Classroom redesign is being recognized globally as necessary to better increase student's enjoyment levels, engagement, collaboration, and learning. Instead of seeing traditional classrooms in a fixed setting where students are seated in rows facing the front of the room, classrooms are being arranged in multiple ways. As a result of this focus on…

Success in literacy takes participation born of trust, a positive group dynamic built on sharing tasks, maintaining good working relationships, and examining group functioning. This book tells why and how a truly collaborative environment is at the heart of accomplishment in the secondary classroom. In the classroom profiled in the book, students…

This Digest discusses approaches to group learning in the language classroom, presenting some principles that are common to any group learning approach, whether it be cooperative learning, student team learning, group investigation, or collaborative learning. The Digest also discusses the Collaborative Learning Model (Reid et al., 1989) which…

The question of why only English teachers and their students study Herman Melville's novel, "Billy Budd," is raised in this paper. The book offers insights and fundamental social questions for students in secondary school social studies. Suggestions are offered as to how social studies teachers (with their perspectives, concerns, and…

A strategy called "jigsawing" is described for promoting group work, while ensuring that individual needs of pupils with severe learning difficulties are met. A group activity is broken down into smaller components and each child or group is assigned tasks toward achievement of the overall activity aims. (PB)

These two newsletters of The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (NRC/GT) present articles concerned with research on the education of gifted and talented students. The articles are: "NRC/GT: Research Should Inform Practice" (E. Jean Gubbins); "Building a Bridge: A Combined Effort between Gifted and Bilingual Education" (Valentina…

This article reviews the literature on cooperative learning and ability grouping for gifted students and concludes that grouping, in and of itself, does not affect achievement and that grouping decisions need to be based on educational choices according to students' individual needs. Schools are encouraged to provide both ability grouping and…

This article makes a case for special classes for gifted students and answers objections to special classes raised by the middle school movement and the cooperative learning movement. A sample "Celebration of Me" unit taught to gifted seventh graders which involved poetry, literature, personal development, art, music, and physical fitness is…

This book helps teachers work with each student's unique skills and needs so that the student learns to apply information, demonstrate content mastery, think and write creatively and critically, and solve real-world problems. After "Introduction: Infusing Writing in the Content Areas", six chapters focus on: (1) "Creating a Climate…

Noting that literature on higher education instruction is sparse on the topic of class and course endings, this paper provides advice on how to successfully end individual classes and semester-long courses in ways that maximize learning and minimize discomfort. Based on this literature and a discussion the authors initiated through online computer…

Reports on a study of the impact of group work with computers on male and female interaction in two classes of 9 to 10-year-old British students. Addresses concerns that, despite teachers' sensitivity to gender issues, expected benefits of intervention do not occur. Recommends increased emphasis on collaborative group work. (CFR)

A discussion of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction in the mainstream classroom focuses on teacher training needs to meet the educational needs of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students. After a brief analysis of the teacher's role in relation to the development of all students, and in particular to the language development of LEP…

Middle level teachers are unique not just by virtue of the level of students they teach but also by the ways in which they teach. This monograph emphasizes strategies that actively engage students of all ability levels, promote collaboration, provide for various levels of concrete and abstract thought, and foster student inquiry. The monograph…

The cases in this book, based on classroom observations and interviews with principals and key teachers at 17 California middle schools, focus in depth on middle-grade reform in the classroom. Organized in four chapters, the cases look at four critical areas of curriculum and instruction: (1) heterogeneous grouping; (2) cooperative learning; (3)…

This book is designed to assist teachers in meeting the needs of gifted elementary students in general education classrooms. Each chapter presents a particular teaching/management strategy. The strategies in chapters 1-3 are designed to be used with subject areas that lend themselves to pretesting because it is likely that some gifted students…