Presents 13 activities that can occupy teachers' attention during the summer months. (RL)

Reviews how a sophomore class of gifted students selected a subject for their learning logs; tells how to write a learning log; offers ideas on evaluating learning logs; presents student reflections on the use of learning logs. (JK)

Shows how student journals can be used in a variety of subject areas to focus both student and teacher on the learning process inherent in writing. (RL)

One of the most important educational objectives of high school is to teach critical-thinking skills, and no class does this better than strategic debate. Professor Mike Allen, lead author in a definitive study on debate and critical thinking, lauded debate's promotion of critical-thinking skills. Additionally, researcher Joe Bellon discusses the…

Deals with teaching a Walt Whitman unit in a high school American literature course. Discusses ways of making the poet's work relevant to the current generation of students. (RBW)

Science fiction deserves a greater respect, serious and critical reading and a better place in high school literature classes. Some of the science fiction books by Isaac Asimov, Alfred Bester, Ray Bradbury and Octavia L. Butler and various activities for incorporating science fiction into the English language arts instruction classroom are…

Describes the Spoken Words Vocabulary Activity. Recommends ways to implement this activity in class and shows how to use it to teach students traditional strategies for determining word meanings. (RBW)

Contains an amalgam of ideas and observations concerning the special needs of junior high and middle school students. (RL)

Discusses four prevalent misconceptions about critical reading and thinking and presents classroom strategies to foster an awareness of each. (EL)

Makes a case for adventure and fantasy computer games as encouraging development of problem-solving skills and organizational abilities and for fostering reading comprehension. Suggests ways of incorporating these games into classroom activities. (RBW)

An English teacher reflects on what is truly necessary in the writing curriculum--an emphasis on the thoughts, feelings, and perceptions of the writer, rather than more "correctness" of grammar. (RL)

Defines whole language as a spirit that provides shape or climate for a classroom by emphasizing the use of literature and activities that are experience or contextually based. Explains that whole language approaches strive for authentic or real situations in which learning comes naturally. Maintains that whole language is not just a trend. (TB)

Relates how a high school English teacher reorganized the "basic skills" course to reflect greater attention not to isolated skills and drill but to meaningful practice in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Focuses on the technique of a "Reading Blitz"--five successive days of reading--to develop other language activities. (RL)

Describes a creative writing and reading class assignment in which each student was required to make a 20-minute presentation as a catalyst for student writing (such as a poem, song, object, or picture). (EL)

In this article, the author explains why he considers "Animal Dreams" by Barbara Kingsolver, "Ceremony" by Leslie Marmon Silko, and "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan as the most desirable books for students. He cites that several questions guide him in selecting these books. These questions include the following: (1) Why recommend certain texts to…