Originally developed as part of a project for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on reading programs for gifted readers is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes an overview of the project; a comprehensive search of the ERIC database; a…

One way that success in integrating literature into middle school classrooms has been achieved is by the systematic study of different genres of literature. Through a variety of activities, students can be engaged in comparisons, contrasts, and other higher-level thinking skills. Response journals, in which students react to their reading by…

Applying reader response theory, a study explored the responses of 19 pregnant adolescents and teenage mothers to two dissimilar young adult novels, one about teenage pregnancy and one about adolescent alcoholism. Quantitative analysis, using a modified version of the Purves-Rippere (1968) system, and qualitative analysis of written answers to…

Prepared to provide direction, help develop instructional units, define skills and concept developments needed for new tasks, coordinate district language arts programs, and disseminate information to other professionals, this guide presents a kindergarten through grade 12 language arts curriculum. A foreword lists the guide's goals, and a…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 18 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) effects of creative drama instruction on the story grammar knowledge of field-dependent and field-independent primary grade students; (2) a content assessment…

In order to prepare children for the responsibilities of citizenship in a technological society, the Science, Technology and Society (STS) approach, which integrates various subject matter disciplines, can be implemented through the use of children's literature. In this way, STS units combine language arts, reading and literature, and teach and…

This paper describes classroom activities developed around constructivist learning theories (that is, students are always learning because they are constantly constructing their own personal meanings and reflecting on them) as they are applied to English as a Second Language and remedial English students in a secondary classroom dominated by…

Memorable language that delights children, makes them laugh or gasp, or causes them to ponder and wonder is the literature that will begin the process of teaching them to read and write. Literature is meant to connect, not with reason primarily, but with readers' and listeners' imaginations and emotions, and in the case of poetry, with something…

A commonly held belief about reading instruction in the elementary grades is that students must first learn to read so that they will then utilize their reading skill to learn from written language and to acquire new ideas. Consequently most of the instructional time in the primary grades is spent in teaching students how to recognize words and…

The seven articles in this focused journal issue are concerned with choosing books for teaching and the various constraints on those choices. The first article, by Richard Lederer, discusses George Orwell's "1984" and the principles of Newspeak. His article sets the tone for the next two articles: "Beware the Misuse of…

This annotated bibliography cites selected reading materials for all age levels that present aging and the aged realistically with a full range of human behaviors. The listing is meant to serve as a resource to educators who wish to develop positive attitudes in children and in adolescents about the elderly and about themselves. Educators should…

Questions related to the teaching of Russian and Soviet literature in the second language programs in India are explored, particularly, the amount of time to be devoted to the study of literature, an appropriate method, and the most appropriate time to introduce it. Russian has been taught in India for only 30 years and only recently have…

The school librarian and the school reading teacher can and should be working together to provide an atmosphere conducive to the effective use of the school library. To do this, the librarian should learn something about the way children are taught to read and about the problems of the poor reader by consulting the reading teacher for advice on…

Concerned with the freedom to teach and learn, this document offers guideline procedures for avoiding censorship disputes and for dealing with controversies which surround these issues. The experience and advice of several superintendents, principals, librarians, teachers, and curriculum workers who have recently been involved in textbook…

The two elements of drama are action and dialogue, and both have a place in the foreign-language learning experience. They may be introduced into the classroom by means of a "drama lab," a learning activity that permits students to act out foreign language materials such as tableaus, poetry, ballads, folklore, and plays. Drama allows the student…