Based on Herman Melville's novel "Moby-Dick," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that the novel is grounded in facts that Melville acquired in his own experiences at sea; New England was the center of a prospering whaling industry in the 19th century; and journal keeping was not uncommon among 19th-century…

Based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel "The Scarlet Letter," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that the ending of a novel does not resolve all of the questions that may occur to readers; and that readers may imagine characters living out their lives beyond the ending the author gave to a novel. The main…

The popular "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series of books demonstrates the tremendous desire of people in all walks of life to tell their stories. A professor of reading/language arts methods for students in a program leading to teacher certification reads to his classes every day from a wide variety of materials, including stories from…

As teaching argumentative and persuasive writing returns to the classroom, so does the question of how to do so effectively. Process writing reforms over the past 30 years have sought to change the ways writing is taught from drill and practice in grammar exercises to a focus more on continuous writing and revision. Arguing from an ecological…

The essays in this collection originated at a symposium on the teaching of political geography focused on the implementation of Standard 13 (National Geography Standards), "How the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of earth's surface." The 16 chapters (or essays) in the collection are: (1)…

Reviews three different systems for use in responding to and grading the work of students in written business communication courses: written comments, conferences, and peer evaluation. Discusses advantages and disadvantages of each as well as ways to maximize effectiveness. (SR)

Explains how professors of literacy development, classroom teachers, and inservice facilitators can help students and teachers create interactive World Wide Web sites so that they can write for genuine purposes and to real audiences. Uses the example of preservice teachers creating interactive Web sites. Offers a summary of recent literature and…

Discusses how 4 teachers handle writing assignments, response, grading, portfolios, time allotted for completion of assignments, and classroom environment for English-as-a-second-language students. (RS)

Describes seven different written response formats (which all use reading response strategies) used with seventh graders. Discusses how the formats improve the quality of thinking put forth in students' responses to their self-selected adolescent novels. Discusses which response formats illicit more higher-level thinking. (SR)

Discusses the guidelines for two class projects used in an undergraduate cognitive psychology class: (1) Museum of the Mind, where students created interactive museum-like displays; and (2) the Cognition Book, an edited book about cognition. Finds that students enjoyed the former activity but learned more from the latter. (CMK)

Presents the results of a two-page survey asking introductory psychology instructors to rate the effectiveness of 22 teaching techniques that focus on improving student performance. Finds that in-class examples/activities, writing assignments, emphasis on core concepts in lectures and examinations, and providing a copy of the lecture outline were…

Presents a literature review that focuses on undergraduate discussion. Describes a teaching method in which undergraduate sociology students are assigned to create an open-ended question and write a one- to three-page answer every one- to two-weeks. Addresses the positive and negative aspects of the method. (CMK)

Learning about the experience of living in a state-funded, public residential high school for academically talented children was the purpose of an ethnographic inquiry. Studying and homework dominated the students' lives throughout the year. Four characteristic patterns of adjustment to doing homework are presented as cases of studying in action.…

Interviews Irene Huschak, a computer teacher at Altoona Area High School in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Explains "A Digital Journey to Altoona's Past," a project which brings the history of Blair County, Pennsylvania alive for young readers by making them the main characters of historically accurate stories about the area's past. Discusses the…

Discusses how fairy tales provide the vehicle by which students become genuinely engaged in reading and writing short fiction. Outlines a three-step process moving students from familiar stories, to variations on traditional tales, finally to new stories. Details how writing, revising, illustrating, and binding a fairy tale engages students. (PM)