Offers a writing exercise, based on a comic-strip theme, that teachers can use to relieve tensions between them and their students while developing students' expressive writing skills. (RL)

Suggests using poetry's short short forms for a methodical and rapid series of writing assignments that emphasize both careful writing at the sentence level and overall planning and respect for form. (HTH)

Describes an exercise for basic writers which encompasses reading, listening, and writing. Finds that Edgar Allan Poe's "Tell-Tale Heart" has an effective vocabulary, a first-person conversational tone for the "mad" voice, and a second-person direct address that makes it easy to follow. Notes that inexperienced readers can…

Contains one-paragraph descriptions from six college English instructors describing successful lessons and techniques used in the classroom. Covers collaborative teaching with letter writing; notetaking and paraphrasing; a first day ice-breaking activity; a writing development check; linking assignments in basic writing; and a descriptive writing…

Frequently, writing students are so concerned with correct grammar and mechanics that their essays are stilted and dry. Their writing is further hampered by rhetorical formulas that describe what the structure of the essay should be when it is finished but not how to go about writing it. Can poetic invention strategies help produce better essays?…

Describes a "hands-on" thinking and writing activity, in which the class takes a walk and writes responses to nature as a whole and to one small aspect of nature. Includes class discussion assignments. (HTH)

The ability to question and the desire to be exact can be nourished by students' reading and writing responses to Thoreau's works. (RL)

The instructor of two twelfth grade English classes, one a composition class and the other a general English class, gave both classes some exercises in sentence combining. In the first exercise, the students were given two sentences and told to devise as many combinations as possible. While the composition class contributed more combinations than…

Reflecting the thought and work of many classroom English teachers, the activities presented in this booklet are a sample of ideas exchanged at the 1980 convention of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) held in Cincinnati, Ohio. The suggested activities are grouped into four categories: (1) a miscellany of writing assignments that…

Reflecting the reader-response theory of literature--a theory suggesting that literature is made dynamic through interaction between reader and text--this report presents ways of extending high school students' imaginative grasp of human experience. Using three works--Randall Jarrell's poem, "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner," Ambrose…

Collected from classroom teachers across the United States, this idea exchange presents teaching activities that enliven the secondary school language arts classroom, engage student interest, and help teachers reflect on their teaching as part of their continued professional growth. The activities are divided into four sections: (1) literature,…

Culled from ideas contributed by people attending conferences of the National Council of Teachers of English and by readers of "NOTES Plus" and "IDEAS Plus," the activities contained in this booklet are intended to promote the effective teaching of writing and literature. Teaching strategies offered in the first section of the…

The 31 articles presented in this book illustrate the success of initiating structure in English classrooms, at both the secondary and the college levels. Reflecting the notion that clear guidelines and explicit expectations--greater structure--will help both teacher and student work toward common educational goals, the articles are arranged in…

The first of a two-part discussion of an experimental program involving small group teaching in a mixed-ability secondary English class in Scotland, this report outlines the class organization and management techniques used during the program. It also contains an account of the culminating class activity, a group novel-writing project. Six…

The ten lessons in this guide outline objectives and activities that will help gifted students to write intelligibly and creatively and to read with understanding and appreciation. Each of the lessons focuses on an aspect of literature, such as story line, building toward a climax, how plot is influenced by theme, characterization, tone,…