In the 2007-2008 school year, Jennifer Hunt, language arts teacher for the 8th grade pre-Advanced Placement class wondered how she could harness the power of Web 2.0 tools to develop her students' literacy skills and deepen their engagement with literature and ideas. To that end, she wrote a successful Qwest Arizona Technology in Education…

In this study, 149 low-income, ethnically heterogeneous, fourth- and fifth-grade students completed self-report surveys in the fall and spring of 1 academic year. We examined classroom climate (satisfaction, cohesion, friction, task difficulty, and competition) and school belonging in relation to language arts and math and science self-efficacy,…

Upper elementary teachers won't be surprised to learn that in every state, students enrolled in grades 3 through 8 bear the brunt of educational accountability. All states test all students at these grade levels in English/language arts and mathematics. Furthermore, an increasing number of states are testing students at selected elementary and…

The CEPA-English test is used for achievement, selection, and placement purposes. Since this test has heavily influences student's academic futures, it is imperative to ensure that the test functions as intended and provides meaningful results. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the technical quality of the CEPA-English test in…

High schools spend incredible amounts of time and resources toward preparing students for high school exit exams. A predicament arises when some students continue failing the exam and are in danger of not receiving a high school diploma. This article describes 5 components of an exit exam remediation program through which to equip and empower…

The language arts are constructed like a doughnut or a bagel, so that at their center where there might be something, there is instead a hole--emptiness. The dominant approach to understanding the nature of language--generative grammar--does not suggest a center for the language arts. An alternative approach to language and mind is "cognitive…

Describes a poetry workshop for teachers, examining what it's like to be a student in a writing class again. (RB)

Describes a method aimed at teaching students to trust their imaginations and channel their fantasies toward purposeful ends. (RB)

A writing activity using both English and Spanish words will help develop vocabularies for the students in a foreign language course, especially if the activity is centered around a holiday. (JH)

This Tasmanian handbook for teachers describes a handwriting program that helps children develop a technique that enables them to easily produce a legible and fluent personal handwriting style. An initial overview of the program is followed by sections that focus on activities for development of handwriting skills, the process of planning the…

GOALS OF THE LANGUAGE ARTS CURRICULUM FOR KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN ARE--(1) TO DEVELOP A MEANINGFUL VOCABULARY OF BASIC WORDS, (2) TO TEACH THE CHILD TO LISTEN, (3) TO ENCOURAGE APPRECIATION OF THE WRITTEN WORD, DRAMATIC EXPERIENCES, AND STORIES, POEMS, AND MUSIC, AND (4) TO ENCOURAGE GOOD SPEECH HABITS. THE UNIT AREAS OF THE LANGUAGE ARTS COURSE ARE…