Scholastic Aptitude Test skills of dyslexics can be enhanced through use of special test administration arrangements and a structured program of vocabulary development, test-taking strategies, and a pattern of analysis to improve reading comprehension. Two case studies illustrate the impact of drill and reinforcement, multimodal imagery…

A university faculty member developed first-year French instructional materials with a computer authoring program. The materials covered three classes of regular verb conjugations, noncognate vocabulary, and major grammatical structures. Initial results indicate the exercises helped students learn the material and successfully transfer it to other…

Describes study of 80 preschool children in Canadian nursery schools and day care centers that addressed how children's learning of definitions is affected by two presentation variables: (1) questioning, and (2) the elaborateness of illustrations accompanying definitions. Results are analyzed, congruent versus incongruent recall is discussed, and…

Offers (1) suggestions for improving college students' study skills; (2) a system for keeping track of parent, teacher, and community contacts; (3) suggestions for motivating students using tic tac toe; (4) suggestions for using etymology to improve word retention; (5) a word search grid; and (6) suggestions for using postcards in remedial reading…

"Harvard Education Letter" is published bimonthly at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This issue of "Harvard Education Letter" contains the following articles: (1) Early Childhood Education at a Crossroads: Access to Preschool Has Come a Long Way, but Critical Choices Lie Ahead (Deborah Stipek); (2) Bridging the…

Parents are the child's first and most important teacher. This booklet begins with a story about the parent of a first grade reader. The parent in the story models methods which a real life parent could employ to help a child learn to read such as finding words that begin with the first letter of a child's name, or taking turns with the child…

This professional development guide is designed for educators who work with secondary students who are struggling in reading and writing and who need intensive, individualized instruction to improve their skills. Examples of students for whom this guide is intended include: students with disabilities, English language learners, and low-achieving…

Part of a series, the purpose of this low-readability/high interest book is to provide instruction and practice in using higher order thinking to develop students' reading comprehension skills. The comprehension skills addressed in the book meet state standards for secondary students grades six and up, and the reading level is fourth and fifth…

This study reviewed the literature on graphic organizers to investigate effective ways to teach the vocabulary of mathematics, noting that mathematics is recognized as the most difficult content area reading material. The literature indicates that effective use of graphic organizers can help develop conceptual understanding by promoting student…

A study investigated the relationship between reading habits and writing skills in French of 223 Canadian secondary school students. Students were surveyed concerning their demographic characteristics, attitudes about learning and reading, recreational activities, and reading habits and reading materials. Writing skills were evaluated using a…

The Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES), launched in Spring 1997, is an integral part of Head Start's system of Program Performance Measures, an outcome-oriented accountability system examining the quality and effects of Head Start, by annually collecting data on a nationally representative sample of programs, classrooms,…

Based on James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier's novel "My Brother Sam Is Dead," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that one way to learn about the past is to read historical novels; and that some people take one side or another in a war or other conflict, and some find themselves caught in the…

Students can learn a number of words in any given day from television, parents, through reading, and through classroom activities. The activity in this lesson plan focuses on students expanding their written vocabulary to make writing passages more vivid and pleasurable to read. The lesson provides an opportunity for individual and group work, all…

This study explores the relationship between English and Japanese in bilingual children. The Bilingual Verbal Ability Tests (BVATs) were administered to 40 children of Japanese heritage and their mothers residing in the San Francisco Bay Area. All the subjects were either enrolled in bilingual programs in public elementary schools or attending…

Grading work is one method that provides students with feedback to know how well they are doing in a course and for teachers to know how well their students are comprehending the material they have taught. In the literature, there was one recurring idea for the type of grading that appeared to be successful for high school English Language…