Educators are continuously exploring ways to enhance the academic potential of students while fostering a positive social atmosphere within classrooms. To meet these various curricular and interpersonal objectives, teachers are increasingly utilising educational storification in order to engage students and positively support their social…

The purpose of this article is to persuade teachers of English at all levels to allow for more student movement, even if just a little. Kevin McCaughey calls this approach to a dynamic classroom space a Movable Class. The first part of this article looks at how lack of movement, especially prolonged sitting, has serious health consequences. The…

This popular guide offers a wealth of innovative, research-based strategies for making K-12 classrooms the best learning environments they can be. Easy-to-implement best practices are presented for establishing a classroom management plan, organizing procedures and materials, building a respectful community, fostering peer collaboration, and…

Discusses ways to create a classroom environment that encourages students to test the power of their language through reading and writing experiences. Describes a writing lesson in a writer-centered classroom, what a writing classroom looks like, and what teachers should do first in terms of the physical setup of the classroom. (SR)

Outlines a study of two teachers' image of "the classroom as home" illustrating how personal and professional experiences are expressed in their classroom practices. Offers a theoretical concept of "image" as knowledge incorporating theoretical, practical, objective, and subjective experience. (MD)

A STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENTS UPON STUDENT PARTICIPATION AND INTERRELATIONSHIPS. AN EXPERIMENTAL CLASS IN INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY WAS FORMED WITH AN ENROLLMENT OF 144 STUDENTS. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE EXPERIMENTAL CLASS AND OTHER CLASSES WAS THAT THE ROOM SELECTION HAD BEEN PREARRANGED…

Studied the symbolic play that occurs in activity corners set up around toy-objects in Greek kindergartens. Found notable differences in levels of symbolism and complexity of the play. Concluded that the most favored groups were those in which: (1) classroom space was polyvalent, permitting its informal re-organization; and (2) the teacher was an…

Outlines how literacy can be a natural part of the English-as-a-Second-Language classroom, carving pathways to meaningful conversations among second-language learners. Describes the physical setting of a specific classroom and its integrated language program. Discusses five literacy-based strategies that support conversation in ESL classrooms. (SR)

Provides basic, descriptive information about informational text experiences offered to children in 20 first-grade classrooms selected from very low and very high socio-economic-status school districts. Finds a scarcity of informational texts in these classroom print environments (particularly the low socio-economic status schools)--there were…

This pamphlet describes "learning challenges," a method of classroom organization designed to meet the needs, strengths, and interest of children at all levels of development. These challenges are a means by which teachers can individualize their programs and invite their students to explore, think, create, and respond. The pamphlet…

A literate classroom environment immerses a student in a rich, stimulating, interactive, and purposeful print and language environment which is designed to provide for success in reading, writing, listening, and speaking and the needs of individuals responsible for their own learning in a natural, non-competitive, non-threatening, risk-taking…

Using two university classroom groups taught by the same instructor, this study investigated the relationship of seating choice to number of verbal classroom responses, cumulative grade point average (GPA), and grade in class for both rows and "action zones" to identify classroom areas. Class 1 (where students chose seats) showed a significant…

A review of research indicates that a relationship may exist between student seating arrangement, student personality characteristics, and student/teacher verbal interaction. To test hypotheses about the functional relationship among these concepts, researchers collected personality data from 285 students in two sections of a college introductory…

Presents suggestions for creating family-like programs in large child-care centers in three areas: (1) physical environment, incorporating cozy spaces, beauty, and space for family interaction; (2) caregiving climate, such as sharing home photographs, and serving meals family style; and (3) family involvement, including regular conversations with…

Focusing on writing as a language process, this booklet describes a framework for writing instruction that has as a major consideration the totality of language. The first section discusses writing as a language process, emphasizing that as children learn to write, they can also learn to listen, speak, and read. The second section focuses on the…