Describes a free writing exercise designed to help first-year college students confront perceptions they have of themselves as learners. (RS)

Discusses providing developmental learners with the opportunity to hear and respond to vignettes (short, descriptive literary sketches such as those in "The House on Mango Street"). Notes that the activity allowed students to experiment with another writing style and to use figurative language in a creative way. (RS)

Describes how to evaluate reading assignments so that teachers will know when and how to intervene. (MB)

Describes a social studies program in which generalized assignments are given for the development of comprehension and study skills and which emphasizes student responsibility for learning. (MKM)

Describes techniques which teach students how to read science to help them overcome their anxieties about the subject and their desire to avoid it. (MG)

Describes a method of writing across the curriculum that works and identifies two Spanish-language young adult novels written by Hispanic authors. (HOD)

Presents a point, counterpoint strategy which helps students build a repertoire of interpretive strategies that can be enlisted when dealing with complex short stories. Notes that the key to the strategy is that students begin with their personal responses and move toward more public and generalized interpretations. (RS)

Presents a compilation of strategies, exercises, and ideas that have been most helpful with students receiving private tutoring on the verbal portion of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). (RS)

Describes an activity (the first assignment in a graduate reading course for teachers) which provides teachers with the opportunity to develop awareness of their own reading processes by thinking aloud about the strategies they use when reading texts that are difficult for them. (SR)

Argues that summarizing, paraphrasing, and precis writing skills are important to the development of critical thinking and the ability to learn from text. Describes the use of precis writing in the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classroom. (RS)

Offers an eight-stage activity which promotes critical thinking. Notes that the activity starts with analysis of literary characters and culminates with presentations based on interviews of respected adults. (PRA)

Describes the use of character journals (a written diary kept by the reader who assumes the role of the main character) with a group of eighth-grade students. Shows how students think more about what they are reading and come away with a better sense of their own identity. (SR)

Suggests that giving disabled readers assignments that involve a purpose and make reading secondary improves motivation and ability. (AEA)

Includes articles that discuss (1) a quick fix for "agitata," (2) getting more effort out of remedial readers in high school, (3) using the "maze" technique to teach students about good style in writing, and (4) a collaborative learning experience. (JD)

Describes activities that use jigsaw puzzles for vocabulary building and positive reinforcement and in-class book publishing to motivate high school remedial readers. (AEA)