Responsive professional development is about watching learners closely, interpreting observations to make nuanced decisions, and taking action to support learners at particular moments. What might they be ready to do next? What instructional moves will best provide "just enough" support? In other words, what is the next wise action?…

Richard Kerridge writes here about his efforts to help students to overcome an experience that was once his own: of being labelled low-ability, with all the attendant lowering of expectations that this entails. He recognises the merits of rigorously ensuring that all students should be able to access their entitlement in terms of what they are…

A new teacher at a workshop shares that she had a difficult time getting students to write about 9/11. This teacher said that some students refused, while others became angry about being asked. Stephen Fried is an adjunct lecturer in English at the College of Staten Island of the City University of New York. In this article, Fried describes how…

Reading teachers focus more on the instruction of reading content or strategies, but pay relatively less attention to the impact of writing on reading comprehension. Based on mediation theory, the author examined the effect of summary writing about reading texts on readers' comprehension. By reviewing relevant literatures on the topic of…

This study aims to investigate preschool staff's view of emergent literacy approaches in Swedish preschools with the following research question: How do preschool staff describe and explain the approaches they use in the emergent literacy environment of preschool? Focus-group interviews were conducted with 52 participating preschool units.…

The genre of tall tales is characterized by fictional, often intentionally ridiculous, stories that provide a reason for or origin of a natural phenomenon. Tall tales are often based on characters who are unusually adept or powerful; they are particularly appealing to children who are cognitively capable of understanding the tongue-in-cheek humor…

A method of second-language instruction that acknowledges and reinforces the connection between ordinary and artistic uses of language is discussed. The theory, rationale, methods, and some sample activities for the approach are outlined. (MSE)

It is possible to use writing assignments in college psychology courses as a means of teaching subject matter and writing without substantially increasing instructor workload. There are two sets of strategies for dealing with the problem of limited time and energy, one pertaining to the writing assignment itself, the other to evaluating such…

Highlights the power of writing in the mathematics curriculum. Discusses expository writing, journal writing, and metacognitive development. Presents writing samples that demonstrate the usefulness of writing exercises as an alternative tool for mathematics education. Concludes that writing can be a viable force both as a learning tool and as a…

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT: LEVEL: High school and college. AUTHOR'S COMMENT: Many would like to abandon the distinction between "lay" and "lie," but I still receive enough questions about it to continue teaching it. Finding that students did not believe me when I taught them to substitute…

This collection of essays by college and high school faculty represents a variety of practical approaches that can be used in composition classes. The essays and their authors are as follows (1) "Undercover Preparation" (Judy Anderson); (2) "Paragraph Development from Visualization: 'a paragraph ain't nothing but a sandwich!'"…

This paper discusses strategies for teaching college composition, emphasizing "mechanical-meaningful-communicative" (M-M-C) sequencing. Under the M-M-C sequence, a student performs the following exercises: mechanical exercises, which build success in stimulus-response learning; meaningful exercises, which provide stimuli for problem-solving tasks;…

This collection of 26 brief essays by college and high school faculty represents a variety of practical approaches that can be used in composition classes. After a foreword by the editor, the essays and their authors are as follows: "Writing as a Moral Activity" (Judith Anderson); "Specific Details (Orangen't You Wise to Use…

Proposes use of criteria-based scales, which prescribe levels of writing performance for a particular mode of discourse, as a way to teach and test student writing skills. Pre- and posttesting, teaching for the test utilizing the criteria-based scale, and why this method is successful are also discussed. (MBR)

Suggests using journal writing from the perspective of frontier settlers to teach history. Describes possible techniques for using this method and provides examples of sample journal entries. Links this methodology with research in the social studies. (KO)