbara Comber); "Questioning Text: Critical Literacy in an ALBE Classroom" (Fran O'Neill); "Critical Literacy and Numeracy in the Print Industry" (Helena Spyrou, Ivan Parrett); "Fairy Stories and Critical Literacy" (Clara Brack); "Developing Critical Writing Practices in a Community Education Setting" (Barbara Kamler); "'We Have To Learn to Say Things Very Clearly...'" (Michele Lucas); "Modelling Critical Literacy in Teacher Education" (Beverley Campbell); and "'Despite All My Rage, I'm Still a Rat in a Cage'" (Ray Misson). Among the topics discussed in the individual papers are the following: relationship between language use and power; workplace-related functional literacy; literacy as social practice; use of community texts; classroom literacy practice; critical questioning and writing; development of political and collective purposes for writing; interaction of students and teachers in literacy classrooms; techniques for encouraging students to "read between the lines"; conceptual development; text and context; critical writing. (MN)

This compilation presents materials associated with the 5-week summer session of the Samford University Writing Project, 1994. The compilation begins with curriculum vitae of staff, teacher consultants, and guest speakers. The compilation also presents lists of group and committee members. Summaries of 14 presentations (on such topics as discovering topics through music, exploring nature, writing a children's book, autobiographical timelines, discovering literature through writing, the power of sensory detail, the oral and written story connection, breaking the tie with reference books, Civil War diaries, integrated teaching in an inclusion classroom, prejudice, fairy tales, and the generative rhetoric of the sentence) and samples of participants' writing form the major part of the compilation. (RS)

"Textile Messages" focuses on the emerging field of electronic textiles, or e-textiles--computers that can be soft, colorful, approachable, and beautiful. E-textiles are articles of clothing, home furnishings, or architectures that include embedded computational and electronic elements. This book introduces a collection of tools that enable novices--including educators, hobbyists, and youth designers--to create and learn with e-textiles. It then examines how these tools are reshaping technology education--and DIY practices--across the K-16 spectrum, presenting examples of the ways educators, researchers, designers, and young people are employing them to build new technology, new curricula, and new creative communities. Contents include: (1) Vignette: LilyPad Arduino Embroidery (Becky Stern); (2 ) Vignette: The Climate Dress (Michel Guglielmi,Hanne-Louise Johannesen); (3) Vignette: Know It All Knotting Bag (Kalani Craig). (4) LilyPad Arduino: E-Textiles for Everyone (Leah Buechley,Despina Papadopoulos, and Zach Eveland ); (5) i*CATch: A Plug-n-Play Kit for Wearable Computing (Grace Ngai/Stephen C.F. Chan/Vincent T.Y. Ng); (6) Traveling Light: Making Textiles Programmable "Through the Air" (Nwanua Elumeze Lynne Bruning: Vignette: Mrs. Mary Atkins-Holl; and (7) Handcrafting Textile Sensors (Hannah Perner-Wilson/Leah Buechley). Section 2, Learning and Designing with E-Textiles contains: (8) Learning about Circuitry with E-textiles in After-School Settings (Kylie Peppler, Diane Glosson); (9) Making Connections Across Disciplines in High School E-Textile Workshops (Yasmin Kafai, Deborah Fields, Kristin Searle); (10) EduWear: E-Textiles in Youth Sports and Theater (Heidi Schelhowe, Eva-Sophie Katterfeldt, Nadine Dittert, Milena Reichel) Vignette: The Space Between Us: Electronic Music + Modern Dance + E-Textiles (Eric Lindsay); (11) ETextiles and the New Fundamentals of Fine Arts (Kylie Peppler/ Leslie Sharpe/Diane Glosson), Vignette: FairyTale Fashion (Diana Eng); (12) Bringing E-Textiles into Engineering Education (Mike Eisenberg, Ann Eisenberg, Yingdan Huang); Vignette: Amirobo: Crocheted Robot (Osamu Iwasaki); and (13) ETextiles for Educators: Participatory Simulations with e-Puppetry (Kylie Peppler, Joshua Danish). (14) LilyPad in the Wild: Technology DIY, E-Textiles, and Gender (Leah Buechley, Jennifer Jacobs, Benjamin Mako Hill) Vignette: Tendrils: Sensing & Sharing Touch (Thecla Schiphorst/Jinsil Seo); (15) Mediated Craft: Digital Practices around Creative Handwork (Daniela K. Rosner); (16) E-Textile Technologies in Design, Research and Pedagogy (Joanna Berzowska) Vignette: Muttering Hat (Kate Hartman); (17) E-Textiles and the Body: Feminist Technologies and Design Research ( Shaowen Bardzell); and (18) Adventures in Electronic Textiles (Maggie Orth).

Children's literature comes from a number of different sources--folklore (folk- and fairy tales), books originally for adults and subsequently adapted for children, and material authored specifically for them--and its audience ranges from infants through middle graders to young adults (readers from about 12 to 18 years old). Its forms include picturebooks, pop-up books, anthologies, novels, merchandising tie-ins, novelizations, and multimedia texts, and its genres include adventure stories, drama, science fiction, poetry, and information books. The "Historical Dictionary of Children's Literature" relates the history of children's literature through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, a bibliography, and over 500 cross-referenced dictionary entries on authors, books, and genres. Some of the most legendary names in all of literature are covered in this important reference, including Hans Christian Anderson, L. Frank Baum, Lewis Carroll, Roald Dahl, Charles Dickens, C.S. Lewis, Beatrix Potter, J.K. Rowling, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark Twain, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jules Verne, and E.B. White.

As multicultural education is becoming integral to the core curriculum, teachers often implement this aspect into their courses through literature. However, standards and criteria to teach and promote active discussion about this literature are sparse. This book introduces pre-service and experienced teachers to the use of literature to promote active discussions that lead students to think about racial diversity. More than just an annotated list of books for children, the authors provide systematic guidelines that teachers can use throughout their careers to evaluate multicultural literature for students in grades K-8. At the same time, the text leads the reader to a deeper understanding of how to use multicultural literature throughout the entire curriculum and not just during specially designated months or time periods. With the example unit plans and extensive annotated bibliography, this book is a valuable resource that pre-service teachers will utilize when they begin teaching, and in-service teachers will reference repeatedly during their planning periods. Contents include: (1) Why Do We Study Multicultural Literature?; (2) Defining Literary Standards; (3) Picture Books; (4) Folktales, Fairy Tales, and Tall Tales; (5) Historical Fiction; (6) Nonfiction: Biography, Informational Texts, and Autobiography; (7) Realistic Fiction; (8) Poetry; and (9) Creating the Climate for Success. A preface, appendix (Additional Cultural Resources and Unit Plans), bibliography, and index are also included.

"The Castle in the Classroom" describes a year in a kindergarten classroom as the children embark on literary exploration. Each child approaches the journey from a different perspective--some are self-sufficient, others more hesitant; some are literary adventurers, others shyly reluctant. The detailed focus lessons throughout the book use the power of stories--personal narratives, folktales, and fairy tales--to deepen the literary experience so that reading and writing become as much a part of kindergarten as playing and pretending are. As the book progresses through the year, teachers will find a wealth of resources, including practical models to teach strategies and skills; effective teaching schedules; ways to address, challenge, expand, and celebrate student learning; examples of student work; parent education materials; and ideas on how to manage assessment. By the end of the year, your students--like those in Ranu's class--will have built on their love of story-telling to establish a strong literacy foundation. [Foreword by Georgia Heard.]

The Canadian young adult novel "The Maestro" by Tim Wynne-Jones foregrounds the relationship between imagination and subjective agency. While Burl uses his imagination at the beginning to protect himself from his abusive father, his fantasies become dress rehearsals for small performances that allow him to try on new identities and exercise autonomy through conscious choice of possible actions. The protagonist's imagination, nurtured by reading fairy tales, allows him to move out of his lonely private realm into intersubjective relationships with others, particularly with parental figures who support his developing sense of agency.

This collection presents techniques for tapping a broad range of literary sources to inspire young writers. Drawing upon poetry, folk tales, story jokes, and more, Literary Ideas walks students in grades 3-8 through the process of creating new stories and developing them as scripts for choral readings, readers theatre, and classroom plays. The process inspires creativity, problem solving, observation, and listening skills within a writing and theatrical framework. Includes the following: Poetry for Choral Readings Fairy Tales for Reader's Theater Folk Tale Plays Fairy Tale Alterations for Reader's Theater Fairy Tale Alterations for Plays Modern Fairy Tale Plays Story Joke Plays Poetry Plays Historical Plays Modern Cultural Myth Plays

This book gives the reader ideas for providing primary-grade students with literacy learning opportunities that integrate conventional literacies, such as phonics and comprehension, with new literacies, such as multimedia composition and hyperlink navigation. The reader will find a variety of linked activities, including reading children's books, creating multimedia documents, writing with word-processing programs, and engaging in online communication. This book contains three parts. Part 1: Literary Concepts and Language Arts Connections, which consists of the following six units: (1) ABC Books; (2) Poetry--Rhyme Time and More; (3) Music--Learning With a Beat; (4) Writing--Getting "Write" to the Heart of the Matter; (5) Fun, Fantasy, and Fairy Tales; and (6) Artrageous Art. Part 2: Social and Multicultural Connections, which consists of the following units: (7) Learning to Like Ourselves: Lessons in Self-Concept; (8) Dogs--The Pets That Love Us; (9) Dealing With Emotional Issues at Home and School; (10) Appreciating Differences; and (11) Bedtime. Part 3: Content Areas and Multidisciplinary Connections, consists of the following units: (12) Jobs and Careers; (13) Transportation; (14) Whales and Dolphins--Mammals of the Sea; (15) Insects; (16) Math Is Fun; (17) Dinosaurs with a Twist; (18) What Season Is It?; and (19) Blasting Off to Explore Space. The following are appended: (1) Steps for Conducting a Digital Language Experience Approach; and (2) Steps for Conducting Author's Computer Chair. An Author and Subject Index, Children's Literature and Computer Resources Index, Literacy Skills and Strategies Index are included.

The contributors to this volume believe that learners do not learn in isolation but absorb what is around them. This book includes practical applications and case studies used to make literary teachings come alive in varied ESL/EFL classroom settings around the world. This book brings to life the organic connection between literature and language teaching. Believing that learners do not learn in isolation but absorb what is around them, the contributors to this volume prove that language and literature do not have to be taught in separate realms. This book adeptly shows how the study of literature can be successfully integrated with ESL/EFL teachings. Contributors to this book share practical applications and case studies used to make literary teachings come alive in varied ESL/EFL classroom settings around the world. This book: presents case studies with learners at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels, as well as in teacher training, includes creative methodologies, customized for different learners, texts, and lessons, as well as for other teachers, describes pedagogically sound activities using children's literature, fairy tales, popular songs, popular literature, autobiographies, poetry, and filmed versions of literary works, discusses how to combine genres and technology to provide numerous activities that creatively use materials, foster in-depth discussions and team projects, and enhance language learning. After a preface by the series editor (Jill Burton), this book contains 12 chapters: (1) The Stories of Literature and Language Teaching (Amos Paran); (2) A Brighter Future? Integrating Language and Literature for First-Year University Students (Ian Butler); (3) The Short Story: Integrating Language Skills Through the Parallel Life Approach (Natalie Hess); (4) Talking It Over in Class (Philip Minkoff); (5) Stories Lean on Stories: Literature Experiences in ESL Teacher Education (Tatiana Gordon, Joan Zaleski, and Debra Goodman); (6) Using Enchantment: Children's Literature in an EFL Teacher Education Context (Stuart McNicholls); (7) Terms of Integration: Educating Primary EFL Teacher Learners (Isabel Martin); (8) Exploring the Literary Text Trough Grammar and the (Re-) Integration of Literature and Language Teaching (Benedict Lin); (9) Learning and Teaching How a Poem Means: Literary Stylistics for EFL Undergraduates and Language Teachers in Japan (Patrick Rosenkjar); (10) Theory Into Practice: Teaching and Responding to Literature Aesthetically (Nazan Tutas); (11) Stepping into the Shoes of Romeo and Juliet (Milena Vodickova) and (12) Collaborative Producing of Digital Learning Objectives for Language and Literature Instruction in the Netherlands (Frits Schulte).

Close to 1,100 people attended the 55th Annual Meeting of the National Reading Conference at the Intercontinental Hotel in Miami, Florida from November 30-December 3, 2005. A record number of proposals were submitted this year (548), with 392 papers, symposia, and round tables accepted. This year's conference theme was inclusiveness and synthesis of epistemologies, research design, and methods. Plenary speakers represented research paradigms such as literacy as social practice, literacy as brain functioning, and literacy as critical reflection and action. Invited symposiums consisted of representatives from across paradigms as they addressed crucial issues facing educators today. Following a preface and awards presented to Albert J. Kingston and Oscar S. Causey, the papers in this yearbook include: (1) Presidential Address: New Literacies, Reading Research, and the Challenges of Change: A Deictic Perspective (Donald J. Leu); (2) Invited Address: New Literacies, New Times: How do We Describe and Teach the Forms of Literacy Knowledge, Skills, and Values People Need for New Times? (Brian V. Street); (3) Award Address: What Does Culture Have to Do With It? (Victoria Purcell-Gates); (4) NRC Annual Review of Research: Critical Participatory Action Research and Literacy Achievement of Ethnic Minority Groups (Ernest Morrell); (5) Student Award: So That You'll Be Good Readers: ESL Teachers' Classroom Discourses about Reading (Megan Madigan Peercy); (6) Children Transact with Biography: Reader Response Styles of Elementary School Students (Mary Starrs Armstrong); (7) High-Stakes Assessment and Writing Instruction (Diane Barone); (8) Students' Experience of Dialogic Tensions in Responding to Multicultural Literature (Richard Beach, Amanda Haertling Thein, and Daryl Parks); (9) Mentoring in the Political and Cultural World of Academia: An Exploration of the Experiences of Literacy Educators (Mark Cobb, Dana L. Fox, Joyce E. Many, Mona W. Matthews, Ewylor, Gertrude Tinker Sach Yan Wang, and Faith H. Wallace); (10) Problematizing Adolescent Literacies: Four Instances, Multiple Perspectives (Mark Dressman, David O'Brien, Theresa Rogers, Gay Ivey, Phillip Wilder, Donna Alvermann, Elizabeth Moje, and Kevin Leander); (11) Working with Teachers to Change the Literacy Instruction of Latino Students in Urban Schools (Georgia Earnest Garcia, Teresa Mendez Bray, Raul A. Mora, Mariana A. Ricklefs, Joan Primeaux, Laura C. Engel, and Kimberly Garley-Erb); (12) E-literature and the Digital Engagement of Consciousness (Rebecca Luce-Kapler, Teresa Dobson, Dennis Sumara, Tammy Iftody, and Brent Davis); (13) Critical Performative Literacies: Intersections Among Identities, Social Imaginations and Discourses (Carmen L. Medina); (14) Connections Across Literacy and Science Instruction in Early Childhood Education: Interweaving Disciplines in Pre-Service Teacher Education (Karla J. Moller and Barbara Hug); (15) Tutoring: A Personal and Professional Space for Preservice Teachers to Learn about Literacy Instruction (Denise N. Morgan, Beverly Timmons, and Maria Shaheen); (16) Power in Cultural Modeling: Building on the Bilingual Language Practices of Immigrant Youth in Germany and the United States (Marjorie Faulstich Orellana and H. Julia Eksner); (17) From Pre-service to In-service: The Evolution of Literacy Teaching Practices and Beliefs in Novice Teachers (Michelle Pierce and Francesca Pomerantz); (18) Understanding the Paradoxical Relationship between Domain Specificity of In-service Literacy Teachers' Epistemological Beliefs and Their Instructional Practices (Gaoyin Qian and Liqing Tao); (19) Constructs Underlying Word Selection and Assessments Tasks in the Archival Research on Vocabulary Instruction (Judith A. Scott, Shira Lubliner, and Elfrieda H. Hiebert); (20) Teacher Scaffolding of First-Graders' Literary Understanding During Read Alouds of Fairytale Variants (Lawrence R. Sipe and Anne E. Brightman); (21) Scientific Literacy and Commercial Reading Programs: An Analysis of Text and Instructional Guidance (Martha L. Smith, Linda M. Phillips, Stephen P. Norris, Sandra L. Guilbert, and Donita M. Stange); (22) "I Want to Meet My Students Where They Are!": Preservice Teachers' Visions of Culturally Responsive Literacy Instruction (Jennifer D. Turner); (23) Redesigning Literacy Preservice Education at Four Institutions: A Three-Year Collaborative Project (Mark D. Vagle, Deborah R. Dillon, Judith Davison-Jenkins, Bonita LaDuca, and Vicki Olson); and (24) Facilitating or Limiting? The Role of Politeness in How Students Participate in an Online Classroom Discussion (Ming-Lung Yang, Yu-Jung Chen, Minseong Kim, Yi-Fan Chang, An-Chih Cheng, Yangjoo Park, Treavor Bogard, and Michelle Jordan). This publication also contains an Introduction to the 55th NRC Annual Meeting (Victoria Purcell-Gates). (Individual papers contain references.)

This book grew out of research conducted during a sabbatical as Associate Professor of Education at Rockhurst University in Kansas City. The study focused on collecting folktales from recently emigrated school children in order to build a curriculum to support the growth of English literacy in these students and their native English-speaking classmates. The students ranged in age from first graders to high school seniors. The countries represented were: Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Colombia, India, Iran, Korea, Laos, Mexico, and Somalia. An interesting finding of the study is that children from completely different countries, of different ages, and in different school districts, tell the same stories--variants on the Wolf and the 7 Little Kids, Cinderella, and so on. The study was conducted over the course of one school year in two states and three public school districts: one inner city, one middle-class, and one suburban upper middle-class. Along with the stories themselves, The Story Road to Literacy provides suggested teaching strategies. These strategies were selected to provide opportunities to stimulate reading, writing, talking, listening and thinking--all crucial components of literacy. Following this, there are suggestions for teachers to invite their students to tell, write, and share their own stories and to create new folk tales. The book contains the original unedited stories, the stories in the original handwritten form, student pictures, and copies of the stories in edited format. Appendices provide copy-ready stories in both formats for reproduction, lists of like folk tales from varying cultures, information about the cultures of students represented in the study, and other helpful bibliographies. This book will be particularly of use to ESL teachers and classroom teachers with ESL students. Because of the primary sources and the story collections, librarians, both school and public will find this book an excellent resource.

As an instructional tool, folk literature can foster literacy, promote cultural awareness, and create connections with the content areas. Yet few resources provide background about folk literature and how to use it your classroom. "Happily Ever After" fills this gap with a reader-friendly collection of articles that define folk literature and its subgenres, provide strategies for using folklore across the curriculum, and describe techniques for teaching students to write their own folk stories. Contributors to the volume offer a variety of perspectives and approaches that make the book relevant to teachers, teacher educators, librarians, and administrators. Following the Preface, Acknowledgments, and Contributors, the book is organized as follows. Section One: "Introducing the Folk Literature Genre" consists of Chapter 1: "Unraveling the Tapestry: An Overview of the Folk Literature Genre" (Terrell A. Young). Section Two: "Exploring the Subgenres of Folk Literature" includes: (1) Chapter 2: "The How and Why of Folk Tales" (Anne Marie Kraus); (2) Chapter 3: "The Moral of the Story: Learning About Fables" (Nancy J. Johnson, Angela Sorgatz Vroom); (3) Chapter 4: "Mythology: A Cosmic Theater" (Sam L. Sebesta, Dianne L. Monson); (4) Chapter 5: "Legend Has It: What Legends Bring to Classroom Learning" (Darcy H. Bradley); and (5) Chapter 6: "Tall Tales: An American Folk Invention" (Linda M. Pavonetti). Section Three: "Sampling Folk Literature Across Cultures" contains: (1) Chapter 7: "Folk Tales From the African Diaspora: The Power of the Oral Tradition" (Deborah L. Thompson); (2) Chapter 8: "When Tigers Smoked Pipes: Asian Folk Literature" (Belinda Y. Louie); (3) Chapter 9: "European Folk Tales and Their Value Today" (Ellen A. Greever, John Warren Stewig); (4) Chapter 10: "Jewish Folk Tales: From Elijah the Prophet to the Wise Men of Chelm" (Evelyn B. Freeman); (5) Chapter 11: "Exploring Latino Culture Through Folk Tales" (Lynn Atkinson Smolen, Victoria Ortiz-Castro); (6) Chapter 12: "Open Sesame! Middle Eastern and Indian Subcontinent Folk Literature" (Marcia Baghban); and (7) Chapter 13: "Tribal Stories From Native Americans" (Debbie A. Reese). Section Four: "Celebrating Folk Literature in the Classroom" includes: (1) Chapter 14: "Cinderella and Her Sisters: Variants and Versions" (Ann Sloan, Sylvia M. Vardell); (2) Chapter 15: "Starting at the Roots: Collecting Folklore in the Home, School, and Community" (Nancy L. Hadaway); (3) Chapter 16: "'I'll be the Monster!' Folk Tales and Classroom Drama" (Judy Sierra); (4) Chapter 17: "Transforming Fairy Tales to Inspire Young Authors" (Laura Tuiaea); and (5) Chapter 18: "Timeless and Timely Fairy Tales, Ideologies, and the Modern Classroom" (Jane E. Kelley). The book concludes with an Afterword by Susan Hepler, an Author Index, Folk Literature Author Index, and Subject Index.

This book offers suggestions for developing literary experiences that provide middle-grade students with opportunities to build an awareness of literary elements, genre, and the craft of authors and artists, and to learn strategies for exploring multiple meanings in literary texts. The literary experiences in the book are developed within a series of thematic units that can serve as the building blocks for a literature program. For this second edition, each chapter has been revised and updated, one new chapter has been added, and the Appendix has been expanded. More picture books were added to the classroom collections that form the core of the group and independent reading experiences in the context of literature units. Chapters in the book are: (1) Developing a Literature Program with Thematic Units; (2) Friendship Stories; (3) Modern Fairy Tales and Traditional Literature: Revisions and Retellings; (4) Dilemmas and Decisions: Internal Conflict in Realistic Fiction; (5) Family Stories; (6) Artists in Fiction and Nonfiction; (7) War and Peace: Historical Fiction and Nonfiction; (8) On Their Own; (9) Between Two Worlds; and (10) "Cinderella" Variants: Building a Global Perspective. An Appendix contains 94 resources for teachers--books about children's literature, periodicals, literary experiences in the classroom, and online resources. (RS)

This book contains more than two dozen reader's theater scripts to entertain and amuse those in the classroom or library. The scripts in the book--all are reproducible--can help nurture student language arts skills and the power of the imagination with their fractured "takes" on fairy tales and their twisted legends. Designed to re-energize the reading and writing curricula, this humorous collection of scripts educates and entertains. Performance guidelines and numerous tips and ideas for using reader's theater extend language learning. Appended are: an extensive bibliography selected for further reading, more ideas, and a resource list. (NKA)

Focusing on reworkings of tales from the European oral folk tradition, this book shows educators how to use these tales effectively in the high school and middle school curriculum. The first chapter of the book, "Folktales and Literary Fictions" looks at the nature of folktales, their place in contemporary North American culture, and the characteristics of these tales that make them appealing to adolescent readers. The following chapters each focus on a particular tale--"Cinderella,""The Frog King or Iron Henry,""Hansel and Gretel,""Little Red Riding Hood,""Rapunzel,""Rumpelstiltskin,""Sleeping Beauty," and "Snow White")--giving the tale type and its motifs, a synopsis of the tale, an overview of critical interpretations of the tale, and a summary and discussion of each reworking. Suggestions for teachers and librarians working with young adults come at the end of each chapter. (Each chapter contains references. Includes author/illustrator, motif, tale, and title indexes.) (RS)

Parents and teachers may often have wondered how preschoolers learn, or why certain things, events, or people are more interesting to them than others? This book provides information on how young children learn, and offers activities to encourage emerging literacy, promote creativity and imagination, and enhance knowledge and development in music, art, science, movement, and computers. Section 1 describes how young children learn and discusses the importance of play and the use of all their senses, individual differences, and toy selection guidelines. Section 2 addresses language development during the first 5 years and how to enhance it. Section 3 presents activities to encourage a love of reading and writing and to introduce different math concepts. Section 4 describes various types of children's literature, including picture books, fairy tales, poetry and nursery rhymes, multicultural books, and information books. Section 5 discusses the benefits of imagination and curiosity and offers creative suggestions to nurture these characteristics. Section 6 presents information on the value of the arts to young children's development and activities to promote self-expression through music, movement, and art. Section 7 describes children as "natural scientists" and offers activities to encourage observation and questioning regarding the natural environment. Section 8 suggests fascinating journeys with preschoolers and ways to enhance the learning experience of trips in one's own neighborhood or to a museum. Section 9 offers ways to familiarize children with school routines and discusses how school can be an enriching experience for all children, including those with disabilities. Section 10 covers the topic of young children and computers. Each section concludes with a list of resources. (KDFB)

Readers theater is a storytelling device that stimulates the imagination and promotes all of the language arts. Readers theater is an oral interpretation of a piece of literature read in a dramatic style. It involves and motivates students, energizes the language arts program, and stimulates learning. Geared for children in grades 1-4, this book is a follow-up to "Frantic Frogs and Other Frankly Fractured Folktales for Readers Theatre," which is intended for an older (grades 4-8) audience. The book begins by introducing readers theater and describing its value and how to present and create readers theater activities. It then presents a collection of 29 humorous scripts adapted from traditional folktales and rhymes for using in readers theater presentations. The book also includes a section of unfinished scripts and partial stories for students to complete. All scripts are arranged according to reading level. Appendices include: a list of references for fairy tales, Mother Goose rhymes, folk tales, and other stories to share; a list of "far-out" and "funky" titles for students to use to create their own readers theater scripts; and articles, books, and other sources on readers theater that teachers may wish to consult. (Contains 24 references.) (SWC)

Based on the premise that the fairy tale genre can be effectively used as the content base for teaching reading, writing, and thinking skills and processes, this book offers educators ideas and techniques that promote multiple intelligences, critical thinking, creative problem solving, and problem- and product-based learning. Drawing on Bloom's taxonomy and the work of other experts, the book places special emphasis on learning process, literacy, thinking skills, integrated learning, diversity, and academic excellence. Each of the nine chapters centers on a specific fairy tale, relating it to issues in teaching and learning. For example, "Cinderella Meets a Prince: Howard Gardner" addresses Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences and--with ideas and hands-on activities based on the Cinderella theme--it shows teachers how the theory can be effectively applied in the classroom. The activities in the book range from making books and writing and editing newspapers to creating a classroom museum. The book also includes lists of related resources for teachers and students. According to the book, these easy-to-implement strategies can be used with students at every age level and in a variety of settings, from primary home schooling classes to college writing courses. (NKA)

Intended for teachers of grades 4-8, this book presents a method of developing critical thinking skills through fairy tales. The book shows educators how to use popular fairy tales and fairy tale characters to help students develop problem solving abilities, critical thinking skills, and writing proficiency. It gives a multitude of activities, adaptable to virtually any fairy tale in almost any learning environment, challenging students to move beyond the simplistic study of fairy tales to develop in-depth comprehension. The book's chapters cover characterization, perspective, and story creation. The book also provides extensive guidelines for projects--what materials are needed, how long the project will take, and skill levels that are covered. The book gives a variety of warm-up exercises to help students prepare for lengthier projects, which can be modified for a variety of learning levels. Contains a list of 110 fairy tales divided into categories including traditional, contemporary, and multicultural fairy tales and others. (CR)

This book provides suggestions for drama activities and materials based on 14 classic and contemporary fairy tales suitable for both stage and classroom performance. After the introduction (which outlines different ways the stories can used dramatically) and a "Welcome to the Box Office" section, the book provides materials and activities for adaptations of each of 14 stories: "The Teddy Bear's Picnic"; "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"; "Goldilocks and the Three Bears"; "Jack and the Beanstalk"; "The Three Little Pigs"; "The Three Billy Goats Gruff"; "Tomie dePaola's Mother Goose"; "Swimmy"; "The Frog Prince"; "The Red Balloon"; "I Am Flying"; "I Wish I Were a Butterfly"; "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly"; and "An American Thanksgiving-A Pageant." Attached are a 13-item technology bibliography listing videos, music recordings, and software CD-ROMS, and a 57-item bibliography of books recommended for the unit, segmented by subject. (CR)

A member of the Caldecott Award committee reviews recommended children's books published in 1991. Annotations are provided for 13 historical novels for middle-graders and young adults and 47 picture books that focus on folklore and fairytales, human values, celebrations, and the environment. A bibliography is included. (EAM)

This booklet examines folk tales and fairy stories derived from folk wisdom from the standpoint that they are not an escape from reality, but that they help people deal with the reality that technology cannot explain. The book focuses on the pros and cons of folk and fairy tales and on their nature and function. It also presents an analysis of a contemporary fairy tale. The book concludes with a discussion of why, when, and how to tell fairy tales and a bibliography of books for children of all ages. (HTH)

This text explores the significance of folk and fairy tales in European culture during the 19th century, with a focus on the Brothers Grimm and their collection of tales. The first edition of their collection, Kinder- und Hausmärchen, included a diverse range of tales from various sources and was not specifically intended for children. The text also discusses the principles and contradictions of the Grimms in collecting and publishing these tales, as well as their influence on other folklorists. It highlights the political and nationalist motivations behind the collection and translation of these tales, as well as the evolution and categorization of folk and fairy tales. The author aims to provide readers with a historical understanding of how these tales were read and transmitted during this time period. [Extracted from the article]