Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

Full Issue

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

Sensible Sequencing: Traditional And Popular Texts Sharing Space In The Ela Classroom, Luke Rodseiler

The Utah English Journal

The place for texts from popular culture— viewed here as “everyday culture” (Hagood, Alvermann, & Heron-Hruby, 2010, p. 9)—in the English language arts (ELA) classroom continues to be defined as literacy and English education scholars extol the benefits of incorporating such texts to support student learning (e.g., Beach & O’Brien, 2008; Dyson, 2003; Morrell, 2004, 2009; Morrell & Duncan-Andrade, 2004, Sánchez, 2010). Despite the potential benefits that the classroom use of texts from popular culture has to offer, such as promoting culturally relevant pedagogy (Gay, 2000), providing greater motivation for students (Morrell, 2004), and tapping into students’ everyday funds of …

The Wolf Yearling, Jeffrey Alfier

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

Words, Ken Solomon

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

Spectral, Ann Taylor

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

Re-Assessing Persuasive Writing: An Essay-Free Approach, Alyssa Randall

The Utah English Journal

As many of you may be aware, the ninth grade Utah persuasive writing test was changed to the eighth grade year. The state core requirements, however, did not reflect this change, and as many of you probably did, I began thinking of the challenge I faced to fit a persuasive writing unit into my already tight schedule. The more I thought about how to implement this new requirement, the more I thought about the typical persuasive essay that seemed mandated by the test and I cringed. While I believe the five-paragraph essay to be an important writing tool, I did …

Terrific Biographies For Teens: Do They Exist?, Amanda Mackay

The Utah English Journal

About the time I began my career as a junior high English teacher, I started reading a lot of biographies. I felt empowered as I read real stories of real people overcoming real obstacles. Recalling my first experience with this genre, I couldn’t help wondering why I didn’t read more of them when I was younger. I realized that I’d rarely seen my students choosing to read biographies either. As a teacher, I became curious about my students’ experiences with biographies. Had my students even read biographies? If so, what did they think of the genre? What would make them …

An Interview With Gary Soto, Mary Rice

The Utah English Journal

Gary Soto is a Mexican-American author and poet from the San Joaquin Valley of California. Soto’s poems are mostly about his daily life and experiences. He was the guest author for the 2009 Utah Council of Teachers of English conference. In the following interview Soto discusses his poetry and himself as a poet.

Helping Students Find That Comfortable Place Within Themselves, Denee Tyler

The Utah English Journal

Just like all English/Language Arts teachers, every August is a new beginning for me. I know I will see room after room of new faces, and my challenge will be to create a class atmosphere where each student will feel accepted, valued, and safe—all while encouraging my students to take risks and grow. It can be a very daunting task, but it is always rewarding. I’ve found that focusing on narrative writing—particularly memoir—during those first few weeks together is the key to building the classroom community I am looking for.

Revisiting Revision: Redefining The Writing Process, Kevin Lemley

The Utah English Journal

If you were to ask one of your students to tell you where to fit revision into the writing process, they would probably tell you it was one of the last steps. “The writing process begins with pre-writing, then drafting, then revising, and last of all proofreading,” they might respond. As teachers, we generally teach some form of this writing process. The problem with this instruction is that students often perceive the writing process as an unflinching standard, a one-way road with a dead end—no U-turns allowed. Revision becomes nothing more than a stop sign, a landmark that must be …

Risks And Rewards: Lessons From Bike Riding And The Central Utah Writing Project, Sarita Rich

The Utah English Journal

Fifteen years after learning to ride a bike, I began my career as an English teacher. I’ve since learned that teaching, like bike riding, involves learning through risk-taking. None of the risks I’ve taken as a teacher to implement new curriculum ideas or classroom management practices have been wasted opportunities. Each attempt at risk-taking has led me to discover what works and what doesn’t. The greatest benefits of risk-taking come only after teachers are willing to try something new.

Learning And Teaching With Graphic Novels, Rob Kirkham

The Utah English Journal

Comic books have faced harsh criticism from the general masses and the academic community since their early beginnings in the late 19th century. However, using visual media such as cartoons, comics, and graphic novels in the classroom provides educators with a number of valuable teaching aids for today’s students. Yet, sadly, these resources remain largely untapped.

The Nine-Month Hypothesis: An English Teacher's First Year, Haylee Frohlich

The Utah English Journal

I never felt any affinity with scientists until I became a teacher, and in my opinion there is an uncanny resemblance between our two professions. As any junior high student can tell you, there are essential steps in the scientific process, namely: a problem or question which warrants a solution, a prediction or hypothesis of the solution, careful observation of the results, and a conclusion based upon those steps. In my first year of teaching I learned a real world application of the term “hypothesis.” I realized that teachers are the scientific method personified. We hypothesize. We experiment. We deduce. …

Finally Taking The Plunge: Literature Circles, Carli Gadd

The Utah English Journal

Ever know something is a good idea, but still not do it? It’s like eating well. I know it pays off, but all I think of driving home are my three favorite people: Wendy, Arby, and McDonald. That’s what literature circles were for me, the carrot stick for lunch instead of the fast, easier option. But how could I make that carrot more appealing? My initial research convinced me to experiment with literature circles, and I was aware that literature circles are employed effectively at the elementary level, but I was concerned how teenagers would receive the practice. I resolved …

Problem Parents In Young Adult Literature: Really A Problem?, Sierra Robinson

The Utah English Journal

The parental role in adolescent literature has been examined recently in ways that some people are calling “The Parent Problem in Adolescent Literature,” suggesting these trends do not accurately depict the average parent-teenager relationship. Yet some readers and scholars passionately defend their rights to read about dysfunctional family situations as well. Ultimately, I argue the dysfunctional, or “bad” parent has a place in adolescent literature and can be used, by teachers especially, as a positive convention that empowers young readers to rise above circumstance in constructive ways.

Future Stars, Sharon Nauta Steele

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

Writing Is Dangerous Business, Richard Kempa

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

At Home With American Literature, Shauna Robertson

The Utah English Journal

In 1822, the American actor, poet, and playwright John Howard Payne wrote a song called “Home! Sweet Home!” It became an instant hit, and its refrain, “[b]e it ever so humble, there's no place like home,” has become etched in our cultural memory. The author L. Frank Baum echoed this sentiment with a twist at the end of his novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Most people are familiar with Dorothy’s chant as she clicks the heels of her ruby slippers together in the 1939 film, but Baum’s literary version is even more powerful. "No matter how dreary and gray …

Using Blogs To Engage Students In Meaningful Thinking And Discussion, Jon Ostenson

The Utah English Journal

As an English teacher, I want my students to engage in meaningful thinking about the issues in the literature we explore. Discussion is a valuable way to encourage this engagement, especially as I push discussions beyond the teacher-led, traditional IRE (teacher initiation, student response, teacher evaluation) format (Cazden, 2001). As I try to encourage discussions where students ask more of the questions and listen and respond to—and even critique—each other’s ideas, I believe that we come closer to achieving more meaningful thinking. However, I still find classroom discussions to be one of the more challenging aspects of my job.

Full Issue

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

An Interview With Sara Zarr, Mary Rice

The Utah English Journal

Sara Zarr is a California native who currently resides in Utah. She is the author of two critically acclaimed novels for young adults, Story of a Girl (a 2007 National Book Award finalist) and Sweethearts. Her third novel, Once Was Lost, will be published this fall. Mary Rice, current board member of the Utah Council of Teachers of English, recently interviewed her.

Persuasion At The Sentence Level: Teaching The Grammar Of Influence, Deborah Dean

The Utah English Journal

Why do we teach students to write persuasively, to craft arguments that assert a point, take a stand, propose a solution, or seek common ground? Isn’t part of it because the ability to formulate effective arguments is an “important literacy practice” (Beach & Doerr-Stevens, 2009, p.125), and our capacity to be persuasive is an essential part of our interactions with the world? It is also a kind of writing that is often found in state and district writing tests—another possible reason we might want to teach students to write for the purpose of persuading.

My Favorite Novel: A 7-Point Folkloric Reflection, Jacqueline S. Thursby

The Utah English Journal

This project, the 7-Point Folkloric Reflection Paper, has been successful and popular according to feedback from my English students in various folklore classes. It is based on a novel they have already read, and I suggest that they choose a novel they have enjoyed because they are going to spend a lot of time with it. This project is not a book report. It is a writing project that includes an introduction to the often misunderstood discipline of folkloristics. This assignment requires some groundwork by the teacher, but besides being interesting, it demonstrates that folklore is present in most of …

The Secret Realizations Of An Okay Teacher, Michelle Barney

The Utah English Journal

A Personal Narrative by Michelle Barney

As I collected the little writings we did every day, I realized something. These kids were good. These kids had style, voice, and something to say. And I was holding them back.

Thirteen Ways Of Looking At Poetry Writing (Minus Twelve): Using Bad Poetry To Make Good Poetry Accessible, Sheila Benson

The Utah English Journal

This article presents my effort to move students past their belief that poetry is inaccessible by requiring them to write bad poetry. My original goal was to bring back the fun of poetry by letting students play with words and sounds rather than obsessing over rhyme schemes. I wanted my students to see that they knew more about poetry than they thought they did, that poetry and language play are a natural part of how we think. As students created bad poetry and discussed what they believed poetry was (and wasn’t), we discovered together that much of our fear of …

How Can I Know What I Think Until I See [And Hear] What I Say? - Getting Students To Start Taking Responsibility For Their Own Writing Through Oral Revision, Joseph Anson

The Utah English Journal

Peer conferences and PVC phones are but two methods I’ve found to get students up to their elbows in their own revising, and for the most part, enjoy it. Both can be used effectively to reinforce the effectiveness of oral revision. Once they can see and hear what they have to say, their thoughts and writing become clearer.

Ready To Read: Incorporating A Reading Workshop, Amy Lavin

The Utah English Journal

As Kelly Gallagher (2009), the author of Readicide, states on the English Companion Ning (an online network for English teachers) during a discussion about his book, “There are two kinds of teachers in the world: those who have taught twenty years, and those who have taught one year twenty times.” Trying to be more like the former teacher, I attempt to incorporate something different in my classes each school year. As I started my sixth year of teaching, I wondered, what would happen if I offered my students more freedom? Certainly, I didn’t mean a free-for-all where fun and games …

Inquiring Into Ivanhoe: A Study Of Student-Teacher Collaboration, Caleb Mcclellan, Mary Rice

The Utah English Journal

This paper traces the individual and collaborative history of a student and his teacher in terms of their writing experiences, particularly with feedback. After sharing their own perspectives about writing, reviewing the current literature on writing feedback and discussing the ways in which the inquiry was conducted, the revisions of an in-class assignment are analyzed, revealing a new way for both authors to think about writing feedback.

The Power Of Tweeting, Brenda J. Anderson

The Utah English Journal

Libraries and English classrooms will evolve to include social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and more. Just as email has become commonplace in schools, the information technologies built to increase dialogue and to expedite the transfer of knowledge to others will blend in with everyday language arts practices.