Clothing of the nineteenth century and its reflection of the middle class ideals of how men and women should look is the focus of this publication. Through a series of activities, students are encouraged to think about the interaction of clothing and society, both past and present. Worksheets accompany lessons: "A Change of Clothes" and…

This thematic magazine helps teachers explore archaeology through an introductory article and three lesson plans, one with a student-take-home worksheet. Lesson 1 is designed for group work and involves identification of "artifacts" taken from familiar, contemporary settings, as the students attempt to describe the function of each artifact and to…

A potpourri of activities from teachers working with elementary and middle school-aged children is featured in this journal issue. Regular features include an introductory letter, an article on elementary school activities, project updates, reviews, and announcements. The articles are as follows: (1) "Yesterday is local history to fourth…

The purpose of this focused newsletter is to give teachers who know little or nothing of computers some background on which to base further investigation and decisions. It begins by explaining what a computer is and defining such terms as software, hardware, memory, input/output devices, and disk drive. The newsletter then outlines four major uses…

"Classroom Notes Plus" publishes descriptions of original, unpublished teaching practices or adapted ideas. Each issue also contains sections on Teacher Talk, Classroom Solutions, and Web resources. The August 1999 issue contains the following materials: Ideas from the Classroom-"Parody: Getting the Joke with Style" (Bonnie…

Elementary school activities designed for celebraing the significant dates of each school month, excluding December, are described in this compilation. The collection covers birthdays of well-known people, historical events, mathematics, writing, reading, science, history, social studies, art, and cooking. (JW)

This concept paper is intended to assist educators to understand why American culture has become so diverse, to review certain guiding principles and related research in effective educational practices for language instruction, and to present a number of instructional implications derived from the research. The recommendations for teachers which…

The eight articles in this focused journal issue explore the part computer literacy and computer programed instruction can play in the language arts curriculum. Titles of the articles are (1) "Computers in English Instruction: The Dream And The Reality" (James R. Nicholl); (2) "Computer Uses in the Elementary Grades" (Robert Morgan); (3) "Reading…

Three installments of "Ideas from the Classroom," a regular feature of the National Council of Teachers of English publication, "Notes Plus," are presented in this compilation. "Ideas from the Classroom" offers a variety of teacher-submitted activities for English and language arts instruction. The three articles in…

Based on the idea that children can learn to write letters to friends and relatives as soon as they learn to write words, this visually oriented pamphlet presents practical classroom activities that primary grade teachers can use to encourage their young students to practice letter writing skills. The pamphlet contains instructions for making a…

By integrating the language arts across the curriculum, teachers and librarians can help students make connections between what they already know and new material. Teachers committed to this approach need to spend time planning, executing, and evaluating the process and to bring the following essential components to the classroom: (1) love and…

The teaching activities presented in this pamphlet present some ways of helping children acquire a few "mechanisms" to support exploration, growth, and search in language learning and, more specifically, in spelling awareness. The pamphlet begins with a discussion of the context for learning strategies to use in exploring language. Then…

The 26 articles in this journal issue discuss the use of the computer in the English classroom. Among the topics and applications discussed are (1) computer assisted invention, (2) word processing, (3) overcoming computer anxiety, (4) using computers in technical writing classes, (5) grading student essays by computer, (6) the experiences of an…

This newsletter issue focuses entirely on classroom instruction in adult basic education (ABE) and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs. The first article, "Whole Language and Adult Literacy Education" (Kazemek), describes 10 principles of holistic language education and how they may be translated into actual classroom practice.…

The "Idea Place," a regular feature carried by the magazine "Learning," provides an assortment of practical teaching techniques selected from commercially available materials and from ideas submitted by readers. Games and activities are given for the areas of reading, writing, spelling, mathematics, science, social studies, and…