A seminar series was developed in a family medicine training program to provide residents with some basic skills required to interpret medical studies critically. The sessions were designed to be clinically relevant, dependent on active resident participation, and focused on research methodology and interpretation. (Author/JMD)

Discovers that Carson McCullers and August Strindberg both made extensive use of musical structure in their literature. Specifically discusses the use of the coda, a last section of music that creates a sense of finality by reiterating the principal theme. Briefly discusses literary uses of the ballad and sonata. (MJP)

Discusses the manipulation of various grammatical devices in a Spanish short story. Points out that variations in the use of verbal aspect mark stages in the development of the plot and that modal and lexical choices reinforce its reflexive and repetitive nature. Argues that this story exemplifies creative use of grammatical choices. (13…

Views critically a secondary English-as-a-Second-Language text series that is widely used in the United States and promoted as theoretically sound, and argues that the discourse presented in the text represents a limited view of second-language learners, what they are capable of, and the ways they will eventually use English. (11 references)…

The need to teach critical thinking skills at all educational levels continues. But teachers should not rely on special courses and tests to do the job. Instead, teachers should create an atmosphere that encourages critical inquiry. Thinking skills activities for various content areas are reviewed. (BB)

Describes the integration of text previews (teacher-developed synopses of the text) and three-level study guides (encouraging factual, inferential, and problem solving responses). Claims a combination of these constitutes a powerful strategy for content area reading. (RS)

Describes a study conducted to investigate whether text-interactive instruction improved reading comprehension and writing performance of community college students enrolled in developmental reading courses. Students were taught to predict, infer, analyze, and evaluate while reading and to use their experiences and embedded textual cues to give…

Provides college instructors with questioning strategies that encourage students' awareness of writing as decision making, and understanding of themselves as writers and as members of a broader writing community. Presents questions relating to topic selection, composition strategies, revision, critiques of other students' work, self-critiquing and…

Discusses Kenneth Burke's notion of "symbolic action" as applied to texts and how it mediates perceptions. Discusses some ways to teach students to get outside their own perspectives and notice what they are overlooking (thus teaching Burke's "perspective by incongruity"). (SR)

Examines the discussions and writings of a group of working-class female high school students reading popular romances as a group independent-study project. Offers a resistant view of what "escapist" reading might be escaping from. Demonstrates the thoughtful and critical responses of these students, all in low-track classes, as they…

Tested third-, fifth-grade, and college students for ability to apprehend moral messages in selected stories from "Book of Virtues." Asked participants to generate the message, select the message from a list, and select a vignette with the same message from three possibilities. Results Indicate a developmental difference in moral-theme…

This article describes the development of a Writers' Workshop to meet the needs of six highly verbal gifted middle school students. The class met for one hour a week and encouraged students to talk about writing and writers. Students shared their own writing and engaged in literary criticism. (Contains references.) (CR)

A popular response among high school teachers and leaders facing students reading far below grade level, the authors claim, is to adopt back-to-basics packaged programs that focus on discrete skills with little attention to critical reading and writing. The authors express concern that reliance on such programs keeps older struggling readers from…

This author contends that Jewish educators need to provide alternatives to a narrow view of Jewish literacy by revisiting social practices that are characteristic of Jewish study, drawing from rich traditions of engagement in critical questioning of narratives and reanimating them so that students are able to push the boundaries of texts. By…

The goal of this study is to analyze the images of science and scientists in science biographies written for children. We examined 12 biographies of historic and contemporary scientists written for primary/middle school children in relation to three dimensions: characteristics of scientists, nature and process of scientific knowledge, and social…