Describes a method of individualizing textbook reading assignments. (MKM)

Reports on a "summing up" assignment at the end of a course on the fiction of J. D. Salinger. Notes the way students used parodies to display their knowledge of Salinger's style and recurrent themes. Offers one student-written parody as an example. (RL)

Discusses technical writing textbooks and assignments that can be used in advanced courses in technical writing. (RL)

Some causes for reliability problems in tutor-marked assignments are discussed: factors relating to the questions such as ambiguous, overloaded, hidden agenda, and unrealistic questions; variations caused by differing tutor notes; and students not answering the question, scales and standards, rounding and partial scores, and bonus marks. (JMF)

Essay assignments provide a major portion of students' grades in most Open University curricula. The main educational objectives of essay questions are relevance and the ability to argue a thesis in the light of the course material. (JMF)

Provides a sequence of assignments, and the theory upon which they are based, for composition courses that include film. Includes ordering information and an abstract for the film "Silent Snow, Secret Snow," upon which the assignments are based. (TJ)

Provides job cards for language activities in the middle grade classroom which pick up on ideas from "The Phantom Tollbooth," a children's classic by Norton Juster. (DD)

Recommends a series of reading and writing assignments designed to help students develop style and tone in their writing. (TJ)

Describes a drama workshop conducted with the Maryland Writing Project Summer Teacher Institute by two visiting teacher trainers from London. Provides examples of drama methodologies using a Shakespearean text--"Midsummer Night's Dream"--and invites joint enquiry into opportunities for writing. Designs workshop activities to make them…

States that teachers in business/technical writing classrooms are unsure of why they should internationalize their curriculum, despite increases in international business, in the number of workers employed by overseas businesses, and ethnically and culturally diverse populations within the United States. Provides a 33-item critical annotated…

Describes using a three-step process (called active reflection) with secondary school remedial reading students. Notes that, using this framework, students use literature to make connections, release their imaginations through reaction to literature, and record their reflections in a variety of ways. (SR)

Addresses the cultural diversity that exists in English-as-a-second-language classrooms. Discusses a Halloween story unit developed to help students bridge cultural differences. (RS)

Describes a school-wide creative writing activity for grades 1-9 in which students wrote about their teacher's (fictional) early life. (SR)

Describes how a first-grade teacher often concludes the study of a topic with a "what we've learned chart" (which adapts paragraph frames to extend the well-known K-W-L chart) to assess student learning and provide opportunities for nonfiction writing. (SR)

The effects of choosing academic assignments on the undesirable behaviors manifested by a second-grade student with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were analyzed. The student was in a general education classroom. A reversal design showed that undesirable behaviors decreased when the student was given a choice of academic assignments.…