A study analyzed whether a word study instruction based on open sorting would allow children to have more conventions or strategies available for spelling words in their written work. Subjects, all 22 third-grade students in a suburb of a large midwestern city, were given the Qualitative Inventory of Word Knowledge as pre- and posttests. Three…

An ethnographic study of a pre-school classroom explored an unconventional triangulated framework using literary theory, cultural and critical theory for communication inquiry into the narrative experiences of multicultural children. Field observations were conducted during 1991 in a pre-kindergarten class in a western United States university…

This paper explores how teachers of public relations can help students tolerate the many ambiguities inherent in public relations practice. The paper first reviews the literature regarding individual differences in communication, tolerance-intolerance of ambiguity, and individual differences in teaching. The paper then reports the findings of two…

A study examined the patterns of talk in discussions of literature in classrooms where students are labeled "average," and examined the perspectives of teachers and students in such classrooms on the goals and difficulties of discussions of literature. Five English teachers and their 8th- through 12th-grade students participated in…

A study examined how collaborative writing groups functioned in a Madison, Wisconsin high school classroom. The class in the study was ninth-grade English "Academically Motivated" (which is neither high nor low tracked). The researcher spent the first 9-week quarter in the classroom observing, taking field notes, teaching some of the classes that…

A case study examined the logic of a student's unconventional interpretation of a poem. The subject, an outgoing and well-spoken student from the lower-middle class enrolled in a remedial composition class at the University of California, offered an unconventional reading of a poem by a contemporary Japanese-American writer. Data consisted of…

Peer ratings on two semi-independent samples of peer-rejected elementary school boys and girls were analyzed to determine whether internalizing and externalizing subgroups could be identified statistically. Positive and negative nominations were obtained in classrooms from several hundred children across a period of two years. Each year rejected…

A study investigated how elementary teachers use literature in their classrooms, focusing on what instructional philosophies drive elementary literature programs; elementary teachers' knowledge of children's literature; and which books are being read to children and which books they are reading on their own, so that their "literary"…

This study of the influence of social context on children's learning investigated the functions of literacy-based verbal exchanges of 37 preschoolers in a print-enriched play environment. Play settings in two preschool classrooms were enriched with print materials and literacy-related props. Four play settings were created: post office, library,…

A study used a case-contrast approach to explore children's multiple story-telling motivation. Kindergarten children were invited to dictate stories during free play once a week. The stories were written down in a book-like pamphlet and later, read to the class during story time. Many children chose this activity but one child, Rachel, told many…

Reported are highlights of elementary school students' responses to the question: "What good things would you tell your friends about this school?" Students were enrolled in eight unusually successful elementary schools participating in the U.S. Department of Education's 1985-86 Elementary School Recognition Program. Composed of 6 to 12…

What advanced 4- and 5-year-old children know about night and day in relationship to the earth and sun was studied to test the hypothesis that two teaching activities would help children to understand the cause of the phenomenon. Participants were 21 middle to upper class boys and girls enrolled in a part-time early childhood enrichment program…

Ths use of Canter's (1976) Assertive Discipline program as a schoolwide response to classroom problems is gaining nationwide support. The program is designed to provide educators with the competence and confidence necessary to assert their influence and deal effectively with discipline problems. The purpose of this article is to discuss the…

An examination of problems inherent to class size concepts suggests possible arrangements, given limited resources, for providing optimal classroom environments. Among the problems in determining class size are ambiguous definitions, measurement problems, and contradictory research findings. Traditional definitions of class size ignore such…

Opportunities for and limits upon diary writing in one second/third-grade classroom are examined with the purpose of stimulating critical thinking about two issues: (1) the diary's potential within the school writing curriculum, and (2) the classroom as an environment for the teaching and learning of writing. Field notes, teacher journal entries,…