Provides a guide for helping students perform melodramas via the intercom. The benefits include motivating students to read and heightening student self-esteem. Suggests five elements for a successful performance: a clearly written script, rehearsals, optimal voice levels and microphone distance, an introduction by the principal, and…

Describes some of the Shakespeare software available to educators. Explains some of its applications in the secondary school language arts classroom. Shows how Shakespeare texts on disc allow students to cut sections of the play to enhance their own performances (for example, a 20-minute version of "Much Ado About Nothing") and how…

Examines the relationship of instructional designers and content experts and suggests methods to make these relationships more successful, including simplifying language to eliminate jargon; emphasizing the benefits of instructional design involvement; and focusing on interpersonal communication skills. Four sample scripts for instructional…

Describes how one English teacher stumbled on the idea of having student peer groups write scripts. Outlines a variety of ways that script writing assignments can be made. Advocates having such scripts created by student collaborative groups. (HB)

Discusses a process to guide technical writers engaged in writing a script for a video production on a technical subject. Offers an example of the development of such a script from a video demonstrating a surgical procedure. (SR)

Argues that role playing may engage students more effectively than lectures, but the risk of role play is that students often wander from the intended central themes. Presents part of a scripted role play from an environmental-economics course to illustrate how scripting offers a solution to this problem. (DSK)

Applies feminist dramatic criticism to the texts of 18 plays produced in the 1994-1995 season by three preeminent Theatre for Young Audiences companies. Finds a high proportion of characters who do not display typical gender-role stereotyping, but finds that most female characters are objects of adult exchange who rarely have power. Discusses four…

Describes how a theatre educator brought together her acting students and her playwriting students so that the playwrights could see their work performed and acting students see the relationships among performer, director, and playwright. Discusses matching plays to players, customizing scripts, "showtime," and adapting the project. (RS)

Explores the effectiveness of using television and video to motivate student writing. Describes how, following a series of motivational and brainstorming sessions using television, video, and popular literature, 23 fifth-grade students wrote and videotaped dramatizations of short "teaser" scripts in cooperative groups. Notes that these…

Multigenre texts are a recent trend in children's books. These types of books can enhance students' comprehension and provide models of various types of writing genres. They can be used in differentiating instruction and increasing fluency when transformed into readers' theater texts. Many examples of multigenre books are provided in this article.

Instructors who teach critical communication theory sometimes have difficulty explaining key concepts to students. Discussions of power, ideology, hegemony, and emancipation often bring confused expressions to students upon first exposure to these ideas. This activity provides a simple, grounded approach to examining facets of critical theory in…

Because of difficult academic vocabulary and ambiguous explanations of many concepts, science texts are hard for students to read and understand. To become skilled readers of content material, students need to learn the meanings of the academic science vocabulary. They must also be able to understand the concepts presented in the textbook.…

This article describes pedagogic issues in setting objective tests in mechanics using Question Mark Perception, coupled with MathML mathematics mark-up and the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) syntax for producing diagrams. The content of the questions (for a range of question types such as multi-choice, numerical input and variants such as…

This paper explores the question of interpreting complex texts, particularly scripts and multimedia presentations. The paper first reviews the literature on natural discourse, noting that although interpreting spoken natural language seems rather straightforward, many scholars have discussed what is required to make sense of discourse. The paper…

This paper discusses a class project in which a broadcast education professor's students at Southern Arkansas University produced campus news stories for the local NBC affiliate--the affiliate ran the stories once a week on their newscasts. The paper begins with a short explanation of course requirements for Advanced Electronic News Gathering and…