Background: This study involved a bicoastal project between four composition classes, two in California and two in Pennsylvania. The focus was on how students read, write, and converse about ethnic and spiritual distinctiveness and the role of writing in identity development. Purpose: The researchers exercised a variety of methods (diverse…

This digest considers the one thing that all English teachers do--make reading and writing assignments. It addresses 4 questions whose answers should determine the nature of the reading and writing assignments given by teachers: (1) who are the students? (2) why are the students in college? (3) what is the nature of the course in which the…

Academic Development Program students face a special challenge. Within a few short weeks, they must hone their reading, writing, and speaking skills while scrambling to adjust to life in college. Usually, pre-freshmen enrolled in the Academic Development Program are not familiar with the demands of academic reading, writing, and oral response. For…

An analysis was conducted of 12 fourth-grade science and social studies lessons in which a textbook was used as a focus of instruction. The purpose was to determine how the textbook was used by teachers and students, and in particular, to determine what kinds of questions the teachers asked during the textbook-based lessons. The results replicate…

A broadcast internship program at the University of Missouri at St. Louis has established prerequisites such as a declared major in speech, a resume, and a transcript of all previous college work. For the course, students must write their own learning objectives before the internship begins and a projected calendar of their working hours. They…

A distinction can be made between the term "creativity" and creative thinking skills. Creativity typically refers to a talent for original and masterful production in the arts and sciences, and there is scant evidence that teachers have any influence on creativity of this kind. Creative thinking refers to a group of six thinking skills that if…

The development of a self-instruction package on making notes from reading which was designed for new students at Newcastle Polytechnic in the United Kingdom is described. Notemaking skills involve recognition of topics and topic sentences in a written text, picking out key content words in the text, recognition of key relationships and…

A review of the literature indicates that instructional differences exist between the instruction given to good and poor readers. A study was conducted to examine the amount of actual reading of connected text, orally or silently, assigned during classroom reading instruction. Twenty-four first and second grade teachers from four school districts…

AN EXPERIMENT TESTED THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF TWO TECHNIQUES FOR TRAINING UNITED STATES AIR FORCE MILITARY ADVISORS IN CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS. RETENTION OF SKILLS OVER TIME AND EFFECTS OF ATTITUDE ON LEARNING WERE ALSO STUDIED. SUBJECTS PLAYED THE ROLE OF AN AIR FORCE CAPTAIN INTERACTING WITH A FOREIGN COUNTERPART, PLAYED BY A…

Newspapers are practical sources of materials to help students of English as a second language (ESL) reach some degree of reading competency. Nine objectives for using the newspaper with ESL students are presented, and teaching procedures and techniques that can be used in the classroom are described. For example, newspaper pictures can be used…

A teacher who once relied on a reading skills program describes her conversion to an approach that emphasizes the reading of books. A substantial part of each class period is set aside for free reading time. A sampling of book projects used to focus students' efforts is included. (PP)

This article examines a process for teachers to use when deciding whether to adapt a text for a student. The following five options for text adaptations are described: bypass reading, decrease reading, support reading, organize reading, and guide reading. Adaptations for student work products and for tests are also addressed. (Contains…

Described are activities using ants. Ant hunting, a list of books on the topic, information, and ant farming are included. The procedures for assembling and maintenance of an ant farm are presented. (KR)

Asserts that all students should know that African Americans make up an integral part of U.S. history. Reviews two books, "In My Father's House: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture," by Kwame Anthony Appiah and "Lure and Loathing: Essays on Race, Identity, and the Ambivalence of Assimilation," by Gerald Early (ed.). (CFR)

Describes a high school biology assignment that had students read a self-selected book where the main character experiences nature and is changed by it. Evaluation was based on journal entries and a formal paper. Seventy percent of the students indicated they greatly enjoyed the assignment. (PR)