Describes the development and use of the Traveling Tales backpack for engaging children and parents in home writing activities. Shares the experiences of one child and how his family became involved in helping him write a book. (MG)

Describes a writing project for middle school students in which they learn about the writing process by creating "choose your own adventure" stories. (MG)

Investigated the persuasiveness of anecdotal and data-summary messages. The messages were read by most subjects (n=106) in less than 30 minutes. Short-term changes in intention and attitude resulted from the anecdotal message, whereas changes to individual beliefs were more long lasting. The data-summary messages produced no short-term or…

Ten children, 5- to 9-years old, taught magic tricks to absent and present peers through tape-recorded and face-to-face instructions. Children's informative, descriptive, and persuasive speech was compared for absent and present peers, and effects of age, practice, and trick length were assessed. Results revealed skills for informative and…

Uses examples from pen-pal letters written in English to unknown Navajo peers by elementary and secondary Athabaskan students to argue that even in written English, the Athabaskan sense of place is evident, and it is an integral part of the construction of self and the world. (SM)

Seventeen fourth and fifth graders with severe writing disabilities received a weekly one-hour individual tutorial which focused equally on transcription (handwriting and spelling) and composition skills. Students showed reliable improvement in composition and handwriting automaticity but not in spelling. Suggestions for teaching phonological…

Explains how access to the World Wide Web can change approaches to teaching German composition and conversation. Reflects upon past practices in teaching German, describes an actual college course, and places the use of the new media in the general context of humanistic endeavors. (SM)

Describes the use of literacy portfolios in an eighth-grade classroom. Discusses the growth of self-awareness, the strong sense of personal commitment, the connection between analyzing and critiquing individual work through the eyes of a reader, the creation of a community of writers, and student reflections on their writing experiences. (SD)

Analyzes the development of historical empathy in students utilizing an exercise where students answer two questions concerning World War II after reading either a history textbook or primary and secondary sources. Concludes that the teaching of historical thinking can emphasize the necessary awareness for the development of historical empathy.…

Describes a middle school unit that uses short projects to encourage the students to think about slavery and the Reconstruction Era in terms of narrative; as part of the take-home examination, the students write a narrative of the Civil War and Reconstruction in which they invent characters and a plot. (CMK)

Introduces the Towson Transition Course (TTC) which focuses on preparing students to be scientifically literate and describes the components of the course. Focuses on problem solving, gathering traditional and electronic information, using the case study teaching method, ethical scientific behavior, and evaluation. (Contains 33 references.) (YDS)

Describes the development of a Web site for library instruction at Carson-Newman College (TN) and its integration into English composition courses. Describes the use of a virtual tour, a tutorial on database searching, tutorials on specific databases, and library guides to specific disciplines to create an effective mechanism for active learning.…

Describes efforts to adapt R-WISE (Reading and Writing in a Supportive Environment), a computer program developed for the military, for public education. Field testing at MacArthur High School (Texas) using ninth-grade classes is discussed, including fostering higher-order thinking skills, coping with change, and integrating software into the…

Provides personal narratives of four teachers regarding their work to create more democratic classrooms in urban settings. Explores the issues of authority and democracy in day-to-day teaching in the areas of (1) authority, democracy, and relationships; (2) formations; (3) authority and democracy in the writing workshop; and (4) reformations. (NH)

Examines why a sixth-grade teacher in a Waldorf classroom selected the particular forms of representation for the lessons in a thematic unit. States that the teacher represented the lessons in ways that would bring about experiences, feelings, and imagination (such as story telling, visual arts, and singing.) (CMK)