This book contains over fifty ideas and activities related to language development at all educational levels. Suggestions are provided for teaching composition, critical reading of newspapers and magazines, folklore, creative writing, vocabulary development, poetry, epics and films, interviewing techniques, metaphors, choral speaking, silent…

This guide, one of a series designed to aid social studies teachers, deals with methods for providing for the academically talented. After pointing out the problems of identification, basic principles for special to regular class programs are discussed. Suggested activities and methods for the social studies cover the areas of reading, creative…

Analyzes how two groups of eighth graders and their teacher create literary texts during small group discussion, and suggests the importance of talk as a means of constructing meaning. (NKA)

The results of this study conclude that there is a multidimensional basis for test score inferences on the mathematics and critical reading sections of the SAT. Results from the exploratory analyses indicate that the data are multidimensional, as mathematics displayed two dimensions and critical reading displayed three dimensions. The correlations…

Presents a model for working with students at risk, helping them develop critical thinking, listening, reading, and writing skills. Includes cooperation of the local community relations officer for the police department. (RAE)

The purpose of this study was to examine the potential of asynchronous discussion forums (ADFs) as a medium to facilitate reflective thinking among preservice teachers. Of particular interest was the extent and manner in which this potential varies with respect to (a) the structure of the ADF, (b) the focus of the ADF, and (c) group dynamics.…

Using a reading lesson designed for advanced university students in Brazil, the author discusses different types of exercises that can help students become more active readers and be more critical about the reading materials. The author distinguishes between passive and active reading tasks and argues that active tasks are more beneficial because…

Reading journals can help college readers successfully meet the demands of complex and sophisticated texts when students use them as a strategy for making meaning rather than simply extracting information. There are three primary reasons for using reading journals at the college level: (1) writing is a way of discovering when students are free to…

The reading activities collected in this handbook were used in parent workshops organized to increase the involvement of parents of Italian descent in teaching their children reading skills. The goal of the lessons was to increase parents' activities directed toward reading skills and to familiarize parents with what their children were learning…

Descriptions of suggested teaching procedures are given for each item in the "Reading Skills" sequence of the "Junior High School English Course of Study" (Los Angeles City Schools publication X-66). This information includes suggested diagnostic procedures such as standardized tests, observation of pupils, oral reading surveys, and silent reading…

The current paper presents the results of a large-scale, national, reading and writing curriculum survey and evaluates the alignment of the survey results to the reading and writing skills measured by the new SAT®. It was hypothesized that the skills measured by the writing and critical reading sections of the new SAT would be aligned to the…

This report examines the development of one prospective English teacher's thinking about what it means for secondary students to learn literature and what it would mean for her to teach it. The prospective teacher was one of 14 research participants in the "Understanding Literature for Teaching" study of the National Center for Research…

Focusing on grades 4-12, this book supplies content area teachers with the information they need to function as reading and writing teachers within their subject/academic discipline. Chapters in the book usually begin with a summary or overview, showing the major concerns and unique features of language use in that area. Some of the chapters in…

To examine literacy instruction in light of recent research and practice, this journal issue presents five articles focusing on the creation of a literate society where people appreciate literature and can use reading and writing to enrich their lives. The first article, "Literacy Instruction: An Alternative" (A. S. Bayer), presents an…

Research findings on college instruction and basic skills deficiencies are discussed in 12 papers from the first Regional Conference on University Teaching. Titles and authors are as follows: "Basic Skills: Dealing with Deficiencies" (Susanne D. Roueche, with responses by Gary B. Donart, Betty Harris, and James Nordyke); "Is Higher Education an…