Discussion of virtual reality and cyberspace focuses on applications in school media programs. Examples of fiction for adults and children dealing with these concepts, as well as related materials for educators, are suggested. The vast range of resources available to library media specialists through the Internet is also considered. (MES)

Teacher educator and researcher Peterson works with eighth-grade science teacher, Rochwerger, who believes that writing is a learning tool that will enable her students to become scientifically literate. Here, we see this belief played out through an action research project that found students using a genre of their choice to write about what they…

This paper outlines a senior seminar, or "capstone" course, in computer science developed at the University of South Carolina at Spartanburg. It was intended that the senior seminar should differ in classroom format from other courses in the major. Course requirements include timed oral presentations, reading of science fiction in which…

A college writing instructor used lesbian and gay fiction in three of his classes--two freshman composition classes and a science fiction class. His university accepted the instructor's right to use these materials and acknowledged students' rights to opt out of the classes after they learned the requirements of the class. The instructor viewed…

While the left hemisphere of the brain is responsible for logical and verbal activity, the right brain is the center of much of human feeling and emotion. Its vision is holistic rather than segmented or compartmentalized. Although schools today are geared almost exclusively to training the brain's left hemisphere, fantasy literature can provide…

Noting that books for children must be just as entertaining, if not more so, than television or film in order to maintain young readers' attention, this paper discusses combining entertainment with didacticism in children's and adolescent literature. The first part of the paper offers a writer's reflections on the experience of writing science…

Noting that the study of the future has been neglected within the language arts framework, this paper proposes a curriculum unit that uses such study as a vehicle to develop composition skills. The paper provides the following information: the general objectives of the unit; evaluation methods; general humanistic themes to be studied; materials;…

Because a science class may contain students with greatly differing reading abilities, the science teacher must not only teach science concepts, but also design an instructional program which meets the needs of students at all reading levels. Such a program might be developed from the following ten ideas. Idea one, guided reading instruction, is a…

This dissertation documents the different ways in which specialists approach science fiction. Descriptions of courses are presented for four universities, two four-year colleges, and one two-year community college. At all the schools, science fiction is a medium for social criticism. Otherwise the courses differ in content, format, and the methods…

The first sections of this document include a discussion of the general characteristics and general objectives of environmental education and of criteria for choosing environmental education materials for classroom use. The final chapter is a guide to resources for environmental education at the secondary level. Annotated bibliographies of written…

This junior high school study guide supplements Gore Vidal's "Visit to a Small Planet." Included are quizzes (with answer keys) and teaching suggestions on the presentation of the opus, oral reports, reading comprehension, various acts of the play, vocabulary and word analysis, sentence patterns and tranformations, language usage,…

The Quinmester course "The Outer Limits" involves an exploration of unknown worlds, mental and physical, through fiction and nonfiction. Its purpose is to focus attention on the ongoing conquest of the frontiers of the mind, the physical world, and outer space. The subject matter includes identification and investigation of unknown…

Teachers can capitalize on children's interest in recent science fiction movies by using books based on the films in their classrooms. Books taken from "E. T.,""Star Wars,""The Empire Strikes Back," and "The Wrath of Khan" are summarized, and learning activities to be used in conjunction with the books are suggested. (PP)

In today's rapidly changing world, science fiction can provide a bridge and a stimulus to the imagination of children. Provides an annotated bibliography of 25 science fiction titles for grades 1-3, 4-6, and 7-9. Suggests classroom applications including individual assignments, group discussion topics, and other activities. (LZ)

Presents a futuristic short story written by a high school student with cerebral palsy who used a DragonDictate voice-activated computer system to write the story, which was awarded the Indiana State Champion Prize in the Future Problem Solving Writers Contest. (LRW)