A guide to learning strategies for English as a second language (ESL) college students outlines a variety of classroom and study skills, information about American academic practices, and common cultural misconceptions. Sections are included on listening with comprehension, understanding lecture format and style, taking lecture notes, speaking for…

Activities and background information on Greek and Roman mythology are presented. The unit is designed for eighth graders, but many of the activities can be modified for other grade levels. The unit includes: (1) a content outline; (2) a list of instructional materials including suggested textbooks, teacher-prepared materials, and resource…

This report describes two out-of-class techniques used to promote communicative competence among community college students of English as a second language (ESL). Dialogue journals provide regular written communication between language students and their instructors. The journals can be used for validating, encouraging, and reinforcing students'…

An introductory course assignment for writing in English as a second language consists of four steps: (1) in a survey, students assess their own writing skills in both their native language and English; (2) each student interviews two people, one who writes frequently in the student's native language and one who writes frequently in English, about…

One of 13 instructional models developed for use in Detroit's public schools, this course outline describes ten library sessions for teaching seventh and eighth grade students dictionary skills. It is noted that the complete library reference skills program was designed to improve student performance in the Ninth-Grade Objective-Referenced Testing…

Students in college basic writing courses need to consider their own written language and to compare it with other students' work before they can develop a sense of the symbolic relationship between language and experience. Because of a lack of previous writing experience, basic writers have no sense that the "facts" about which they…

Exclusive reliance on objective testing focuses students' attention too narrowly on memorization and rote answers to complex problems. Grades become supreme ends; learning, merely a by-product. Since students learn best when asked to verbalize, analyze, and synthesize their ideas, a grading system was implemented in a social science course at…

An examination was undertaken of a programed-study procedure employing behavior theory concepts in teaching undergraduate course material. Study units were constructed, containing a specific reading assignment and study guide questions. When the student felt himself to be ready, he was given a test. Progress through the course was contingent upon…

The relationships that exist between written compositions of fourth-grade students and various teacher influences were investigated in this study. Relationships examined were those between the student's achievements in composition and (1) his teacher's writing ability, (2) his perception of other students' writing, his classroom, his assignments,…

Discusses a method for involving students in topics so that research evolves from a desire to know. Describes using response group discussion about real life problems to find topics, freewriting loops, and class presentation before and during research. Reports positive atmosphere and interest. (JG)

Decribes one poet's experience in a writing residency in a Brooklyn intermediate school. Discusses collaboration with teachers, and collecting and publishing an anthology of student poems. Comments on the positive atmosphere and teaching philosophy of this particular school. (JG)

This issue of the SERVE magazine discusses using assessment and accountability to improve student learning. Articles include: (1) Can High-Stakes State Testing Be Improved? (Wendy McColskey and Nancy McMunn); (2) Standards of Classroom Practice: Defining a Vision of Quality in the Classroom (Nancy McMunn and Wendy McColskey); (3) Taking a Close…

This paper describes a preservice health education course for elementary educators that incorporated a technology component to help the students gain computer literacy. All students received instructional computer accounts and had access to a class bulletin board. One class session focused on learning the systems. Throughout the semester, students…

Students at Woodridge Middle School in Peninsula, Ohio, have access to a brand new library which houses more than 10,000 items. This study examined whether students take advantage of the school library and its resources when completing school assignments. A random sample of students in grades six through eight was given a questionnaire to fill out…

A middle school language arts teacher relates how she used the Internet to "scaffold" students' learning. She notes teachers have begun the shift from assigning rote homework to assigning independent work that gives the student the opportunity to test the information on his or her own, and that children need time to make the shift from…