English Journal - Volume 96, Issue 2, 2006

Members of the Secondary Section Steering Committee comment on topics of importance to English language arts educators.

“Speaking My Mind” invites readers to speak out about controversial issues relevant to the teaching of English language arts.

“Teacher to Teacher” provides a forum for teachers to share ideas, materials, and activities.

Raquel Cook exited the south tower of the World Trade Center just before a plane hit it on 9/11. Deeply moved by her experience, Cook is now a high school English teacher in Utah, where she has created a unit on world literature designed to inspire not tolerance but curiosity among her students.

The 9/11 tragedy has inspired conflicted responses from African American scholars and artists. Marc Lamont Hill discusses how he uses popular rap texts in a high school Hip-Hop Lit class to teach literary interpretation and simultaneously engage students in complicated issues of race that have emerged in the aftermath of 9/11.

Inspired by her son’s post-9/11 National Guard service in Afghanistan, Ruth R. Caillouet shares a curriculum unit she designed to help secondary students learn more about Afghanistan. She also suggests literature from across cultures and time periods to help students discuss what it means to be “at war.”

Reflecting on her experiences as a Muslim American high school English teacher, Kiran Subhani Qureshi says that after 9/11, students must read more literature that challenges their assumptions, values, and lifestyles. This article describes a course called Global Voices, which Qureshi has designed to help students become more aware of world cultures and encourage them to break down harmful stereotypes of Asian, African, South American, and European cultures.

A teacher of secondary students in Istanbul, Turkey, Michael J. Michell believes English curricula should teach critical literacy in the context of important social events, such as those surrounding 9/11. He demonstrates how he has used mainstream media and alternate press texts about the Middle East to encourage students to develop more sophisticated reading, writing, and debating skills.

Sensitive to the increased importance of valuing diversity and diverse points of view since 9/11, Margo DelliCarpini and Amanda Nicole Gulla describe activities through which ESL students contribute new knowledge to their classes while simultaneously improving their English language skills.

Nancy Zimmet believes that the events of 9/11 emphasize the need for students to develop the ability to work well with others and to better appreciate multiple points of view. She describes writing activities with real audiences that she and her high school colleagues designed and found successful with secondary students in English, math, and science classes.

For Laura M. Grow, one of the worst results of 9/11 is how it intensified an already widespread culture of fear. To encourage her students to develop critical literacy strategies that can help them distinguish legitimate worries from those contrived by fearmongers, Grow has designed a writing unit about fear. She draws on a variety of print and visual sources.

“Research Matters” provides teachers with review and application of research that illuminates the daily concerns and activities of English language arts teachers and classrooms.

“New Voices” raises questions, offers insights, and provides a forum for novice teachers to engage in the professional conversation surrounding the teaching of English.

“Teaching English in the World” examines the teaching of English in a global context.

“Stepping into the Classroom” shares innovative lesson ideas grounded in current literature or action research.

“Tools for Teaching” “Tools for Teaching” helps you find the best print and electronic resources for teaching English language arts.

“Personal Reading” contains reviews of fiction and nonfiction books, with a special interest in multicultural works.