Offers several ideas for making the study of poetry an exciting experience. Suggestions include reading the poems aloud so students can hear the varied sounds of poetry and feel the messages sent by the poet, reading silently for personal satisfaction, and creating and sharing poems. Lists questions that can precipitate and support discussion of a…

Suggests that a remedial English classroom should be simple, emphasize respect, and make students comfortable. Notes that regardless of the special challenges each student may bring to the classroom, basic language skills improve through practice. Describes a remedial English class, which incorporates journal writing, reading aloud, sustained…

Presented are six activities that help to promote critical and creative student thinking. Activities include discrepant events and questioning, divergent thinking, dilemma discussions, and drawing objects from symbols. Activities can be adapted to any science discipline. (KR)

Proposes constructive ways for discussing controversial issues in the social studies classroom. Develops an educational goal and a rationale for controversial issues discussions. Explicates six strategies for addressing controversial values issues, and discusses the problem of whether the teacher should disclose their position. (SLM)

Over a school year, researchers had first graders talk and write about paintings, picture books, and films while participating in a program that introduced them to visual literacy. Researchers found that, over the school year, children's choices of pictures and volume of language changed and that urban and suburban children differed. (SM)

Studying hypothetical cases enables preservice and inservice teachers to discuss real life scenarios in a nonthreatening environment and encourages active learning. The article presents a hypothetical case about student evaluation and a discussion guide with questions that teacher educators and staff developers can use to plan discussions. (SM)

Contends that the rising number of college students makes it imperative that teachers try to increase their own and nondisabled students' awareness of learning, physical, and emotional disabilities. Discusses course content and classroom techniques used to achieve this goal. (CFR)

This article describes the effort to prepare college students for lifelong learning through "connected learning," in which learning occurs through active engagement. It also offers guidance for classroom practice including class discussion, reading lists, journals, cooperative learning, questioning and listening skills, and listening and teaching.…

Discusses a case study of an English teacher, the methods of teaching, and the difficulties encountered by the researcher in the study. Emphasizes the structure that an underlying pedagogical theory supplies for research, enabling the researcher to see, categorize, and analyze the content that teachers present to students. Discusses models of…

Describes a course entitled "DNA and Evolution" in which students develop an appreciation for what science is and how it is practiced as well as an understanding of how some of the most central ideas in biology were developed and tested. Discusses the design of the course, the lecture and discussion topics, and the results and their…

Provides two lesson plans for classroom use. Focuses on media influence on the use of alcohol and tobacco and on regulatory laws and their effect on drug use. Identifies connections that can be made to textbooks and magazine articles, as well as suggestions for opening, developing, and concluding each lesson. (DK)

Suggests ways in which the Internet can supplement traditional methods of professional development for librarians. Examples include electronic journals, discussion groups, electronic courses, electronic conferences, e-mail, networking, and coauthoring via the Internet. Services listed include Internet directories, education gophers, bibliographic…

A study investigated the effectiveness of teaching preservice elementary school teachers to adopt the learner role during application of a literature discussion instructional strategy. Analysis of two discussions by 24 teacher trainees indicated that the teachers did apply the target strategy from the learner's perspective as it was taught to…

Describes a typical Group Decision Support System (GDSS) in use at the University of Mississippi and potential uses of a GDSS in seminars, interactive testing, lectures, foreign language study, and in communication with deaf or mute students. Benefits are noted, including increased participation, group synergy, and automated record keeping. (27…

In one college course in colonial history, students read and review one of several designated books, then share their reviews with small groups at the culmination of study of that topic. Discussion groups then answer and discuss synthesis questions about the books. Student response to the approach has been positive. (MSE)