Explains how to "carve" a text, rearranging or omitting words without altering the basic message. Notes that this exercise helps students become aware of how language can be manipulated for meaning. (MM)

Examines a number of language activities in educational software, noting that most focus on surface structure and conventions, thus closing off students' options rather than expanding them. Discusses how, by improvising with word processors, teachers can tailor activities to help students explore and reflect on their reading and writing…

Intended for elementary school language arts and reading teachers, this paper presents classroom activities using poetry to encourage divergent thinking and to give children the chance to play with language and to practice English language conventions in order to be effective readers and writers. The 12 activities are (1) combining poetry and…

Presents five instructional techniques: (1) Exercises based on ads for computerized marriage arrangements; (2) analysis of missing person ad, including comprehension and writing exercises; (3) construction of a labyrinth game in class; (4) classroom game requiring reconstruction of a text; and (5) use of comic strips to teach argumentation. (AMH)

One of a series of activity guides, this publication offers a variety of learning activities and resource materials to help teachers and students celebrate special days and events in autumn. The activities and resources are especially designed to develop communications skills of students in grades 4-8; however, they are easily transferable to…

Intended to be a practical guide to prereading activities applicable in the classroom, this book emphasizes students' independence by shifting the focus of instruction to student-centered applications. Chapters of the book cover such topics as: (1) preparing students to read in the content areas; (2) asking and answering questions before reading;…

This activity guide is designed to help elementary school students understand the concept of the main idea in reading and writing. Four sections present class discussion activities, pencil and paper activities, learning center ideas, and games. Most of the activities involve reading or writing; however, the pencil and paper activities and learning…

This handbook provides background information, ideas for classroom instruction, and suggestions for reflective practice for teachers of literacy and bilingual students. All approaches described here encourage the integration of all language skills in teaching literacy. An introductory chapter examines the principles and processes of literacy…

Argues that effective use of the print media in French instruction requires considerable preparation and participation on the teacher's part. A variety of exercises for thematic and lexical awareness, comprehension, guided production, autonomous production, simulation, grammar development, and other objectives are suggested. (MSE)

An intermediate level course in a university French program, entitled "Problems in Language and Style," is intended to develop students' skills in reading, writing, and speaking French through extensive work in building vocabulary and idioms. After a thorough and methodical reading of one novel and one play, the students are expected to read most…

A series of classroom instructional exercises to be used before, during, and after reading materials from the French press are described. The exercises are designed to develop a variety of reading strategies, and focus on format, construction, content, meaning, and vocabulary. Both reading and writing activities are included. (MSE)

This college-level textbook, entirely in Arabic, is designed to help students develop specific reading skills, namely, skimming and scanning. Users should have had at least 30 quarter hours of Arabic instruction previously. The reading selections and tasks are intended to promote reading fluency by also increasing reading speed. Learner tasks also…

Designed for use with a full class but adaptable for individual or small-group instruction, this paper presents teachers with brief suggestions for extending the Read-a-Thon stories beyond discussing and/or writing answers to the questions at the end of the stories. Activities described in the paper include: (1) reading activities (such as…

Research indicating a strong correlation between reading and writing skills has been used to create effective teaching activities; this paper summarizes research findings and describes teaching activities in three classrooms. (1) As students' reading comprehension and recall have been shown to improve following instruction in summary writing, a…

The result of a year of research and development in the classroom, the language arts activities presented in this handbook are designed for use with microcomputers in elementary and junior high classrooms. The first chapter reviews the current uses of microcomputers in the classroom and identifies the problems associated with the prevailing…