Table of Contents
Foreword to the Third Edition Michael W. Smith xi
Preface to the Third Edition xiii
Acknowledgments xxvii
Introduction: Really Among Schoolchildren 1
The Reading Struggle 1
Personal Readings 4
Children's Hour 6
Compelling Questions 7
Tentative Answers 8
Setting the Task 10
Commentary: The Human and the Cultural 12
1 Moving Toward a Reader-Centered Classroom 22
The Bottom-Up Approach 23
Why Johnny Won't Read 24
There Is an Alternative 28
Getting Started 30
Building on Rosenblatt 33
Commentary: Be THAT Teacher 36
2 Looking at Student Reading 48
The Year Begins 49
What Makes Valid Reading? 50
Studying Student Response 51
Three Highly Engaged Readers: Cora, Joanne, and Ron 53
Why Read Literature? 62
Commentary: Looking Toward Tomorrow Instead of to Yesterday-The Power of Teacher Research 64
3 The Dimensions of the Reader's Response 81
Classroom Research Methods 81
The Dimensions 87
Surprises 90
Evocative Dimensions 92
Connective Dimensions 108
Reflective Dimensions 117
Epilogue: What We Learned Together About Reading 129
Commentary: Literary Theorists, Hear My Cry! 131
4 Using Drama to Extend the Reader 143
Why Drama? 145
The Students: Kevin, Marvin, and Libby 150
Before Drama 152
Dramatic Happenings 156
The Moves They Made 159
Reading as Pleasure: "You Have to Live the Story" 167
Epilogue: The Potential of Drama 169
Commentary: Motivation, Materials, and Methods 171
5 Reading Is Seeing 183
Still Struggling: Tommy, Walter, and Kae 184
Seeing the Visual Possibility 187
The Visualization Project: Art in the Classroom 191
The Art of Reading 195
Moving Toward a Reflective Response: "The Book Said All That" 206
Epilogue: Opening Doors with Art 209
Commentary: Seeing the Substantive Possibilities 214
6 Expanding Concepts of Reading, Response, and Literature 224
Reading as Engagement 225
Alternate Texts as Literature 226
Using Student Experiences: Art and Drama Activities 227
The Role of the Teacher 228
The Teacher as Researcher 232
Toward a Critical Literacy 233
Commentary: A More Humane and Democratic Classroom-For a More Humane and Democratic World! 238
Appendix A Questions and Activities for the Ten Dimensions of Reader Response 249
Appendix B Revolving Role Drama Lesson Plans for The Incredible Journey 262
References 268
Stories and Poems Cited in the Text 278
Index 280
About the Author 292