A survey of students of English as a Second Language at the University of South Florida found most ranked listening and/or speaking skills as most important to learn, and reading and writing skills much lower. They also perceived the inverse to be true of teachers. The challenge is to create a curriculum that provides for listening and speaking…

With each issue focusing on a different theme, volume 19 of "Inside English" looks at the cultural diversity in the community college curriculum, teaching literature at all levels, teaching writing at all levels, and the challenge of teaching English in the 1990's. In addition to regular columns on the English Council of California Two-Year…

This kit is designed to be used as part of health, science, physical education, and home economics education at the middle school level. It provides current information about and describes student learning activities in food, nutrition, physical fitness, and ecology. Class plans are offered for five lesson topics: (1) Food supplies nutrients,…

Designed primarily for English faculty at community colleges in California, "Inside English" includes articles on instructional innovations in teaching remedial writing, literature courses, and freshman composition, and on major curricular, administrative, and employment issues in the field. The first issue of volume 15 focuses primarily on…

Focusing on the effects of three interventions on students' reading and writing of persuasive discourse, a study investigated (1) whether the writing of persuasive discourse can be improved by instruction, and (2) the effect of reading on writing and of writing on reading within the persuasive mode. Subjects, 100 Canadian sixth graders stratified…

Noting that teachers sometimes fail to draw on students' prior knowledge, this guide focuses on helping teachers both to think about the cognitive processes involved in learning and to design activities that provide students with a solid introduction to various learning tasks. The first section briefly discusses current theory and research in…

To provide students with a rhetorical stance and motivation, a college freshman composition class adopted the ideas of the "radical" literacy educator, Paulo Freire, who believes that literacy should allow students and teachers to become truly conscious of the world. Class projects were initiated in which the students had as much…

The teaching of critical thinking is discussed, based on the view that methods of teaching critical thinking vary from discipline to discipline. After covering basic concepts related to teaching critical thinking, a framework to examine the process of critical thinking is presented, based on cognitive science and developmental theory, especially…

A study examined the interaction strategies of one teacher for promoting student writing in the dialogue journals of 12 limited-English-proficient sixth grade students and the effect of these strategies on the length and complexity of the students' writing. The teacher strategies identified include requests for a reply and personal contributions…

This publication contains papers, presented at a conference about physical activities for the exceptional individual, concerning: (1) student interest/motivation; (2) swimming; (3) games; (4) wheelchairs; (5) movement education; (6) physical stress and bone growth; (7) parent involvement; (8) meningomyelocele; (9) blind athletes; (10) Project…

Contributed by high school English teachers across the United States, the activities contained in this booklet are intended to promote the effective teaching of English and the language arts. Activities described in the first section of the booklet focus on language exploration--specifically examining variations in pronunciation, definition, and…

Focusing on the development of students' writing skills and on the instructional techniques used to promote those skills, this report relates the findings of the second phase of the National Study of Writing in the Secondary School. In addition to further analysis of data collected during the first phase of the study, the report provides…

This manual is designed to provide practical assistance to teachers in Contemporary Issues in Science programs. The manual, divided into five sections, includes activities designed to help students develop skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, research, and critical thinking. Provided in section 1 (source selection) is a teaching unit…

When teachers present students with real topics in science and social studies instead of artificial, abstract writing exercises, the students will both develop and extend their interests and learn to think and communicate clearly about them. Choosing such a topic provides an opportunity to discuss student interests. Next, list building and small…

Contributed by high school English teachers from across the United States, the activities contained in this booklet are intended to promote the effective teaching of English and the language arts. Activities described in the first section of the booklet focus on language exploration and include familiarizing students with dictionary information,…