Suggests that films and videos enhance the English curriculum and makes students critical users of visual media. Seven strategies for using film and video in the classroom or media center are offered. Twelve highly recommended video series (most with teacher guides) are listed by elementary, middle, and high school level. Vendor information is…

Description of a writing project for sixth graders includes hearing excerpts read from Brent Staples' memoirs, then creating their own multimedia memoirs drawn from their life experiences. Project topics include observing the decay of a neighborhood or death of a relative or neighbor. A list of 17 memoirs written by ethnic minorities for use with…

A checklist is provided for assessing common errors in speech and language arts. Columns list matched sets of target skills and possible problem behaviors for educational diagnosis and intervention. Skills are divided into sections on language, articulation, voice, fluency and nonverbal communication including prosody, kinesics, and proxemics. (PB)

A table is presented to facilitate error analysis for students experiencing spelling difficulties. Common error patterns are listed along with possible sources of errors and sample words illustrating both stimulus and response according to the erroneous pattern or habit. The three most common error patterns are identified. (PB)

The article describes use of Project LIFE (Language Improvement to Facilitate Education), originally marketed in the early 1970s, at the New York State School for the Deaf. The program, appropriate for all ages, is based on a spiraling curriculum of concepts and skills and uses filmstrips, "funbooks," and audio cassettes. (DB)

This article presents activities for helping gifted students learn about caring, sharing, and charity, with projects in the areas of language arts, social studies, science, and mathematics. Teachers' notes are also included. (PB)

A proposed research project is described in which two university-based researchers and four elementary school teachers will investigate problematic features of "whole language instruction" in monthly reflexive conversations. One hypothesis is that problems with whole language practice are indicative of a more broadly based cultural…

Instructional strategies used by a first-grade French immersion teacher to combine science and language arts instruction are described. They involve developing themes from the science curriculum, integrating content objectives and instructional strategies characteristic of both subject areas, using teacher talk and using discourse incorporation…

A study of 663 Australian high school students investigated student perceptions of their own academic performance and effort in comparison with opposite-sex students, in mathematics and English. For English, females compared their performance favorably, males unfavorably, with opposite perceptions of effort made. However, such differences were not…

Offers a selected, annotated bibliography of research in the teaching of English, with 78 items (published from July to December 1992) organized into 6 categories: curriculum, language, literature, researcher education, teacher education, and writing. (SR)

Wigginton's Foxfire program requires that students and teachers collaborate on important, intriguing issues and use certain experiential methods to address and assess them. Wigginton handed out copies of Georgia's 92 language arts objectives to his ninth and tenth graders and allowed them considerable flexibility in learning them. Cooperative…

Considers the use of sociodramatic play to help preschool children with their literacy development. Describes and assesses the Scrapbook Project at a university laboratory preschool. In this project, children dictate stories to their teacher, choose props to illustrate their stories, and act out their stories. (BB)

Presents tips, activities, and exercises to help elementary teachers and students select, learn, and tell their stories. Storytelling can build confidence and poise, improve expressive language skills, stimulate inventive thinking, build listening skills, and develop appreciation of other cultures. (SM)

The subjects of reading and writing as they relate to various science topics and literary forms are discussed. Writing activities in which teachers can incorporate both language arts and science into the curriculum space and time requirement of one are described. Three forms of poetry are described. (KR)

Presents an annotated selection of historical fiction and biography picture books for primary grade children. Suggests ideas for a jackdaw--a collection of artifacts related to the contents and historical setting of a story. (BB)