Learning the Landscape is based on two self evident premises: that writing and reading are interactive processes that when combined in meaningful ways generate the most powerful learning experiences the classroom can provide; and that a major part of such learning comes from students discovering the uniqueness and validity of their own perspectives as readers and writers.

In this refreshingly different text, students engage in a variety of learning activities. Each asks them to examine how they observe, perceive, and respond to literature. Each invites discussion, comparison, and reading and responding with peers. Each generates writing-poems, stories, essays, scripts. The book is interactive, encouraging students to become naturalists, ethnographers, as they observe, read, record, and write about their internal and external worlds.

Learning the Landscape is neither a reader nor a composition text. It is a rational and refreshing blend of the two. This book is designed for use across the grades, ideally from ninth to eleventh, and across a wide range of intellectual talent and persuasion.