Cross-Talk in Comp Theory is a collection of pivotal texts that mark the rebirth of a field composition studies beginning with the rise of the process movement. It has been thrice revised to account for shortfalls and changing conversations. The second edition paid increased attention to the significance of gender the rise in voices of people of color and the move toward technology. The third edition deepened the conversation on technology and multimodal composing while keeping most of what had been successful in prior editions of the collection.

In this latest edition we recognize that discussions of discourse have become commonplace. Meanwhile issues of social justice—who we teach how we teach and who “we” are—have become much more prescient in our composition classrooms as elsewhere. And as technology evolves so too do our discussions of the role of technology and multimodality in our classrooms.

This important text:

• Maintains the historical perspective of previous editions;
• Provides critical insights into the ever-changing discipline of composition studies; and
• Centers composition scholars and instructors on the challenges and opportunities brought about by changes in today’s students and world.

Whether you’re new to teaching composition or a long-time composition instructor evolving alongside a rapidly changing field requires awareness of where the field has been where it stands and where it’s going to be of sound service to today’s composition students.

Zapata demonstrates how to reinvigorate aesthetic and critical response in early childhood and elementary classrooms through literature explorations of diverse picturebook collections. Drawing on classroom practices she offers approaches and guiding principles that can be tailored to individual contexts through an anti-oppressive lens. Her approach is informed by the ethical work of integrating diverse children’s picturebooks in the classroom a desire to cultivate a critical literature classroom landscape that resists stereotypical representations of people of color in literature and a commitment to recentering critical engagement of diverse picturebooks. Part of the Principles in Practice imprint the book draws on NCTE’s position statement Preparing Teachers with Knowledge of Children’s and Young Adult Literature.

Discussion Pathways to Literacy Learning examines the function of classroom discussion as an essential element in inquiry and literacy learning.

McCann Kahn and Walter provide examples of classroom discussion activities that have been part of an ongoing partnership between university professors and high school English teachers. The book draws on their research into the effect of discussion on literacy learning and offers examples of activities and guidelines for activities that teachers can use in their own practice. Beyond demonstrating the strong impact that authentic discussions have on learning the authors show how participation in discussions can be pleasurable and meaningful experiences for adolescents especially when then can choose the focus for their shared inquiry.

This fun and practical book gives teachers of grades 3–5 teachers both the research and the day-to-day practical activities to expand and empower their students’ vocabulary. 

Upper elementary students will develop a deeper understanding of how the English language works enrich their vocabularies and improve their reading and writing skills through the information and lessons provided by veteran educators Mary Jo Fresch and David L. Harrison. 

Each chapter presents definitions and playful examples (in poetry and prose) to teach: 

• Antonyms synonyms acronyms (and many more “nyms”)
• Similes and metaphors
• Common idioms
• Shades of meaning and word origins 

Practical lessons and activities for each category will engage students in joyful practice. A final chapter offers insights into language choices by eight well-known children’s poets and authors including two former US Young People’s Poets Laureate—Kenn Nesbitt and Margarita Engle—and world-renowned Jane Yolen.

Teacher researcher and consultant Amy Benjamin challenges the idea of “skill and drill” grammar in the second edition of this lively engaging and immensely practical guide. 

Does grammar instruction have to elicit moans and groans from students and teachers alike? Only when it’s taught the old-fashioned way: as a series of rules to follow and errors to “fix” that have little or no connection to practical application or real-world writing.

Benjamin’s enlightened view of grammar is grounded in linguistics and teaches us how to make informed decisions about teaching grammar—how to move beyond fixing surface errors to teaching how grammar can be used as the building blocks of sentences to create meaning. By using sentence patterns mapping visuals and manipulatives Benjamin presents an approach to grammar instruction that is suitable for a variety of student populations.

Although she doesn’t advocate for teaching to the test Benjamin acknowledges the pressures students face when taking high-stakes tests such as the SAT and ACT. Included is a chapter on how to improve students’ editing skills to help prepare them for the short-answer portion of these tests.

The authors share classroom vignettes strategies and resources for “going public” with literacy assessment through teacher collaboration with colleagues with families and with the community.

Teachers want assessment tools and strategies that inform instruction engage students in the process and invite families and community members to enter into the conversation about student learning and progress. When teachers work collaboratively with one another they align beliefs and practices to generate new ideas that reflect the questions they are asking about literacy and learning. When students families and the community are invited to be active engaged participants in these discussions all stakeholders have an opportunity to create a shared vision for literacy learning and to construct assessment tools and strategies that help everyone answer the important questions: “How as teachers are we engaging with one another over our literacy assessment beliefs and practices?” and “How can we better bring families and communities into these conversations?” 

In this volume of the Principles in Practice Literacy Assessment strand of books veteran educators Kathryn Mitchell Pierce and Rosario Ordoñez-Jasis share classroom vignettes strategies and resources for “going public” with literacy assessment through teacher collaboration with colleagues with families and with the community. Drawing from the IRA–NCTE Standards for the Assessment of Reading and Writing Revised Edition and their own extensive experience the authors have compiled a set of collaborative assessment principles as well as a model for teacher professional development around assessment to guide teachers from assessment theory to practical implementation in the classroom. 

Teachers are at the heart of assessment conversations because they have up-close and personal experiences with how assessments impact their students. These experiences provide an invaluable perspective that is essential to all decision making about assessing student learning. But teachers don’t—or shouldn’t—stand alone. Their critical expertise is strengthened by the experiences and expertise of others invested in the success of our students—colleagues families communities and students themselves.

In Growing Writers veteran teacher educator Anne Elrod Whitney explores how the principles defined in NCTE’s Professional Knowledge for the Teaching of Writing position statement can support high school writers and teachers of writing through knowledge and a conscious search for meaning in our writing activities. 

When principles guide our teaching we can better understand our teaching purposes make decisions about approaches and content vet ideas supplied by others and grow as teachers of writing. As part of the Writing in Today’s Classrooms strand of the Principles in Practice imprint the book includes snapshots from high school teachers working in a variety of settings who illustrate how their own principled classroom practices have helped both them and their students to grow whether they are writing for advocacy learning the importance of revision experimenting with new audiences or embracing the vulnerability and the power of writing. 

The principles come alive through the author’s analysis and friendly discussion and the contributing teachers’ everyday practices. Whitney’s compassionate support and encouragement of active ongoing learning is supplemented by further-reading lists and an annotated bibliography of both print and digital texts to accompany us on our journeys to ever-greater effectiveness as writers and teachers of writing.

Even from the earliest grades children have the rights to read and write—not just in dominant American English but also in their own languages and dialects.

Young children make meaning and make sense from the earliest years. They read facial expressions engage in interactions and read symbols across a variety of named languages. Historically narrow definitions of reading and writing however often prevent children of color and immigrants from having access to texts that reflect their diverse cultures and backgrounds. Classroom materials also often don't reflect the growing majority of multilingual children of color compromising their right to access texts that reflect their cultural values language practices and historical legacies.

Promoting equitable inclusive and plural understandings of literacy Mariana Souto-Manning and eight New York City public school teachers explore how elementary teachers can welcome into their classrooms the voices values language practices stories and experiences of their students who have been minoritized by dominant curricula cultivating reading and writing experiences that showcase children's varied skills and rich practices.

Readers are invited to enter classrooms where teachers have engaged with the principles detailed in two NCTE position statements--NCTE Beliefs about the Students' Right to Write and The Students' Right to Read--in the pursuit of justice. Collectively their experiences show that when teachers view the communities their students come from as assets to and in school children not only thrive academically but they also gain confidence in themselves as learners and develop a critical consciousness. Together stepping into their power they seek to right historical and contemporary wrongs as they commit to changing the world.

About Principles in Practice

Books in the Principles in Practice imprint offer teachers concrete illustrations of effective classroom practices based in NCTE research briefs and policy statements.

Each book discusses the research on a specific topic links the research to an NCTE brief or policy statement and then demonstrates how those principles come alive in practice: by showcasing actual classroom practices that demonstrate the policies in action; by talking about research in practical teacher-friendly language; and by offering teachers possibilities for rethinking their own practices in light of the ideas presented in the books.

In Just Theory David Downing offers an alternative history of critical theory in the context of the birth and transformation of the Western philosophical tradition. 

Rather than providing a summary survey it situates the production of theoretical texts within the geopolitical economy of just two pivotal cultural turns: Cultural Turn 1 (roughly 450–350 BCE) looks at the Platonic revolution during which a new philosophic universalist and literate discourse emerged from what had long been an oral culture; Cultural Turn 2 (roughly 1770–1870) investigates the Romantic revolution and its nineteenth-century aftermath up to the Paris Commune. 

While focusing on the quest for social justice Downing situates the two cultural turns within deep time: Cultural Turn 1 gave birth to the Western philosophical tradition during the Holocene; Cultural Turn 2 witnessed the beginnings of the shift to the Anthropocene when the Industrial Revolution and the fossil fuel age began to alter our complex biospheres and geospheres. As described in the epilogue the aftereffects of Western metaphysics have dramatically shaped our twenty-first-century world especially for teachers and scholars in English and the humanities.

From synesthetic poems to questioning poems to the ghazal Lightning Paths: 75 Poetry Writing Exercises has something fun or fascinating for every student and teacher as they explore the possibilities of poetry writing. 

The exercises teach and utilize technique while also focusing on and inspiring the intuitive and imaginative qualities of poetry. Each poem type includes an introduction explaining the exercise’s goal detailed instructions and a student example. The 75 activities are divided into three sections: 

• Exercises that focus on different types of imagery and ways to generate fresh imagery
• Exercises born out of unusual prompts and ideas that engage a writer’s experiences in the real world 
• Exercises related to what form might look like or how it might function