An undergraduate course in children's literature was developed at De Montfort University in Bedford, England, United Kingdom (UK). In a children's literature course for first year students from a variety of backgrounds, age groups, and future intents, it is important to consider the discourse of children's literature, to trace intertextual…

This book emphasizes the teacher's active role in fostering a developmental understanding of painting in children from ages 1+ to 11. The cognitive processes behind children's painting are explored. The book suggests meaningful tasks for each phase of imagery and offers methods for encouraging children to discuss the concepts involved in their…

This teacher's guide gives directions, models, and illustrations for 24 games in art history, criticism, aesthetics, and art production. The games present specific art concepts and vocabulary based on clearly stated objectives and they can be adapted to a variety of lesson types. The goal of each activity is to encourage students to engage in…

This teacher's guide gives practical suggestions for engaging intermediate level students in a study of portraits, based on the assumption that through the image both the sitter and artist reveal something about themselves and the intended purpose of the portrait. Organized in four chapters, Chapter 1, "Talking to the Wall," looks at the…

Designed to tap the rich collection of instructional techniques in the ERIC database, this compilation of lesson plans focuses on practical suggestions for addressing the works of women authors in the English/language arts classroom at elementary, middle-school, and secondary levels. The 57 lesson plans in this book cover lessons on gender equity,…

This guide presents essays and curriculum units designed for use by secondary and college teachers of French, German, and Spanish as a foreign language. The first section of the work includes two essays, in French, and eight curriculum units based on the stories of Guy de Maupassant. The second section contains seven curriculum units that…

How a multimedia program that employs concept maps and hypertext for teaching "Hamlet" facilitated comprehension in an undergraduate course is described. Results suggest factors that instructional designers should take into account to improve learning. Thirty-six upper-division college students were enrolled in a course on Shakespeare at…

Qualitative criticism is a method of understanding things, actions, and events within a social framework. It is a method of acquiring knowledge to guide decision making based on local knowledge and a synthesis of principles from criticism and qualitative research. The function of qualitative criticism is centered with Richard Rorty's theoretical…

Contrasting rhetorics of the two Holmes Group reports are examples of the polar types of educational rhetoric that have characterized the literature on educational reform in the United States. In "Tomorrow's Teachers," the argument for educational reform rests on technical grounds; the position is that of the educational expert and the…

The current public debate between the images of the smiling war hero and of the grimacing Vietnam veteran provide opportunities to define two discourse communities that manifest themselves in students' written discourse. These can be seen as akin to the first American jeremiads, which were Puritan treatises written by seventeenth century religious…

Because students often come to a literary text without the prerequisite knowledge to understand or explicate it fully, they can be thought of as outsiders, needing the help of insiders, or experts in literature, to "learn the text's secrets." Moreover, students often do not fully comprehend how much of literature rests on symbolism that demands…

A study examined reports broadcast by ABC News between November 8, 1979 and December 7, 1979 in its series entitled "Crisis in Iran: America Held Hostage." Transcripts of approximately 50% of actual broadcasts were subjected to rhetorical critical analysis, from which the finding emerged that confusion was the predominant characteristic…

Teacher educators need to take the responsibility for providing future teachers with long-term evaluative skills necessary to select good literature. Educators must also take responsibility for modeling the powerful notion that books or literature aid in everyone's personal search for meaning. The process of analyzing literature is helpful in…

This teaching guide offers lesson plans and student assignments based upon Louise Erdrich's novel, "Love Medicine," a celebration of Chippewa culture which raises an abundance of literary and artistic issues and which also poses numerous sociological and political questions. Included are an introduction to the work, a glossary of…

A guide to the use of literature to teach English as a second language (ESL) begins with a discussion of the role of literature in ESL and the rationale for using it. Subsequent chapters discuss specific issues in using poetry and short stories in the ESL classroom, including the benefits, main aspects of the genres, points of entry, instructional…