Describes how seven elementary-school teachers (who described themselves as whole language teachers) learned more about language arts through collaborative teamwork, participation in research, and professional writing over a three-year period. Notes dramatic changes in the teachers' views of themselves, their teammates, their instructional…

Presents results of a survey of Florida teachers of English/language arts regarding the teaching of literature, the literary canon, and multicultural literature. Suggests that teachers must accept and embrace the fact that they are multicultural educators--not because of the literature they teach, but because of the students they teach. (SR)

Buoyed by the success of an informal, unexpected "pilot study" using sign language and Spanish and a challenge from a university colleague, a Florida middle-school teacher expanded the use of second languages in her classes. An ensuing study involving 115 eighth graders showed a positive change in students' attitudes toward foreign…

Describes a weekly meeting of a collaborative elementary school teacher support group in Ohio. Triangular conferencing, which involves parent-teacher-student and is student-led, is the subject of the meeting. Also describes visits to elementary classrooms where new ways to teach reading and writing are implemented with input from Regie Routman,…

Presents 17 classroom activities with an environmental theme. Activities are divided by grade level (grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12) and by subject matter (science, social studies, language arts, mathematics, and fine arts). Contains 15 suggestions for celebrating Earth Day. (LZ)

Expresses concern with the trend in K-12 education to subsume oral communication programs under the rubric of language arts in English departments. Uses California as a case study to examine whether English teachers are integrating speech communication into the English classroom. Finds that little direct instruction in communication principles and…

Presents a computer-assisted activity that helps students discover the importance of choosing words carefully. With a word processing program, small groups of students prepare creative, fill-in-the-blank challenges in which classmates must replace missing adjectives or verbs. (SM)

Describes "Help Our Earth!"--a flexible, multimedia software program for language arts and science, which presents the topic using color, sound, graphics, good literature, and an inspiring video. (SR)

Provides six fully developed library media activities designed to be used in connection with specific curriculum units in mathematics, social studies, reading/language arts, and science. Library media skills objectives, curriculum objectives, resources, instructional roles, activities and procedures for completion, evaluation, and followup are…

Explains how elementary teachers can help students understand onomatopoeia, suggesting that they define onomatopoeia, share examples of it, read poems and have students discuss onomatopoeic words, act out common household sounds, write about sound effects, and create choral readings of onomatopoeic poems. Two appropriate poems are included. (SM)

Discusses the theory and practice of literature study, an approach to using books with elementary and junior high/middle school children. Discusses how teachers learn how to turn talk into dialogue; what children learn from literature studies; and what the children want teachers to know about their experiences with literature studies. (RS)

Provides five fully developed library media activities designed to be used in connection with specific curriculum units in art, health, reading/language arts, and social studies. Library media skills objectives, curriculum objectives, resources, instructional roles, activity and procedures for completion, evaluation, and followup are described for…

Fourteen examples are given of teacher-created day-long celebrations which are designed to sharpen students' thinking skills and incorporate math, science, reading, and language arts. The special days include Janus Day, Twins Day, Friendship Day, Interactive Reading Fair, Sixties Day, Clash Day, Generation Day, and Back-to-the-Future Day. (IAH)

Describes photosketching, including classroom applications in language arts, social studies, history, art, geography, and physical education; the materials that are needed; and actual procedures involved in teaching students the photosketching process. (Contains three references.) (LRW)

Discusses the whole-language approach to education at the middle school level, introducing concepts and techniques that teachers can employ to implement whole-language learning in their classrooms. Notes that, even in departmentalized schools with short class periods, teachers can use many of these ideas in whatever subject they teach. (MDM)