Speak The Speech, Ditch The Desk: Teaching Shakespeare As Dramatic Text,
2017
Brigham Young University
Speak The Speech, Ditch The Desk: Teaching Shakespeare As Dramatic Text, Shawnda Moss
The Utah English Journal
Shakespeare is a staple in any English Language Arts classroom, but the value of the Shakespeare experience in your classroom has a lot to do with how you go about teaching the material. You have the power to make Shakespeare’s plays a strictly academic literature study or make them come alive as students actively explore and play with his themes, storylines, and characters. Shakespeare’s plays are dramatic works, so it is key to present them to your students as living, breathing, evolving texts. Studying his plays with a dramatic context allows students to relate physically, vocally, and emotionally with the …
Say Yes: Reading Infographics In The English Classroom,
2017
Stansbury High School
Say Yes: Reading Infographics In The English Classroom, Samantha Andrus-Henry
The Utah English Journal
A summer or two ago, I was reading Shonda Rhimes’ (2015) book Year of Yes, while sitting in a waiting room where three teenage girls were discussing a beauty infographic in a popular glamour magazine. The infographic was beautifully composed and engaging at a glance, but as I looked a bit longer, I noticed a few flaws, and wondered what the informal literature circle I saw unfolding beside me thought. So I tuned in more closely to their conversation, and was startled at the deductions and reasoning I heard happening as the girls interpreted the infographic and applied it to …
Professional Development That Honors Teacher Agency,
2017
Brigham Young University
Professional Development That Honors Teacher Agency, Jon Ostensen
The Utah English Journal
As a new teacher, I remember judging those teachers who came to professional development (PD) meetings with a bad attitude, who often spent the meeting grading papers or immersed in their lesson plan books. Perhaps I was used to sitting in a class and being lectured at (the style of many of the PD seminars I attended in the 1990s), or maybe I was just too inexperienced to question the standard procedure. As time passed and I spent more time in these settings, I started to understand the reactions of those veteran teachers, and my own frustration and resentment grew …
Designing Curriculum The Fair Way,
2017
Utah Valley University
Designing Curriculum The Fair Way, Lorraine Wallace
The Utah English Journal
It was my second year as a teacher, my first year in a new school. In early August, I went to the building and introduced myself to the secretary. She was very pleasant as she escorted me to my new classroom. She opened the door, handed me the key, pointed to the cupboards where books were stored, and told me to let her know if I needed anything. Expecting some type of curriculum guide, I naively asked, “What am I supposed to teach?” “English, of course,” she answered with a laugh that continued as she went down the hall, back …
“Subvertising” As A Means Of Illustrating Transcendentalist Ideals,
2017
Southern Alamance High School
“Subvertising” As A Means Of Illustrating Transcendentalist Ideals, William Wright
The Utah English Journal
In this article, I discuss the inspiration, rationale, methodology, and subsequent observations of an activity I designed for my secondary American Literature course that asks students to critically juxtapose modern advertisements through the lens of eighteenth-century Transcendental thinkers Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Framed as a culminating activity at the end of our study of Transcendentalism, the activity’s intentions are twofold: to lead to a creative critique of the two-faced nature of advertising, and to serve as a bridge between what often seems, to students, like the outmoded writings of eighteenth-century philosophers and our modern cultural context.
Can An Eighth Grader Make An Impact?,
2017
Brigham Young University
Can An Eighth Grader Make An Impact?, Denée Tyler
The Utah English Journal
I see my students constantly composing: texts, notes to each other in class, silly sentences for grammar practice, lists of all varieties. I overhear the amusing and detailed things they tell each other, and I’m excited by their proficiency with words. But when they are asked to write for school, the work they turn in is generally less than stellar. The illusive quality of voice is often missing from their writing, and I often see weak sentence variety, poor or nonexistent paragraphing, and little attention given to reader courtesies such as grammar or spelling. There is a marked difference between …
Interlude I: Poetry In The Middle School Classroom,
2017
Brigham Young University
Interlude I: Poetry In The Middle School Classroom, Gaylynn Parker
The Utah English Journal
It is the end of week two, and I am watching my 7th grade students, new to junior high, struggling to navigate the halls, work their lockers, and organize papers as they go from class to class, teacher to teacher. Overwhelming. I know they will get the hang of it soon, but right now, their burdens hang heavily from their faces.
Interlude Iv: Imitation Poetry As A Celebration!,
2017
Brigham Young University
Interlude Iv: Imitation Poetry As A Celebration!, Gaylynn Parker
The Utah English Journal
It’s the end of the year—we’ve made it through and it’s time to celebrate! Gary Soto’s “Ode to Photographs” is light and silly and fun. To finish off fourth term, our imitation poem celebrates successful completion of 7th grade. I ask students to choose something small that gave them great pleasure and a cause to celebrate.
Interlude Iii: Imitation Poetry To Write Argument,
2017
Brigham Young University
Interlude Iii: Imitation Poetry To Write Argument, Gaylynn Parker
The Utah English Journal
During third term, we focus on writing argument, so at the end of the term, I have students write what I call an “argument poem.” We imitate Eve Merriam’s “Willow and Ginkgo” poem.
Book Review: Invisible Emmie,
2017
Brigham Young University
Book Review: Invisible Emmie, Kara Trammell
The Utah English Journal
Awkward, shy, thirteen year-old Emmie wishes nothing more than to be as confident and cool as her alter ego, Katie. As much fun as it would be to have Katie around in real life, Emmie has drawn her out of her own imagination. That is Emmie’s real passion—drawing. Unfortunately for Emmie, she realizes that being a good artist will not help her win friends or fall in with the “cool crowd” at school, and it especially will not catch the attention of the boy she has a crush on, either.
Book Review: The Lady Of The Lakes,
2017
Brigham Young University
Book Review: The Lady Of The Lakes, Shannon Taylor
The Utah English Journal
Falling in love can be a tumultuous experience, what with utter elation in one moment and crushing insecurity in the next. In Josi Kilpack’s novel The Lady of the Lakes, the young Sir Walter Scott experiences this tumult of falling in love not once but twice, discovering that finding true love does not always happen as one would hope or expect. When Walter first sees Mina Stuart, a young heiress, he is immediately enthralled and devotes his heart to her entirely, writing to her for years and preparing for the day when he can ask for her hand in …
Book Review: The Inexplicable Logic Of My Life,
2017
Brigham Young University
Book Review: The Inexplicable Logic Of My Life, Maddison Driggs
The Utah English Journal
For Sal, the protagonist of Benjamin Saenz’s novel, The Inexplicable Logic of My Life, nothing has ever been simple. Raised by his gay adoptive father, with the support of extended family and friends, the beginning of his senior year proves to be unusually challenging for Sal. A generally calm and collected boy, Sal finds that violent tendencies have begun arising in his life. Punch after punch, these violent encounters lead Sal to question who his biological father was — and more importantly, who he is himself.
Book Review: Under Locker And Key,
2017
Brigham Young University
Book Review: Under Locker And Key, Ethan Dunn
The Utah English Journal
Does the end justify the means? Is breaking the rules acceptable if it means helping those who cannot defend themselves? These moral questions appear more commonly in adult literature. However, Allison K. Hymas addresses these issues, along with many others, in her debut novel for young adults, Under Locker and Key.
Student-Centered Approaches To Teaching Grammar And Writing,
2017
Western Michigan University
Student-Centered Approaches To Teaching Grammar And Writing, Lindsay J. Jeffers
Language Arts Journal of Michigan
This article questions the continued reliance on traditional approaches to the teaching of grammar, particularly the memorization of parts of speech and grammar rules. Years of studies show that grammar instruction out of the context of writing is detrimental to students. Despite much progress toward student-centered instruction, traditional methods of teaching grammar are still a cornerstone of writing instruction in many English classes. The article suggests more effective, student-centered approaches that focus on students developing as writers and readers. Through modeling and inquiry, students focus on writing as a craft and make choices as writers. It’s essential that research about …
Editor's Introduction,
2017
University of New Mexico
Editor's Introduction, Virginia Necochea
Intersections: Critical Issues in Education
No abstract provided.
Table Of Contents,
2017
University of New Mexico
Seeds Of Freedom: Liberating Education In Guatemala By Clark Taylor,
2017
University of New Mexico
Seeds Of Freedom: Liberating Education In Guatemala By Clark Taylor, Magdalena Vázquez Dathe
Intersections: Critical Issues in Education
With a central theme of emancipatory education, Seeds of Freedom: Liberating Education in Guatemala by Clark Taylor (2014) delivers a powerful historical narrative that reaffirms the value of an education for liberation. The remarkable story of Santa Maria Tzejá, a remote village in northern Guatemala, demonstrates how social activism and a liberating education contributed to the socio-economic development and empowerment of this indigenous community. Through extensive interviews with students, families, community leaders, and teachers, Taylor describes a story that has been unfolding for over twenty-five years.
Agency, The Uncanny, And Strangeways: An Autoethnographic Journey Through An International Wunderland.,
2017
University of New Mexico
Agency, The Uncanny, And Strangeways: An Autoethnographic Journey Through An International Wunderland., Roberto T. Ollivier
Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs
The African diaspora and postcolonial studies author George Lamming writes in his book “The Pleasures of Exile” that the Caliban character from Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” “cannot be revealed in any relation to himself-for he has no self which is not a reaction to circumstances imposed upon his life” (Lamming, 1992, p. 107). One could argue that the only hope this half-human half-monstrous creature, or for that matter, any of us have to find peace, lies in the attempt to find resolution through the metaphorical slaying of our respective pasts. Like Caliban, many of us are never …
Real Boys Don't Do Language And Literacy--Or Do They?,
2017
Grand Valley State University
Real Boys Don't Do Language And Literacy--Or Do They?, Christen M. Pearson
MITESOL Journal: An Online Publication of MITESOL
Over the past several decades, there has been a decline in boys’ achievement, along with documentation of increasing struggles in language (both first and second) and literacy acquisition (Carr & Pauwels, 2006). To address this problem, gender differences have been looked at through the lens of socially and culturally constructed identity (Kindlon & Thompson, 2000; Pollack, 1998); however, emerging neurolinguistic research supports biological determinism, with evidence of strong biological (sex) differences in brain structure and function that impact language and learning (Bonomo, 2010; Gurian, 1996; Sax, 2005). This paper first provides an overview of current brain-based research on sex differences, …
Spelling Instruction For Students With Learning Disabilities,
2017
Rowan University
Spelling Instruction For Students With Learning Disabilities, Rebecca Grochowicz
Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of this study was to compare the success of phonetic-based and memory-based spelling instruction on students with learning disabilities. This study implemented a pretest-posttest design. The participants were six learning disabled second grade students in a resource room setting. All participants were performing below grade level in Language Arts and Reading. Data was collected during a baseline phase, intervention phase, and post-intervention phase. Students were taught list spelling words using both phonetic-based and memory-based strategies on alternating weeks. Their weekly progress and retention rates were recorded and compared to the baseline data. Overall, the results of the study …
