Over the last couple of years, White nationalist groups have been at the forefront of American political life, especially with the events in Charlottesville, Virginia. The historical roots of White nationalist movements run deep in the United States and are most closely associated with the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). In this article the authors explore…

Describes a major portfolio project in a business-communication class which both develops students' critical-thinking skills (as they prepare five analyses of different business-communication situations chosen from a list of 10 options) and provides opportunities for their development as writers. (SR)

Popcorn story frames from a multicultural perspective are holistic outlines that in the reading/writing process facilitate comprehension for all cultures learning to read and write stories. Popcorn story frames are structured and modeled in a horizontal fashion just like popcorn pops in a horizontal fashion. The frames are designed for learners…

Proposes a turn toward "social-process rhetorical inquiry" in composition, a turn that requires further pedagogical adaptations of cultural studies methodologies in writing classrooms. Notes that the social-process heuristic is based on a cyclical model of writing processes, a model comprising cultural production, contextual…

Describes an assignment in a business-communication class in which student teams construct portfolios with articles from "The Wall Street Journal," explaining and clearly expressing how these articles relate to class concepts. Argues that the assignment encourages critical-thinking skills, focuses on writing skills, and develops an…

Describes the evolution of an assignment in a college-level English class in which students present to the class their analysis of lyrics to a favorite song of theirs (on a particular topic). Shows how students thereby are eased into interpretation, critical examination, and some of the principles of literature. (SR)

Argues that summarizing, paraphrasing, and precis writing skills are important to the development of critical thinking and the ability to learn from text. Describes the use of precis writing in the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classroom. (RS)

Discusses an alternative to the conventional close reading of a literary work in which students take on the role of any member of a film crew (director, screenwriter, filmscorer, etc.) and communicate how the scene would best be transferred to the screen. Notes that the activity cultivates critical analysis and serves as a springboard for personal…

A six-activity inquiry lesson (constructed to follow the "social inquiry" teaching model) provided students in two 11th-grade English classes with practice in theory building through data gathering and writing activities. Social inquiry has six instructional stages: students (1) are presented with a puzzling situation; (2) in small…

Describes a three-part class assignment for a high school literary magazine course (and applicable to other student publications) in which students each select two poems for publication in an imaginary poetry journal and describe their reasons; collectively discuss responses and how they might be worked into an editorial policy; and end up with an…

Emphasizing real-life communication skills, this book offers cooperative activities to help teachers supplement their writing programs with easy-to-use critical thinking activities. The activities in the book are suitable for grades 4 through 8, for gifted younger students, or as a remediation tool for older students. The activities are aimed at…

Combining instruction in critical thinking and expository writing with the study of classic texts, this textbook was developed at Baker University (Kansas) and is designed for use in a two-semester college course that fosters careful thinking and good reasoning in students. The textbook emphasizes the pedagogical principle that critical thinking…

Two critical thinking activities (information transfer and problem solving) have been used effectively in the writing classroom with level 4 students in a four-level intensive English program. In the information transfer activity, students move from graphic stimuli to written texts. Student writers practice critical thinking by discussing data,…

Given the affective dimension of writing in the workplace, assignments based on casebook scenarios have definite advantages in a technical or professional writing course. An English professor surveyed faculty in the Schools of Business and Education at Rider College prior to revising a course in technical writing. A majority of faculty, when asked…

The use of critical thinking and collaborative learning enhances the research process by establishing a disciplined yet supportive research and publication procedure. In addition, these methods provide common assumptions about the validity and reliability of research findings, while encouraging diverse points of view. Critical thinking helps…