This action research project report summarizes the methods used to reduce boredom and frustration and increase students' academic motivation in three mixed-ability classrooms. This action research project included 21 third grade students, 23 fifth grade students, and 28 eighth grade students (n=72) during the dates of September 10, 2007, through…

This study describes a program designed to improve reading comprehension through the selection, application, and transfer of appropriate reading strategies with both fictional and informational texts. The targeted population consisted of seventh and eighth grade middle school students in a middle-class community in the western suburbs of Chicago,…

This study is concerned with the concept of rhetorical stance: the interrelationships among speaker, content, and audience in a communication situation. It is hypothesized that when the rhetorical stance model is applied to the secondary English curriculum, the teaching of literature will improve. This hypothesis is confirmed by evidence gained in…

This study surveyed the teaching practices of instructors of grade six language arts in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Teacher characteristics of (sex, number of university courses in language arts, length of teaching experience, and number of language arts inservice courses) were correlated with the frequency of use of selected teaching practices. One…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether individualized study, as compared to conventional classroom study, would effect significantly greater immediate and prolonged retention of both education and English content. Subjects for the experiment were 44 students enrolled in four sections of two language arts methods classes at Northeast…

This study examines the effect of teacher inservice training and knowledge of research upon teacher perceptions of spelling procedures and practices, and upon the spelling achievement of students. Involved in the study were 70 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade teachers in twelve elementary schools in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and their 1493 students. Among…

This study investigated the influence of two approaches to teaching poetry, an aural-visual discussion program and an aural discussion program, on the understanding of and attitudes toward poetry among sixth grade students. The schools, teachers, and 10 classrooms (divided into 20 experimental treatment groups and 5 control groups) were selected…

This report provides a practical guide for teachers, including a review of literature related to the integration of science and language arts, guidelines and methodologies to aid the practitioner in the integration of science and language arts, and an organizational matrix for teacher-designed integrated curricula. A review of literature reveals…

This dissertation argues that the skill of using language to communicate should be based on the continuous development of the ability to use imagery, metaphor, and the inherently ambiguous nature of language. Since language is a symbolic restructuring of experience, any method designed to teach language arts must reflect the interplay between…

This study attempted to identify the factors which have had significant influence on English teachers' attitudes and practices concerning the inclusion of career-education concepts, activities, and materials in high school English programs in Florida. Utilizing a stratified random sample, the study sampled 325 English teachers, at 45 of the 203…

This study tested the effects of two distinct methods of instruction on the self-concept and English/language arts achievement of seventh and eighth graders divided into two experimental and one control group. The first instructional method was devoid of certain traditional constraints--grades, tests, homogeneous grouping, grade-level grouping,…

This study compares a traditional method of social studies teaching to a literature based approach. The study sought to compare student attitude, achievement, and retention of the material presented. The study involved 37 fifth-graders, one class using a literature based approach and the other traditional textbook teaching. Content objectives for…

This study was designed to determine statistically whether the prolonged use of three prepared reading readiness activities has any influence on seventh-grade students' abilities to read unfamiliar literature; which of the readiness activities is most influential on students' abilities; and whether or not longevity of such influence exists. The…

This study describes the function of the communication arts resource person engaged in "instructional intervention," a means of consultation by which the resource person enters the classroom and works with the classroom teacher to provide an enrichment program that meets the students' needs and extends the efforts of the classroom teacher. The…