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Synthesizes theory and research about genres and provides secondary-level teachers with practical classroom applications.Contemporary genre theory is probably not what you learned in college. Its dynamic focus on writing as a social activity in response to a particular situation makes it a powerful tool for teaching practical skills and preparing students to write beyond the classroom. Although genre is often viewed as simply a method for labeling different types of writing, Deborah Dean argues that exploring genre theory can help teachers energize their classroom practices. Genre Theory synthesizes theory and research about genres and provides applications that help teachers artfully address the challenges of teaching high school writing. Knowledge of genre theory helps teachers challenge assumptions that good writing is always the same, make important connections between reading and writing, eliminate the writing product/process dichotomy, outline ways to write appropriately for any situation, supply keys to understanding the unique requirements of testing situations, and offer a sound foundation for multimedia instruction. Because genre theory connects writing and life, Dean's applications provide detailed suggestions for class projects-such as examining want ads, reading fairy tales, and critiquing introductions-that build on students' lived experience with genres. These wide-ranging activities can be modified for a broad variety of grade levels and student interests.

Wheeler and Swords show K-6 teachers how to use code-switching and contrastive analysis to help students use prior knowledge to translate vernacular English into Standard English. When African American students write or say "Mama jeep is out of gas" or "The Earth revolve around the sun," many teachers--labeling this usage poor English or bad grammar--assume that their students have problems with possession or don't know how to make subjects and verbs agree. Forty years of linguistic research, however, demonstrates that the student is not making errors in Standard English--the child is writing or speaking correctly in the language patterns of the home and of the community. Building on the linguistic knowledge that children bring to school becomes the focus of this book, which advocates the use of "code-switching" to enable students to add another linguistic code--Standard English--to their linguistic toolbox. Rather than drill the idea of "Standard English" into students by labeling their home language as "wrong," the authors recommend teaching students to recognize the grammatical differences between home speech and school speech so that they are then able to choose the language style most appropriate to the time, place, audience, and communicative purpose. University researcher Rebecca Wheeler and urban elementary teacher Rachel Swords offer a practical, hands-on guide to code-switching, providing teachers with step-by-step instructions and numerous code-switching charts that can be reproduced for classroom use. The success of Wheeler's presentations in urban school districts and the positive results that Swords has observed in her own classroom speak to the effectiveness of the research and of this approach. While the book focuses on language use in the elementary classroom, the procedures and materials introduced can be easily adapted for middle and high school students.