Using What's Familiar Barry, Poetry Teacher: Des Moines, Iowa

"Always build on what is familiar to students. If you are going to teach a unit on poetry, ask your students to tell you the words to their favorite songs. This can be done as a whole group instructional event or placing studentss in groups and asking them to reach consensus on three of their favorite songs. Use the words to the songs to show them how they can qualify for poetry by pointing out hte characteristics common to poetry genre, i.e., expressing feelings, ideas/thoughts, creating images, metaphors, etc."

Teaching Novels Karen Davis, 7th. Gr. Reading Teacher

"I dislike written book reports for novels that I teach to my classes. So we do major projects at the end of each novel. My students love the chance to be creative.

Examples: Outsiders by S.E. Hinton; Students publish a newspaper using only information from the story. We discuss all parts of the newspaper before they begin. I have examples of different newspapers in the classroom. The class is divided into two groups, the greasers and the socs. The end product is two newspapers with different points of view, and students learn that they know more about the book than they thought was possible. The newspapers are put on display in our school library. For The Pigman by Paul Zindel the students put the characters on trial for their responsibility in the death of the Pigman, including the Pigman himself. My students love this. They really get into it."