Years after the publication of its seventh and final volume in 2007 and the completion of the film series in 2011, the "Harry Potter" series is still studied and cited by professionals in fields ranging from science and economics to law and theology (for recent examples see Gierzynski and Eddy; Reagin; Bassham). Its continuing popularity…

Visuals play an important role in the teaching and learning of science and should be embedded within and supportive of authentic science inquiry. Both researchers and teachers believe that visuals have a great deal of potential to help students understand science, but in practice, these visuals do not always live up to their promise. Teachers need…

This article is concerned with how meaning potential, in particular an individual's personalized meaning potential, emerges from acts of meaning. This happens during different time frames: logogenetic--the creation of meaning in text; ontogenetic--the learning of a personalized meaning potential; and phylogenetic--the evolution of the collective…

As general education classrooms become more diverse, teachers continue to explore ways to support students' learning. Study guides support students in learning their material, focus their attention on important topics, and help them review for quizzes or tests. This article provides successful classroom-tested ideas for developing and using study…

With faculty changing instructional practices to take advantage of customizable, focused content (and digital delivery of that content), many people assume that digital distribution is the answer to bringing the costs of course content delivery in line. But the picture just isn't that simple. A wide continuum of options is available to faculty and…

Exploring ways to help primary school teachers extend the literacy of their pupils, this paper devises and classroom-tests strategies whereby teachers might develop the abilities of their children to use literacy more effectively as a means of learning. It focuses on the reading and writing of non-fiction text. Outlining four basic insights into…

Suggests that stories about the classroom experiences of expert teachers can provide novice or struggling teachers with knowledge useful to their own situations. Presents a cyclical model of learning from expert stories--the textual assimilation interchange--in which the text of the story brings the reader (learner) into the expert's world and…

Describes a metacognitive study method, LETME, designed to help students manage the entire study process by facilitating the understanding, selection, organization, retention, and analysis of information from expository text. (DF)

Discussion of computer-assisted learning (CAL) versus book learning focuses on software called a book emulator that was applied to CAL to reflect desirable attributes of learning from books. A project at the University of York that used the book emulator in an electronics course is described, and future possibilities are suggested. (12 references)…

"Text Sets" is a curricular strategy that highlights intertextuality, the process of searching for connections among reading texts and personal experiences. The strategy consists of gathering groups of related books and engaging small groups of students in a discussion of how the books interrelate. Three teachers assembled Text Sets for…

Papers in this report were presented at a conference on text characteristics, convened as part of the Learning from Text Project. The foreword describes the University of California and California State University Joint Projects Steering Committee project to determine the relationship between ability to learn from text and academic achievement,…

"No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) attempts to ensure educational equity for all K-12 students. However, for the conceptual goals of NCLB to become reality, pre-service teacher training models must be modified to include a deeper understanding of individual differences and how these play out in classroom dynamics. The "Three Literacy…

The author uses the diverse role of scribes in different periods of time and different places as a lens through which to understand both literacy and illiteracy. Examples from fiction, film, social history, and interviews with various individuals, including adult literacy teachers, are used to support the following arguments: (1) moments of…