English Journal
English Journal is NCTE's award-winning journal of ideas for English language arts teachers in junior and senior high schools and middle schools.
English Journal
Vol. 108, No. 3, January 2019
FROM THE EDITORS [FREE ACCESS]
Toby Emert and R. Joseph Rodríguez
Josh Cabat
Members of the Secondary Section Steering Committee comment on topics of importance to English language arts educators.
SPEAKING MY MIND: Bearing Witness: Oral Storytelling in the Classroom
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Christine Gentry
“Speaking My Mind” invites readers to speak out about controversial issues relevant to the teaching of English language arts.
SPEAKING MY MIND: When the Book Is Worth the Risk
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Marc Nachowitz
“Speaking My Mind” invites readers to speak out about controversial issues relevant to the teaching of English language arts.
“SOUNDS LIKE TRUTH AND FEELS LIKE COURAGE”: TEACHING VULNERABILITY
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Sarah Gompers
Teaching a senior seminar on creative nonfiction led Sarah Gompers to consider how she might help her students understand the concept of writing with vulnerability.
ON STAGE NEXT: ROOKIE TEACHER TAKES A RISK
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Joshua Hamilton
A teacher’s willingness to perform an autobiographical spoken word poem in his classroom provided an important model for students as they composed and shared their own slam-style poems.
“MY LIFE, MY STORIES”: READING, WRITING, AND BELONGING IN THE ESL CLASSROOM [FREE ACCESS]
Holly Genova and Mary Amanda Stewart
Collaborating to develop a curriculum for English learners, a teacher and a teacher educator focused on creating a sense of belonging, both in the United States and in the classroom.
COMUNIDAD DE CUENTISTAS: MAKING SPACE FOR INDIGENOUS AND LATINX STORYTELLERS
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J. Estrella Torrez, Laura Gonzales, Victor Del Hierro, Santos Ramos, and Everardo Cuevas
Mentors used community-building and story-sharing activities to support writing for a group of middle schoolers participating in the Nuestros Cuentos program.
(RE)WRITING REALITY: USING SCIENCE FICTION TO ANALYZE THE WORLD
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S. R. Toliver and Keith Miller
When a student in a community-based writing program asked to write science fiction, rather than a personal essay, he prompted the staff to expand the scope of the program’s curriculum.
“CONVERSATIONS WITH MYSELF”: LITERACY AS A CONSCIOUS TOOL OF HEALING [FREE ACCESS]
Phillip Wilder
Writing autobiographical dialogues about difficult moments from the past helped Phillip Wilder’s sophomores reframe and reimagine those moments.
COMPOSING PROXIMITY: TEACHING STRATEGIC DISTANCE TO HIGH SCHOOL WRITERS
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T. Philip Nichols, Charlie McGeehan, and Samuel Reed III
A university researcher and two teachers describe a writing approach that offers students more autonomy as they share information about their lives in the classroom.
VOICE AND EXPERIENCE: FORMING COUNTER-NARRATIVES THROUGH PERSONAL POETRY [FREE ACCESS]
Ah-Young Song
While teaching in Taiwan, Ah-Young Song found that a creative writing unit invited her English language learners to explore issues of agency and identity.
COMPOSING THE FUTURE: YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE AND SPECULATIVE AUTOBIOGRAPHY
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James R. Gilligan
Teacher educator James R. Gilligan developed a set of autobiographical assignments based on characters in YA lit that invite students to “flash-forward” in their lives, imagining the future.
A CASE FOR TEACHING BIOGRAPHY-DRIVEN WRITING IN ELA CLASSROOMS
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Jessica Singer Early
A former classroom teacher recalls the power of teaching memoir in her classroom and laments the shift away from biography-driven writing in high schools.
BEYOND BINARY GENDER IDENTITIES; Youth Researchers Wrestling with Gender and Sexuality
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Tiffany DeJaynes
Working in research teams, public school students in New York approached questions about gender identities and sexualities and then, based on their findings, advocated for institutional reforms.
JOURNEYS INWARD: Coming to Academic Voice
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Lucy Giorgio-Pirkey
From the school-imposed silence of her own education, the author approaches the intersection of language and controversy with a plan to strengthen student voice.
FROM CAMPUS TO CLASSROOM: Developing as Professionals, Learning as Preservice Teachers
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Alivia Isch and Luke Rodesiler
In this issue’s column, the authors consider how preservice teachers can be actively engaged as learners at the NCTE Annual Convention.
BOOKS-IN-ACTION: Finding Hope While Teaching Controversy [FREE ACCESS]
Stephanie Anne Shelton and Tamara Brooks
Reading The Case for Contention spurred the column writers to consider ways of teaching controversial issues that lead teachers and students to find hope in classroom spaces.
CRITICAL GLOBAL LITERACIES: A Place for Local in Critical Global Literacies
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Amy Price Azano
Amy Price Azano champions place-based pedagogies, suggesting that they offer students a locally relevant entry point to access critical global literacies.
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Jonathan Burton
As part of a research project, Jonathan Burton observed a Los Angeles classroom where the teacher had developed a “culturally sustaining” approach to teaching Shakespeare.
BOOKENDED: The Poetry of Forbidden Books
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Aaron Hartzler
This feature includes essays from YA authors reflecting on their high school English experiences. In this piece, Aaron Hartzler remembers the books he wasn't supposed to read.