A recommended class activity is a simple gift exchange. Vocabulary, including a wide range of options, holiday terms, and idioms, is introduced at the beginning of class. Partners are assigned, exchange takes place, and thank-you notes may be written. Student enthusiasm and attention are often by-products. (MSE)

Two experiments assessed individual and group response to using a microcomputer for vocabulary improvement in Dutch to English instruction. Findings indicate that a compromise has to be found between a straightforward learning aid such as a microcomputer and a more general purpose instructional system with additional facilities like sound and…

Contains suggestions from eight contributors regarding: (1) reading comprehension in beginning readers, (2) a directed spelling/thinking activity, (3) a marathon reading activity, (4) creative dramatics, (5) constructing a reading diagnosis package, (6) increasing parent involvement in the reading program, (7) vocabulary development, and (8) word…

Offers examples of texts and assignments that reinforce an appreciation for the importance of context in the study of vocabulary. (RL)

An outline of seven important steps for teaching vocabulary development includes components of language development, visual memory, visual-auditory perception, speeded recall, spelling, reading the word in a sentence, and word comprehension in written context. (JN)

Computerized remedial reading instruction has become an increasingly popular technique in schools. The future holds enormous potential for additional roles to be played by the computer with regard to educational techniques for the reading-disabled--in diagnosis and prescription of reading difficulties--and in computer assisted remedial reading…

High school students enrolled in a French course learned vocabulary words under conditions of either massed or distributed practice. Though performance of the two groups was virtually identical immediately after completion of the study, the students who had learned the vocabulary by distributed practice did substantially better on a second test…

Reports the results of a study of word frequency as a predictor of high school students' reading vocabularies and the effects of grade, ability, and sex on word knowledge. (HOD)

Contains contributions dealing with the following: (1) teaching short vowels, diagraphs, and consonant blends; (2) affective planning in reading instruction; (3) phonics; (4) integrating reading and science instruction; (5) vocabulary; (6) story structure in children's book choices; (7) preventing summer reading loss; and (8) writing assignments…

Reviews reading problems encountered in industrial arts courses and provides suggestions for how to deal with them. (MKM)

Notes the history of the ERIC indexing vocabulary and the Identifier Cleanup undertaken to reduce scattering in the identifier field. Described in detail is the Vocabulary Improvement Project to review and revise the controlled vocabulary and produce a new Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors. (CWM)

A survey indicated that British teachers still use vocabulary learning in second language instruction. These two studies suggested that 11-year-olds are quite capable of using the keyword method, modified for group presentation, to learn English meanings of French words and vice versa, for both immediate and delayed tests. (Author/SJL)

Shares some warnings and positive suggestions about preparing students for the Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SATs). Urges teachers to concentrate on improving students' reading and writing skills rather than have students memorize long lists of big words. (RL)

Suggests specific supplemental techniques and activities which have proven successful in developing oral English skills in non-English speaking pupils. (Author/SJL)

Presents a dice-and-board game for teaching French, designed to solidify vocabulary (dealing with shopping at a store) and to afford practice in certain grammatical structures. (IFS/WGA)