This lesson plan contains four activities based on the theme of newspapers and journalism. It includes a lesson to familiarize students with newspapers, journalistic writing, interviewing, and creating a class newspaper. The activities can be used as individual lessons or a larger project of creating a class newspaper.

This research examines Turkish pre-service elementary science teachers' understandings of teaching science in an inquiry-based learning environment. Thirty-five prospective teachers who attended to one of the big teacher training institutions in Istanbul participated in this study. Data were collected via course assignments and inclass activities…

Course management systems (CMSs) enable teachers to easily post assignments, lesson plans, announcements, and course documents. They also allow students to participate in online discussions and chats and turn in assignments online. Unfortunately, commercial systems are often expensive to purchase and maintain, removing them from the reach of many…

In this article, the authors discuss the plight of three very bright students, who have poor or limited English. The authors discuss how promising practices used to develop content-area reading, writing, and thinking can go a long way toward helping English language learners (ELLs) improve their literacy and learning. They discuss five sets of…

Pedagogical experts contend that students learn best when they are actively involved in and responsible for their own learning. In a student-centered learning environment, the instructor ideally serves primarily as a learning resource or facilitator. With the guidance of the instructor, students in active learning environments strive for…

Involving graduate teaching assistants (GAs) in the development and implementation of rubrics has many benefits. GA involvement increases their sense of ownership of the rubrics and makes it more likely that they will regard the rubrics in a positive light. GAs have insights about the students whose work will be evaluated by the rubrics; and, as…

Language production of Spanish students using synchronous CMC (chat) during class time was compared with that of students meeting outside of class. The study included about 100 participants enrolled in 10 sections of a first-quarter Spanish course at a US university. Students in the control group spent 30 minutes of their weekly class time in…

This paper examines various issues surrounding the use of writing in the teaching and learning of mathematics using the voice and experiences of a licensed High School teacher instructing introductory college mathematics as a graduate teaching assistant. In general, we detail the journey taken by this teacher to explore the push for writing by…

Assessment theorists and academics alike espouse the importance of feedback on performance assessment tasks for supporting improvement and progress in student learning achievement. Despite these espoused ideals, students claim a lack of adequate, timely feedback and their teachers claim that students fail to heed the advice given. This paper…

In the 20th century, student work was dominated by paper-print assignments, particularly essays. This was a reflection of the dominant media technology of that century--books, magazines, newspapers, radio, and television. But those days are gone. In the 21st century, the dominant media technology of today's students is the Internet. In addition to…

In two sections of a world history class, 43 sixth graders, all considered competent readers, participated in two sets of tasks. First, they used a familiar textbook to locate the answers to six questions, all of which contained terms that could be found in the book's index. Second, they participated in a report-writing project in which they were…

Integrating up-to-date composition theory with pedagogical research in critical thinking and inquiry, this book presents a flexible organizational structure to accommodate a range of freshman composition course designs and to engage students intellectually in problem-centered writing activities to prepare them for academic tasks across the…

Designed for teachers, this collection of essays describes successful, practical, classroom-tested ideas for use with students of all ages. The collection presents contributions from 18 teaching creative writers who describe their single best writing assignment that never fails to inspire their students to tell stories, write autobiographical…

Children can create pantomimes that will motivate and enhance their story writing. The "Writing through Mime" program has been introduced to some 4500 children, grades kindergarten through 5, in 29 New York City elementary schools, under the auspices of the Learning through an Expanded Arts Program. A step-by-step blueprint was developed…

Like most Americans, young people today yearn to play more active roles in community life. According to a recent study, there are two roadblocks to effective citizen empowerment: lack of knowledge and training that could help people connect with each other, and a dimmed belief that individuals can make a difference. In an effort to address these…