Outlines the need to train students to think critically about information sources. Describes steps students should take in evaluating information on the World Wide Web. Discusses evaluating the authority of the author; presentation of Web sites; and content, bias, and authenticity of information. (AEF)

Muses on and explores connections between a teacher's personal history as a reader; how she thinks about literature and about reading as a secondary English language arts teacher; and her assumptions about how high school students will, can, or should read. (PA)

Considers how new technologies might serve to help educators to teach in ways that were not possible without them. Considers "the unspoken responsibilities English teachers are asked to assume" as students pursue their desire to become "technologically literate." Describes an activity in which the World Wide Web is used to…

Gathers some of the ways the authors used online resources to teach the Declaration of Independence. Discusses critically reading historical documents online and approaching the Declaration through an analysis of genre. Notes that the techniques can be modified for a range of grades and a variety of topics. (SR)

Discussion of academic bibliographic instruction highlights an exercise in developing critical reading skills by reading and effectively reviewing ERIC abstracts. Topics include rhetoric and writing-based approaches in bibliographic instruction, sentence structure, text assessment, and automated bibliographic tools and interpreting text on a…

Investigated development of critical reading skills in English as a foreign language (EFL) in a computer-networked environment. The computer-networked environment combined the security and support of the language learning classroom and exposure to authentic reading material. Findings suggest the computerized learning environment contributed to…

The typical college student is unable to deeply comprehend what he or she reads. Most students have few, if any, intellectual tools that would enable them to read deeply, and then apply what they have read. The "Critical Thinking and the Art of Close Reading" series (which includes this column and the past three columns) focuses on some of the…

This article presents an approach to introducing literature to high school and college students in their second or third year of French. The aim is to reconcile the goals of literature courses with the backgrounds and motivations of students, by taking advantage of the popularity of TV commercials. After showing the close connection between…

Critical literacy is usually described as a theory with implications for practice, rather than as a distinctive instructional methodology. Critical literacy proponents warn against a too narrowly conceived curricular approach and advocate innovative local solutions. In order to provide exemplars for local adaptation, the author examines 35…

This study examines the effects over time of implementing the William and Mary language arts and science curriculum for gifted learners designed around the Integrated Curriculum Model (ICM) in one suburban school district. It also analyzes stakeholders' perceptions of the effectiveness of the curriculum. Findings suggest that gifted student…

A recombinant DNA technology course was designed to promote contextual, collaborative, inquiry-based learning of science where students learn from one another and have a sense of ownership of their education. The class stressed group presentations and critical reading and discussion of scientific articles. The laboratory consisted of two research…

This article summarizes a small-scale investigation into 10- and 11-year-old children's perceptions of how the attitudes and values of different times in the past are reflected in historical writing for children. The research involved observation, reading and discussion of historical stories written at different times in the past about a…

In this article, the authors examined readers' sensitivity to the match between characters' goals and characters' actions. In Experiment 1, readers integrated actions consistent with characters' goals more easily when there was a match between the extremeness of the actions and the urgency of the goals. In Experiments 2 and 3, characters'…

This manual focuses on literary analysis and is intended for use by teachers using the Project Success Enrichment (PSE) program to teach language arts to gifted and typical elementary school students. The literary analysis unit provides teachers with lessons keyed to a number of the Newbery Award winners from 1934-1995, along with a literary…

A study established the logical validity of instructional activities for teaching reading evaluatively. These activities operationalized a theory of literacy and a model of reading comprehension developed by L. Dagostino and J. Carifio that specify 20 general characteristics of literate students who read evaluatively. Nineteen secondary classroom…