This ERIC Digest discusses various types of homework assignments and examines research findings about the effectiveness and amount of homework assigned to American schoolchildren. It also examines some of the policies presently being discussed by school districts. Three types of homework are briefly delineated: practice assignments, preparation…

Reviews two approaches to critical thinking and shares seven steps from one approach which promote critical thinking skills. Shares an example of an activity showing how this approach can be used in many areas of the curriculum. (MG)

Reviews the literature on classroom structure and student and teacher behavior. Argues that genuine invitations for students to think what they want and to share what they think about classroom content will soon lead to individual and small group inquiries that enrich unit themes and subject matter. (RS)

Intended for teachers, this booklet shows how spoken language can affect student thinking and presents strategies for teaching critical thinking skills. The first section discusses the theoretical and research bases for promoting critical thinking through speech, defines critical thinking, explores critical thinking as abstract thinking, and tells…

Language teacher supervisors see their role as: (1) training teachers to go from their actual to ideal teaching behaviors; (2) providing a means for teachers to reflect on and work through problems in their teaching; (3) furnishing opportunities for teachers to explore new teaching possibilities; and (4) providing teachers with opportunities to…

The message of this series of books, "Parents and Children Together," is that parents should get together with their children, talk about stories, and learn together. This book, "Learning Together," contains several stories that parents and children can read together and talk about in a relaxed way. The book has a companion…

The activity book is designed to help children learn that writing messages and stories will help them see the value of learning to spell. The activity book's program is based on the ideas that accurate spelling contributes to the clarity of written messages; spelling accuracy shows attention to detail, sending a positive message to teachers and…

The study of dialects offers a fascinating approach to learning about language. By learning about how language varies geographically and socially, students will come to understand that language changes over time, and that language use is linked to social identity. Language variation, or dialect diversity, reflects the fact that languages change…

States that writing is the one language outlet that enables a person to capture and examine thoughts. Notes the growing number of studies that help teachers evaluate writing as a learning technique. (MG)

Storytelling, a creative art form with a long history and considerable instructional potential, is increasingly regarded in schools and communities as literature. Recent papers and articles in the ERIC database discuss the use of storytelling in the classroom to develop language abilities, literature appreciation, critical thinking and…

This book is intended for teachers and parents who want to give their students and children inspiring models to imitate in developing positive character traits and attitudes. In the book are individuals from today (like Bill Cosby) or people in the past (like Abraham Lincoln) who will inspire children. In all, the book portrays 75 people of…

Reviews materials in the ERIC system that level criticisms at creative writing in the schools and that present suggestions for activities that promote good writing that is also creative. (HTH)

This brochure provides information about environmental education for parents of young children by discussing a rationale for early awareness of our relationship to the environment. Also included is a discussion of the importance of the development of positive attitudes and feelings toward the natural environment. In order to encourage parents to…

The message of this series of books, "Parents and Children Together," is that parents should get together with their children, talk about stories, and learn together. This book contains several stories that parents and children can read together and talk about in a relaxed way. The book has a companion audiotape. Advice is given in the…

This digest examines ways in which the foreign language laboratory can serve to support communicative approaches to language instruction by becoming interactive. Although, in one sense, this can be achieved through the acquisition of interactive hardware, this paper focuses on the pedagogical approaches to language lab use that create interaction…