How kids spend summer vacation has a direct and powerful impact on their success in school. This document presents 8 brief (600-word) newspaper columns that offer parents simple tips on how to promote learning through everyday activities. Each column ends with a referral for free resources to keep children learning outside the classroom. The…

Supplementary to "NAEP 1996 Trends in Academic Progress," this report describes two aspects of writing for which change has been measured since 1984: writing fluency as determined by holistic scoring; and mastery of the conventions of written English as determined by mechanics scoring. The introduction discusses the layout and means of…

Aligned with its 1998 standards for first and second language learning, Alberta Learning has published lesson plans that aim for a closer relationship between learning and evaluation. Each volume in this series presents a specific task for students that involves planning, carrying out and evaluating their work. The task for eighth grade students…

Aligned with its 1998 standards for first- and second-language learning, Alberta Learning has published lesson plans that aim for a closer relationship between learning and evaluation. Each volume in this series presents a specific task for students that involves planning, carrying out, and evaluating their work. Three separate lesson plans in the…

A study examined whether the integration of literacy with music, visual arts, and physical education significantly improved the reading and writing skills of struggling first grade students. Data included running records, teacher observation, writing samples from portfolios, and student surveys. Results indicated: (1) student attitudes toward…

In an effort for schools to obtain Adequate Yearly Progress, the pressure is on to make certain that students are loaded with as much information as possible in order to score well on the high stakes tests. Writing has continued to move down the list of priorities of what is taught because: it is not being tested or is minimally being assessed.…

Achievement approaching mastery in the use of at least one modern foreign language on the part of a large portion of tomorrow's citizens is an objective which is new in American education. Language programs in the high school are therefore undergoing basic modifications in order to establish learning conditions that can develop communication…

Presents a policy statement by the National Council of Teachers of English that identifies the ways in which the study of English contributes to the knowledge, understanding, and skills of those who will make up the society of the future. (JL)

Presents a policy statement by the National Council of Teachers of English that identifies the ways in which the study of English contributes to the knowledge, understanding, and skills of those who will make up the society of the future. (JL)

Language for success in curricular and extracurricular contexts shows a range and complexity beyond the scope of most secondary school ESL programs in Canadian schools. The subject-specific language structure, rhetoric, and vocabulary for secondary level geography, history, and science are used as examples. (MSE)

A technique using verbal analysis of photographs for the controlled syntactic manipulation of material suggested by the picture is described. This activity develops thinking skills, language skills, and cultural awareness. (PMJ)

A Purdue University (Indiana) project assessed four outcomes of pharmaceutical education: group interaction; problem solving; written communication skills; and interpersonal communication skills. Four instruments were developed, and eight groups of four students were assessed using them. Students also self-assessed performance and later met…

International students have identified problems in the college classroom that hinder their learning, including listening difficulties, lack of understanding of differences in cultural background, poor oral communication skills, insufficient vocabulary, and poor writing skills. The students suggest both general and specific ways in which professors…

Describes a series of activities designed to teach the content of social studies as well as promote literacy. Most of the activities involve establishing definitions and connections between vocabulary words and key concepts, places, and dates. Includes an exercise using key words and questions to study imperialism and India. (MJP)

Recommends that writing teachers integrate word processing and revision strategies when teaching how to diagnose and correct structural writing problems. Presents exercises employing these methods in a first-year English composition course. Stresses the computer's ability to help students evaluate their writing, encouraging eventual independent…