Storyboards deliver a narrative through discrete visual representations. The purpose of the storyboards was always to "scaffold" the final product and students were free to add, delete, or adapt those images that were most helpful to their project. The storyboards served as a brainstorming activity, much like a prewriting exercise for a written…

Describes how semantic webbing exercises are useful for activating background knowledge, increasing organizational skills, focusing on the topic, and notetaking. (MM)

Describes a program for individualizing directed reading-thinking activities. (RB)

Describes one educator's whole-language approach to elementary school reading. Her class activities focus on books and friends during February to help celebrate Valentine's day. Two student pages offer friendship-oriented student activities. (SM)

Based on the premise that children's natural love for music makes it appropriate to use songs as a motivational vehicle for reading and writing, this paper presents a reading/singing strategy which promotes vocabulary, word recognition, writing, and comprehension skills while providing appreciation of music. The paper briefly discusses the eight…

Concludes that literal and inferential comprehension scores were not higher for sixth-grade students taught by moral dilemma questioning techniques than for those taught by the directed reading activity method or those participating in regular classes. (FL)

Presents a qualitative analysis of a transcript of a critical-thinking reading lesson designed for sixth grade students. The analysis illustrates the relationship between critical thinking and reading comprehension and demonstrates that critical thinking can be promoted in everyday classroom instruction using regular classroom materials. (JD)

Student activities and a teacher's guide comprise each of the ten lessons of this ethnic studies unit. The unit's goals are to focus on life, ways, and history of the Dakota/Lakota Indian people; include the transition period as well as their past and present; provide activities which are intended to improve the self-concept of students; utilize…

Discusses English as a second language (ESL) theory as it relates to the use of literature, and presents a four-step approach to any literary text that obliges ESL students to take responsibility for building their own successively more complex schemata. This approach is illustrated with Hemingway's short story "Soldier's Home." (Author/LMO)

Teachers who do not use specifically communicatively-oriented textbooks can still derive much useful communicative language work from them. A key to success is engaging the student in the reading and comprehension of the text. Class exercises that can be used as pre-reading or pre-listening activities include: (1) giving students key words or…

Contends that it is important for students to be motivated and well prepared for class units and activities. Describes a "previews of coming attractions" instructional strategy that uses advance organizers to increase information processing efficiency. Includes a sample unit outline illustrating this approach. (CFR)

This regular feature contains five lesson outlines on: (1) Vitrac, a small French village; (2) structural and lexical exercises using automobile advertisements; (3) a radioplay done by student teachers; (4) the autobiography of a French peasant; and (5) nasal sounds including description, examples, and exercises. (AMH)

The nationwide need for maintenance of skills programs for students who discontinue their language studies 1-3 years before college is explained. Figures based on a national questionnaire identify the extent of this need, and possible program objectives and structure are suggested. Major attention is directed to such student activities as…

Drawing on methods currently employed at St. Philip's College (San Antonio, Texas), this paper describes six strategies for teaching critical reading skills to developmental students. For each of the methods presented, relevant resources are cited, a step-by-step instructional approach is provided, and the purpose and goals of the specific…