Provides activities for teaching the skill of comparison using various parts of newspapers. (SRT)

Provides an understanding of thematic maps and how they might be used to teach hypothesis testing. (RS)

Discusses a document structure called "nested lists" which allows an increased amount of information to be presented in a fixed amount of space while also maintaining its usability. (RS)

Describes class activities designed to teach inference skill using combined lists. (RS)

Describes how the 16 permanent lists used by a first grade reading teacher (and mother of 6) to manage the household represents the whole range of documents covered in the 3 major types of documents: matrix documents, graphic documents, and locative documents. Suggests class activities to clarify students' understanding of the information in…

Discusses teaching visual literacy by teaching students how to decode advertising images, thus enabling them to move away from being passive receivers of messages to active unravelers. Shows how teachers can use concepts from semiotics to deconstruct advertising messages. (SR)

Discusses ways to use bar charts and line graphs to present comparative information in a flexible manner. Includes activities designed to review how the different characteristics of charts and graphs relate to different document structures. (RS)

Presents three simple exercises (involving analogies, word relationships, and closed sorts) designed to reinforce vocabulary and concepts from content area textbooks. (RS)

Argues that graphs and charts are cases of document structures introduced in previous columns: combined lists, intersecting lists, and nested lists. Explores pie charts and various aspects of bar charts as they relate to other document structures presented in this series. (RS)

Describes Make-a-Place (MAP), a creative activity for developing map literacy in which students imagine a hypothetical place and draw a map of it. (PRA)

Offers a language-centered approach to the teaching of Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" which can help students read the dialects in the novel and develop an appreciation for the varieties of language. (RS)

Describes a step-by-step process for opening up the classroom to students in a way that will allow for both freedom and responsibility in reading instruction. (RB)

Presents ideas for book reports so students can read for enjoyment and critical thinking. (RB)

Features television program listings as an example of a document structure called "intersecting lists." Illustrates how intersecting lists provide a more efficient means for representing certain types of information than either prose or combined lists. (RS)

Advocates a strategy for developing students' ability to think critically by involving them in tasks with perceived conflicts and discrepancies, starting with ads for common products and moving on to news reports and variants of literature. (SR)