When the "mantle of the expert" system of teaching is used in drama, the teacher assumes a fictional role which places the student in the position of being the expert. In this project, students were historians/anthropologists charged with the responsibility of creating a Bronze Age community. (MT)

Because of the close interrelationship among language, thinking, and the contexts in which learning takes place, many children experience difficulties when they enter school. This article discusses ways in which dramatic contexts can provide continuity between home and school by enabling children to take control of their thinking and language. (MT)

The essential nature of drama is a liberating act of imagination, of self-transcendence. A session is described in which the class maintained the delicate balance of dual consciousness and focused its attention and empathy on an illusory but possible world, creating and being responsible for the meaning of its construction. (MT)

Reading and drama are closely related in the learning process, interacting to develop the same personal resources in the child, building links between print and experience, dream and reality, self and other. The pressure and authenticity of the drama can help children create new knowledge and make different and necessary connections. (MT)

The author describes her efforts to engage intermediate grade children in meaningful writing. Her attempts to translate theory and research into classroom practice are discussed. (MT)

The issue of whether or not early adolescence is a transitional or stable period of development may be dependent on our ability to describe ways in which early adolescents are quantitatively and qualitatively different from when they were children and how these early adolescent characteristics are forerunners to the more elaborate constructs of…

Theory and research concerning early adolescent self-concept and self-esteem indicate that: (1) many early adolescents' cognitive changes affect dramatically the way they see and evaluate themselves; (2) a variety of new significant others are involved in early adolescent self-concept; and (3) changes taking place during adolescence are not as…

This paper examines the nature of human abilities in light of recent advances in information-processing and discusses implications of these developments for cognitive assessment of children. (CJ)

This article: (1) outlines advantages of having more than two students work together at the computer keyboard; (2) discusses several new issues teachers must consider; and (3) describes specific examples of applications designed to promote cognitive and social outcomes. (JMK)

In order to ensure the effectiveness of instruction on a new topic, teachers must help students recall prior "prerequisite" learning. The type of learning to be recalled varies with the type of learning outcome expected. (RJG)

A child is studied from the age of four, at which time there was no clear distinction between writer and audience, up to the age of eight, at which time he wrote a story demonstrating conclusively that he could stand apart from an egocentric view of the world. (JN)

If the beginning spellers are allowed to experiment, their ability will begin to evolve and refine as did their patterns of spoken language. Stages of spelling development and their parallels in oral language development are described and tips on how to foster spelling development are given. (JN)

This special issue presents an overview and reprints of 23 articles from 25 years of "Theory Into Practice." It is divided into six general topics: Curriculum; Human Development, Language, and Communication; Instruction and Learning; Organization and Administration; Schooling and Society; and Teacher Education. (MT)

The use of symbols in the play of young children during the preoperational period of cognitive development provides the foundation in representation that will be needed later when using higher abstract forms such as written words. (JN)