Two studies illustrate the concern that the connection between teachers' beliefs and their instructional practices can be a troublesome one if beliefs are informed by formalist thinking related to truth and caring in the teaching conversation. Subjects, 21 middle school language arts teachers and 216 eighth-grade students were asked what they…

This document consists of a final report and curriculum materials from a project that designed a set of curriculum packages to meet the needs and interests of senior citizens. The curriculum presented topics that were critical to the daily lives of older adults while integrating basic skills. Classes met for each topic approximately six to eight…

Four issues of the newsletter of the Elementary Education Interest Section (EEIS) of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) are presented in this document. Issue number 1 of volume 15, focussed on defining "who we are," describes the nature and purposes of EEIS and contains brief accounts by parents, students, and…

Small children are very imaginative, and teachers should provide varied experiences to encourage continued growth of their imaginations. Classroom instructional settings can be full of discovery and learning if teachers provide many prewriting opportunities that allow children to discover opportunities for writing. These experiences should cut…

Prepared by classroom teachers, the papers in this collection synthesize their own teaching experiences with recent writing research revelations. Among the topics covered in the 37 papers are (1) computers in the English classroom, (2) values clarification and the teaching of autobiographical writing, (3) using journals, (4) grammar instruction,…

Focusing on ways to teach language intelligently and enjoyably, this journal issue contains 23 articles dealing with a variety of topics. Article titles and authors are (1) "An Experiment: Immersing Students in Language" (S. C. Kirby); (2) "The Art of Storytaking" (J. Charnock); (3) "Getting Poems from the A-poetic" (J. W. Broaddus); (4) "Using…

Designed to supplement book 1 of the Rough Rock fourth grade Navajo social studies program, the language arts supplement parallels the social studies lessons for each chapter of the student text. The lessons presented stress creative writing skills allowing the students to use their imagination and freely express ideas and feelings, creating a…

A profile of the state of English and English instruction in Turkey covers the following topics: a description of the role and status of English language use in industry and commerce, government, and education; the role of English at all levels of the educational system; the availability, characteristics, and training of teachers of English; the…

Designed to assist teachers in small schools with the improvement of curriculum and instruction and to help smaller districts that do not have curriculum personnel to comply with Washington's Student Learning Objectives (SLO) Law, this guide contains language arts curriculum materials for grades 4-6. Learning objectives are correlated to the Goals…

The language of Spanish correspondence possesses particular characteristics that lie somewhere between the everyday conversational style and the more formal literary style. This minicourse contains three lessons intended to enable the student to learn the letter-writing style and to write letters in Spanish. It is also intended to encourage and…

A child's own purpose in life is to educate himself and to explore experience; consequently, secondary-school children will benefit from English teaching that encourages their imaginative creativity rather than forces strict adherence to arbitrary rules. When considering their childhood memories and the adult experiences before them, children…

This teaching guide for written composition in grades K-3 contains (1) a statement of objectives for a curriculum in composition, (2) sequence charts which relate subject content for each grade to basic understandings about composition, (3) illustrations of ways in which the ordinary experiences of children can become the bases for compositions,…

This guide for teaching composition in grades 4-6 (1) objectives for a curriculum in written composition, (2) sequence charts which relate subject content for each grade to basic understandings about composition, (3) illustrative learning experiences, and (4) units for teaching specific skills. The units for each grade are "Structuring a…

Composition teachers who ask students to express something worthwhile and then deny them a true voice in which to say it--preferring instead the stiff, empty classroom language of "Engfish"--are to blame for student dissatisfaction and despair. Teachers should begin a writing course with the proper subject--the student--who learns to express…

The main thesis of this book which describes a pupil-centered curriculum is that students should use language more than they customarily do. The curriculum is based on a "naturalistic" approach "whereby students learn essentially by doing and receiving feedback." Consequently, most of the book is devoted to guiding the student from a posture of…