Using The New York Times to show students how the rules of grammar can be bent - and as models for their own writing.

Can I let you in on a secret? Typing two spaces after a period is totally, completely, utterly, and inarguably wrong. And yet people who use two spaces are everywhere, their ugly error crossing every social boundary of class, education, and taste.

A newly released study by the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers (ALSCW) strongly suggests that two factors-a fragmented English curriculum and a neglect of close reading-may explain why the reading skills of American high school students have shown little or no improvement in several decades despite substantial increases in funds for elementary and secondary education by federal and state governments. Three major findings: (1) The content of the literature and reading curriculum for students in standard or honors courses is no longer traditional or uniform in any consistent way.  (2) The works teachers assign generally do not increase in difficulty from grade 9 to grade 11. (3) Teachers do not favor close, analytical readings of assigned works. T 

An interesting post about how real essays are nothing like the 5-paragraph essay we learned in school

A English teachers's lists of ten.  Some great materials and resources.

The truth is, and the research shows, students need multiple and various exposures to a word before they fully understand that word and can apply it. They need also to learn words in context, not stand alone lists that come and go each week. Of course the way we learn words in context, or implicitly, is by reading, then reading some more.

American Passages: A Literary Survey provides professional development and classroom materials to enhance the study of American Literature in its cultural context. It is organized into 16 Units; each exploring canonical and re-discovered texts, and presenting the material through an Instructor Guide, a 30-minute documentary video series, literary texts and an integrated Study Guide

Sandra Stotsky just released a report on the state of literature instruction (amount, difficulty, titles, etc.) in grades 9-11. Click here to read the report; click here to read a summary and others' responses on the Core Knowledge site. The report was written for the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers. Here are her key findings and details from the report's Executive Summary:

What are the traits of an essential question? The question probes a matter of considerable importance. The question requires movement beyond understanding and studying - some kind of action or resolve - pointing toward the settlement of a challenge, the making of a choice or the forming of a decision. The question cannot be answered by a quick and simple "yes" or "no" answer. The question probably endures, shifts and evolves with time and changing conditions - offering a moving target in some respects. The question may be unanswerable in the ultimate sense. The question may frustrate the researcher, may prove arid rather than fertile and may evade the quest for clarity and understanding.

Revision is a critical piece of the writing process-and of your classroom curriculum. Now, Google Docs has partnered with Weekly Reader's Writing for Teens magazine to help you teach it in a meaningful and practical way. On this page, you will find several reproducible PDF articles from Writing magazine filled with student-friendly tips and techniques for revision. You'll also find a teacher's guide that provides you with ideas for how to use these materials with Google Docs to create innovative lesson plans about revision for your classroom.

Great lesson plan for media lit or for those teaching 1984.

A criticism of Massachusetts' decision to adopt national standards that necessitates a move away from classic literature.

A list of 20+ non-fiction writers under 40. There is a bio for each with a brief discussion of his or her work.

Enter the NPD Punctuation Haiku Contestand win great punctuation chotchkes

An interesting column on the relevance of TKAM and how it is perceived by black authors and readers.

Words from NY Times articles that were looked up most often by readers using the site's dictionary function. This blog post comments on the list.

Posts connected to NY Times articles that can be used as writing prompts.

Teaching ethos,pathos, logos, nomos through a scene from A Few Good Men