This article suggests using songs and chants as a source of predictable text in developing students' reading skills. It offers new songs to familiar tunes to aid in content specific instruction. Benefits of using songs and chants in classroom instruction include repeated exposure to words, the versatility songs provide, and the pleasure of…

The article describes 15 staff/student prereferral intervention strategies developed by teachers in Montgomery County (Maryland) for use with students having academic difficulties. Strategies are concerned with self-monitoring, metacognition, curriculum integration, simplifying English, study skills, home reading, and mentoring. (DB)

Guidelines for preventing school failure include: (1) recognize early signs of potential failure; (2) build student motivation; (3) utilize students' developmental paths; (4) design focused and interesting curriculum activities; and (5) select motivating management and teaching strategies. (Contains references.) (DB)

Discusses the failure of students with learning disabilities to complete their homework assignments, lists criteria for planning assignments to motivate secondary students, and offers suggestions on procedures and outcomes for inviting students to participate in the assignment completion process. An Assignment Idea Chart is provided. (CR)

Describes the use of a flexible grouping strategy called "group retellings." Students are grouped heterogeneously into two- to four-member groups, read a portion of the text, and then retell the content to other group members. (DB)

This article discusses strategies for preventing aggression and violence in children and youth, including understanding and applying appropriate interventions for escalating levels of aggression and violence, classroom preventative and planning measures, and systemwide policies and procedures. A student crisis plan sheet is provided as a tool for…

To help reverse the underachievement pattern in gifted students, educators should seek out less-evident indicators of strengths and abilities, incorporate those abilities into the classroom curriculum, recognize evidence of a sustained will to learn, and be realistic and optimistic about signs of improvement. (PB)

This article suggests strategies that general educators, in collaboration with integration facilitators and other specialists, can use to include students with severe disabilities in the regular classroom curriculum within inclusive schools. Implementation considerations focus on a team approach, peer involvement, emphasis on functional skills,…

The article addresses special costs of strategies involved in maintaining students with behavior disorders in least restrictive environments including regular classrooms. Considered are factors influencing teacher choice of interventions, assumptions about classroom management, the role of the teacher, and intervention strategies and their…

Red Light-Green Light is a levels system providing immediate behavior modification feedback and varying privilege levels throughout the school day for primary students with behavior disorders. This article presents guidelines for implementation, covering development of classroom rules, classroom expectations, and system maintenance. Tips for…

This article describes a model that deals with classroom behavior problems by incorporating contextual or setting events with traditional learning theory models. The paper discusses examples of setting events that affect children's aggression, ways to assess the effects of setting events on student behavior, and ways in which teachers can…

Discusses using scripted lessons to increase the academic information teachers give to students with emotional or behavior disorders before they ask the students to perform tasks that require the information. The results from a study that successfully used written scripts to decrease undesirable student behaviors are reviewed. (CR)

Four approaches are presented to teaching mathematics within a more mathematically relevant curriculum. These approaches include teaching mathematics through classroom routines and planning, children's literature, simulation, and other content areas. These approaches are felt to take advantage of the mathematical opportunities easily found in…

Discusses factors associated with violent behavior in young children and strategies for addressing those factors, including using the "Turtle Technique" for practicing withdrawal and problem-solving, using social-learning curricula, using success-oriented instructional strategies for teaching academics, listing and practicing alternative…

This study examined classroom life of children with behavioral/emotional disorders in self-contained classrooms. Site visits were made to 26 programs, and 200 parents responded to questionnaires. Despite visible mainstreaming efforts, results indicated gaps in quality of classroom life, amount of attention on students' mental health needs, and…