Describes inviting fourth-graders to use their own language to describe mathematical ideas, postponing the use of technical vocabulary so students can explain the significant concepts and ideas in their own way first. Discusses how this use of metaphorical language to teach math concepts can enliven student interest and understanding, and infuse…

The procedures undertaken in developing and organizing skills indexes for use in coding elementary school language arts textbooks to determine what is actually taught are presented in this paper. The outlined procedures included performing a preliminary analysis on four language arts textbooks to compile an extensive list of skills and performance…

Presents perspectives of constructionist and conversation analysis in a study of interactive processes in literate activity. Describes the interaction among four Spanish-English students while one student generates a story. Finds four types of coordinated action by students that allowed students to control their own literacy learning. Discusses…

Presents a case study of a sixth grade teacher trying to increase her use of literature for language arts instruction. Shows the challenges and successes of attempting to get better at teaching. (PRA)

Using video-recorded class activities, analyzes the teaching method used in a French grammar lesson given in Northern France to a class of 25 students of 6-7 years old. The "catechistic teaching style" employed involves an interactive question-and-answer format. Enumerates advantages and disadvantages of this style. (KS)

Investigates whether parent participation could improve student achievement in one of the author's ninth-grade sheltered English classes. Describes how parents wrote essays with their children, participated in a goal-setting conference, and took part in a literary correspondence discussing "Romeo and Juliet." Discusses the benefits for the…

Critical thinking is important for lessons in classes for gifted and talented students. Since definitions of critical thinking are plentiful and varied, teachers must decide what behaviors are most productive in the classroom. One viable method to promote critical thinking through productive discussion is the Dixon-Hegelian method. This paper…

Describes using an outstanding portfolio created by an average fifth grader to study and reflect on the author's teaching and to consider connections between her teaching, the Michigan Language Arts Content Standards, and her District's new standards-based curriculum. Discusses the portfolio process, preparing for portfolio presentations, and the…

Describes how the author used a young adult novel as a catalyst for discussing and investigating issues of social inequity in schools in her sixth-grade advanced language arts class. Describes how, by discussing how placement in advanced classes is determined, students learn to look more carefully and critically at how schools function in society,…

Explores vocabulary-learning opportunities in a seventh-grade literature-based reading program. Discusses how this program supported vocabulary teaching and learning both explicitly and implicitly, and shows how varying classroom configurations expanded learners' word knowledge and enhanced their word-learning abilities. (SR)

This compilation presents material related to the Reading English Rotation program, an individualized, diagnostic, prescriptive language arts program designed to meet the needs of secondary school students who score lowest in reading achievement. The compilation begins with a comparison of three years of evaluation data, noting that the average…

Outlines M. Halliday's theory of language production, which suggests that the form of oral and written language is determined by the context in which language is generated, and shows how it can be used as a basis for curriculum development. (Author/HOD)

A description is given of a program designed to provide preservice and inservice educators with training in the development of language arts processes, planning for instruction in order to meet a specific child's diagnosed needs, and evaluation of the instructional plan. Children participating in the program were diagnosed as needing instruction…

Looks at how a short story by three students in a bilingual third-grade classroom came to be. Examines the literate practices already established in the classroom; the classroom norm of using two languages; learning to include information from multiple sources; and learning that interaction is a valuable part of the writing process. (SR)

Observes a 9-year-old third-grade student at home and at school. Reveals the disparity between Laura's highly contextualized knowledge of science and the school science curriculum. States that teachers do not value Laura's strong observational and analytical proclivities and that both she and her teachers think of Laura as an academic failure. (SR)