The guide contains detailed suggestions for teaching 10 books about Indians to older students who read easily and are ready to be introduced to serious literature. The books are When the Legends Die; Laughing Boy; Dancehall of the Dead; The Man Who Killed The Deer; Rolling Thunder; House Made of Dawn; Yes Is Better Than No; The Man To Send Rain…

Recognizing that students spend more time before the television set than in school, this monograph evaluates television as a potential resource in the teaching of English. The nine articles in the collection (1) discuss the effect of massive television viewing on children in and out of the classroom; (2) examine the students' need to apply…

A college English teacher, dissatisfied with the approach used in her composition classes and with its results, turned to the Outward Bound concepts of the German physician and schoolmaster, Kurt Hahn. These concepts include a belief in the value of creating adversity in order to overcome it, a belief that important things happen to people who are…

This document describes a project in which elementary school students explored the problems experienced by early pioneers and compared them to similar problems that will face future space pioneers. Comparing a past way of life to the present and future helps students examine and understand change in the physical, social, and cultural environment,…

This guide is designed to replace the ignorance, misinformation, and negative stereotypes that many students hold about the Soviet Union and its peoples with a reasoned and rational outlook based on critical thinking and class activities. The introduction to these activities provides background and a rationale for teaching about the Soviet Union.…

This report describes Project THISTLE: Thinking Skills in Teaching and Learning, a collaborative college-school program developed by Montclair State College and the Newark public schools, New Jersey. It was designed to improve the basic skills of college bound urban high school students working with their teachers in an integrated process of…

Teaching students how to be intelligent newspaper readers and television watchers is one of the most useful and interesting ways to help them bridge their current and future lives and to understand the role of the news media in a democratic society. Understanding of the media is a prerequisite to effective citizen participation in politics and…

A study was conducted to investigate oral language used in fourth- and fifth-grade student dyads in a collaborative writing setting in order to understand better how children learn to write. The study was based on a theoretical framework that emphasized the interrelatedness of thought, language, and learning. Following a pilot study, students in…

While there has been much debate about defining and teaching critical thinking, little discussion has occurred regarding the connection between critical thinking and creative thinking, especially in relationship to teaching speech communication. While it was once thought that creativity is something that some are born with and some are not, recent…

This teaching guide on population issues contains 19 activities for students in grades 7-12. The objective is to analyze population issues that have resulted from human population dynamics. In this guide, four categories of activities are included: some are discussion starters, some provide factual data, some focus on thinking skills, and some are…

With increasing interest in online education, instructors must have a repertoire of tools available to promote the critical thinking skills of their students. This paper will present the case method as one pedagogical approach for teaching online courses. Example cases are provided. Pedagogical approaches to working with new and seasoned online…

Integrating concepts of basic citizenship education with community involvement, this experiential curriculum provides a means for developing decision making and critical thinking skills within the existing social studies curriculum in grade 1. Using short stories, field trips, and class discussions, the 11 lessons on responsibilities, rules,…

One of the goals of science education is to foster critical and scientific thinking skills. However, if the meaning of the terms "thinking critically" or "thinking scientifically" is not clear, these phrases will become vacuous slogans beyond translation in teaching methods and curriculum materials. Therefore, the fundamental aspect of these terms…

A tension exists between the goals of social education and the nature of the compulsory school system. Compulsory education was established late in the 19th century as a response to the trend toward an urban industrial society. The industrial world required workers who were punctual, attentive, and quiet; thus, compulsory education was seen as a…

It is postulated that an understanding of the arts is essential in liberal education. In an essay Richard Turner states that on many campuses there is little effort made to integrate the liberal and creative arts in the curriculum. Some critical factors are suggested for achieving a strong position for the arts in liberal education, and a group of…