2016… Increasing Student Motivation in the Classroom by Mary Jo Kerekes 23 May 201627 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: MaryJoKerekes-StudentMotivation] How do I increase student motivation in my classroom? It is a question that I ask daily. Some students have a desire to “get a good grade”,…
2016… Building Literacy in all classrooms by Melissa Brandt 18 May 201627 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: Brandt-BuildlingLiteracy] As new teachers embark on the challenge of the classroom, they are given a barrage of guidance:…
2016… The “Write” Track: Effectively Leading Your School to Incorporate Writing in Every Classroom by Jennifer Simpson 12 May 201627 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: Simpson-TheWriteTrack] Currently, 42 states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity have adopted the Common Core State Standards (NGA). Minnesota adopted…
2016… Making Literacy Teaching a Priority in a Culturally Diverse Classroom by Adrienne Rische 10 May 201627 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: Rische-LiteracyTeachingCulturallyDiverse] Implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in the classroom has become an increasingly important priority for English teachers. In this piece, I will explore the difficulties that come with…
2016… Read Them Together: Paired Book Reading for Global Literature by Jongsun Wee & Barbara A. Lehman 4 May 201627 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: Wee-Lehman-ReadThemTogether] Abstract: The need for global literature is growing as the society rapidly becomes more diverse. This study documented American children’s responses to global literature when it was…
2016… Implementing Tabletop Gaming in the English Classroom: Promoting Literacy through Interactive Gameplay by Mike P. Cook, Ryan Morgan, & Matthew Gremo 2 May 201627 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: cook-implementing-tabletop-gaming-in-the-english-classroom] Introduction Table-top gaming, at its core, is simply a term used to refer to any social game that is traditionally played in person around a…
2016… Teaching Fiction: Craft, Composition Theory, and a Lie by Luke Daly 2 May 201627 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: Daly-TeachingFiction] [see the companion creative pieces here: "The Four Deaths of Mitchell Fish"] My first magic trick as a new lecturer of creative writing was reappearing three days…
2016… The Four Deaths of Mitchell Fish by Luke Daly 2 May 201627 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: Daly-FourDeathsofMitchellFish] [see the companion essay "Teaching Fiction: Craft, Composition Theory, and a Lie"] I. Oxygen I slash in like a dull knife but don’t tip into the…
2015… MEJ-2015 1 May 20158 Jun 2016 2015 issue of the Minnesota English Journal Elisa Malinovitz--Meyer Wolfshiem in The Great Gatsby Michael P. Cook and Jeffrey S.J. Kirchoff—Graphic Novels in the Classroom: Suggestions for Appropriate Multimodal Writing…
2015… Meyer Wolfsheim in The Great Gatsby by Elisa Malinovitz 30 Apr 201527 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: Malinovitz-Wolfsheim in Gatsby] Introduction: The Great Gatsby is included in the Common Core exemplars for literature, it’s rare to find a high school or university in the…
2015… Graphic Novels in the Classroom: Suggestions for Appropriate Multimodal Writing Projects in Graphic Novel Units by Michael P. Cook & Jeffrey S. J. Kirchoff 30 Apr 201527 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: Cook-Kirchoff-Graphic Novels in the Classroom] Abstract While the NCTE (2008) definition of 21st century literacies is several years old now, the role of the ELA teacher continues…
2015… The Kite Runner From A Marxist Perspective by Kristine Putz 30 Apr 201527 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: Putz-KiteRunnerMarxistPerspective] The use of Marxist and other literary theories in the classroom helps students to realize that the subject of English is beyond the rudimentary put your…
2015… Theory in Practice in the High School Classroom: Using The Kite Runner to Teach Literary Theory by Taya Sazama 30 Apr 201527 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: Sazama-Using The Kite Runner to Teach Literary Theory] Khaled Hosseini’s debut novel, The Kite Runner, is one of the newer modern sensations to hit high school classrooms.…
2015… Technology and Critical Thinking by Jennifer Hiltner 30 Apr 201527 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: Hiltner--Technology and Critical Thinking] In education, a tidal wave of technology is upon educators, administrators, and students. The message to teachers by students and the media is…
2015… My Not-Quite-Scientific Composition I Experiment by Jeanette Lukowski 30 Apr 201527 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: Lukowski-My Not-Quite-Scientific Composition I Experiment] Although I have been teaching college writing courses non-stop since I first entered the classroom as a T.A. in 2001, and have…
2015… The Ethnographic Research Paper by Karla Knutson 30 Apr 201527 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: Knutson-The Ethnographic Research Paper] Preface: This article describes an ethnographic research assignment created to help first-year college students practice rhetorical source use and develop expertise necessary to…
2015… A Tale of an Introductory Literature Class Gone Well by Heidi Burns 30 Apr 201527 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: Burns-LiteratureClass] Teaching introductory-level English courses has many positive and negative aspects for the instructor. The obvious positives include working with students who haven’t yet become disillusioned with the…
2015… Five Poems by Dallas Crow 30 Apr 201527 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: Crow-poems] Antigone in Her Tomb _____________________________________________________________________________ Zeus, Your will, finally, is unknowable. I am exhausted, exasperated. Look where my most willful vows have landed me. Father,…
2015… Information Is Not Enough: Facilitating Reflection and Changing Beliefs by Susan Leigh Brooks 30 Apr 201527 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: Brooks-Facilitating Reflection and Changing Beliefs] Preservice English teachers come into teacher education programs with strongly held beliefs about literature and reading. In some cases, they loved Great Expectations and…
2015… Minnesota Preservice Teachers Perceptions of LGBT-Themed Children’s Literature by Jongsun Wee 30 Apr 201527 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: Wee-Perceptions of LGBT-themed Children’s Literature] Diversity is an important topic that preservice teachers need to explore a great deal before they launch their career. The state of…
2015… Students Teaching Teachers to Teach Students by Michael MacBride 30 Apr 201527 Sep 2019 Every semester I tell my students that I learned from them, and I'm sure this is something that most teachers say, or at least think, at the end of the…
2015… Teaching The Giving Tree by Kandi Heenan 30 Apr 201527 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: Heenan-TeachingTheGivingTree] Introduction The struggle is real. Defending the significance of using literature across the curriculum is something many instructors face—especially teaching “kid’s books.” Lessons, moral or…
2015… Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen: Unusual History of Censorship by Laura Cattrysse 30 Apr 201527 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: Cattrysse-Sendak’s In The Night Kitchen] Every child has their favorite fantasy book that mom and dad read every night five times before they can actually fall asleep.…
2015… Approaches to Teaching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Jennifer Thiel 30 Apr 201527 Sep 2019 [pdf version here: Thiel-Approaches to Teaching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory] Introduction Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was one of the most popular children’s books in the last 50 years.…
2014… Dyer’s Manifesto: The mission and charge for MEJ moving forward 23 Apr 201515 Sep 2019 Dear Current and Future MCTE Members: We are writing in order to introduce to you a significant “make-over” of MCTE’s most important periodical, The Minnesota English Journal (MEJ), and to…
2014… Selections by Richard Terrill 3 May 201427 Sep 2019 Click the link below: DICK TERRILL POETRY AND PROSE Learn more about Richard Terrill on our Contributors page
2014… Daylight Savings Time Vocabulary in Context by Bill St. Martin 1 Apr 201427 Sep 2019 Daylight Savings Time Vocabulary in Context Bill St. Martin Irondale High School Focus Composition Name ______________________________ Vocabulary In Context Building your Personal Thesaurus Hour _____________ Continue reading "Daylight…
2014… Two Truths and a Tall Tale: An Ice-Breaker Activity by Michael MacBride 1 Apr 201427 Sep 2019 Exposing Yourself to Students: You are a Source! I like to start the semester with a popular ice-breaker activity—two truths and a tall tale. During my first TA orientation, the…
2014… Analyzing Poetry and Songs by Scott Hall 1 Apr 201427 Sep 2019 Find a song that has been recorded by several artists (at least 4) over the past 30-60 years (or re-recorded/re-mixed in a new style by the same artist). Listen to…
2014… The Women of Beowulf and Student Responses by Kathryn Campbell 1 Apr 201427 Sep 2019 If you’ve ever taught an early British Literature text, you know that strong, multidimensional female characters are hard to come by. Take Beowulf, for example: women are only named after…
2014… 4 Poems by Richard Robbins 1 Apr 201427 Sep 2019 St. Francis and the Birds —a painting by Stanley Spencer The parade will go no further than the wall, where the gardener shields her eyes, the ducks, hens,…
2014… Comics, Dickens, and Teaching by Serial Publication by Michael MacBride 30 Mar 201427 Sep 2019 Teaching the "huge" text s-l-o-w-l-y: taking your time with Dickens and Comic Books How do you teach a 500- or 900-page Dickens’ novel—heaven forbid a 1,500-page Richardson novel? (1) How…
2014… The iPad Invasion by Cassandra Scharber 30 Mar 201427 Sep 2019 "What I hope for you ... [is] that you think of technology as a verb, not a noun; that poetry drives you, not hardware." - Red Burns Setting the Scene…
2014… The New Face of Homelessness by Melissa Brandt 30 Mar 201427 Sep 2019 You know that moment when you’re at a party or a social gathering and a person you barely know asks, “So, what do you do?” I dread that moment. Not…
2014… Exploring Whiteboard Apps in the Classroom by Emily Brisse 30 Mar 201427 Sep 2019 Although the topic of tablets in the classroom may be considered old news, it is still just as important to examine how this technology is being used in our districts…
2014… SWOT and the Analysis of Literary Characters by John Banschbach 30 Mar 201427 Sep 2019 Like many teachers, I have a collection of teaching activities that can be used in different situations and that require little preparation. Freewriting, for example, can be used as an…
2014… Promoting Literacy Outside the Classroom by Mitzi Watkins 30 Mar 201427 Sep 2019 “Ms. Watkins, my family and I took your book bag with us on our trip to Mexico, and we read the books in the car on our way there and…
2014… Rhetorical Empathy in the Writing Classroom by Erin Kunz 30 Mar 201427 Sep 2019 When developing a college composition course, content and methodology are always important considerations, but as instructors we also must consider how we can develop good practices in order to foster…
2014… Social Injustice in Multicultural Literature in an Elementary School Setting by Jongsun Wee & Nicholas Wysocki 30 Mar 201427 Sep 2019 Discussing issues related to social justice in multicultural literature can help our children develop an understanding of this concept. (1) These discussions provide a space where children can achieve several…
2014… Beyond the Research Paper: Exploring New Genres for Original, Authentic Inquiry by Jeremy Corey-Gruenes 30 Mar 201427 Sep 2019 After sequestering myself in my home office for nearly four hours on a Saturday morning—using headphones and a closed door to counteract the distractions of domestic life—I emerge, over-caffeinated but…
2014… A Fresh Look at Peer Response: Improved Writing and Talk That Hits the (Common) Core by Neil Witikko 30 Mar 201427 Sep 2019 The Students Five minutes have passed in third hour, and the students in Composition I are hard at work in teams of three and four. Most groups are scattered around…
2014… Crime and Punishment: An Evolution of the Narrative Techniques of Dostoevsky by Wes Schaller 11 Mar 201427 Sep 2019 The notebooks of Fyodor Dostoevsky have both complicated and enriched the analyses of Crime and Punishment. Whereas some writers may employ the notebooks to supplement and illuminate their ideas, others…
2014… Making Dostoevsky Relevant: Teaching Notes from Underground to College Freshmen by Heather Porter 11 Mar 201427 Sep 2019 Relatively little has been said regarding how to teach Dostoevsky’s novels to students. Even less has been said about how to make his work relevant to twenty-first century American students…
2014… Redefining Literacy with Graphic Novels by Becca James 11 Mar 201427 Sep 2019 A line has formed, populated with people holding signs and speaking inaudibly to those that pass by. Move in closer, and it’s evident that the line is composed of high…
2014… Teaching English 4/533: Enabling World Texts, Past and Present, to Talk to Each Other by William D. Dyer 11 Mar 201427 Sep 2019 I am going to offer, as a means for providing a context for the long student-written collaborative paper that follows as well the brief discussion of how this assignment might…
2014… Examination of the Cultural Influences Behind The Hobbit by Gillian Singler, Alicia Guthmiller, & Kevin Smith 10 Mar 201427 Sep 2019 Introduction The New York Times first pointed out in its review of The Hobbit, that "…there may come the thought of how legend and tradition and the beginning of history…
2014… The Hobbit Companion Essay: A Pedagogical Tool by Gillian Singler 10 Mar 201427 Sep 2019 The initial topic for this research project was a culturally-based analysis of a text of our choosing. Each group was expected to examine sections of their choice that would highlight…
