Describes a method for using electronic mail discussion as a heuristic in a business communication class for planning and writing business documents. (SR)

Investigates the effect of directed discussion of character perspectives on children's ability to respond in terms of the perspectives of major characters. Finds that sixth graders involved in such discussion received higher ratings for their responses to stories than fourth and fifth graders in the experimental group and sixth graders in the…

Describes how the topic of "sleaze" became the leitmotif of a high school English classroom for several weeks. Presents students' responses to the topic, which demonstrates that the students are reading, writing, and thinking about the topic over an extended period of time. (RS)

Presents an approach to discussion of Shakespearean sonnets, in which a group of students makes a presentation to the class and two empty chairs. Notes that, after the presentation, members of the larger group can take one of the empty seats and offer evidence or questions to the "experts," producing a lively and focused group…

Instructional objectives for teaching with case studies are outlined, and techniques for using case studies are described. Combinations of objectives and methods for different situations are explored, and suggestions for practitioners on effective use of different case study types, with different populations, and at different phases of management…

Describes how high school English teachers can make Shakespeare's plays come alive by relating the plots to things with which the students are familiar. Shows how teachers can encourage a dialogue with students to get to the heart of the plays. (PRA)

Describes how a ninth grade teacher uses short, in-class writing conferences to help students with their writing process. Discusses the writing conferences of specific students and offers suggestions on planning, timing, and organizing the conferences. (PRA)

Describes a group project from a course on rural, countercultural communitarians' attempts to create utopian communities. Explains that the project gives students the opportunity to integrate material from a variety of sources and to apply it to a group term paper. Suggests that the project utilizes experiential methods for learning abstract…

Describes a technique that sensitizes normative school-focused research and enables the practitioner's perspective to be incorporated into the research design. Bases procedure upon small group discussions called exploratory groups. Finds that the exploratory groups substantially influenced the extent that two related studies were able to address…

Discusses ways teachers can enrich and expand literature discussions by asking questions to center discussion on aesthetic responses, rhetorical responses, metacognitive responses, and shared inquiry. (SR)

Reading in America has long been influenced by the stimulus-response theory. Today's students are reading less and less, and many are illiterate. A small Illinois elementary school is providing its students with reasons to read. The reading program stresses that reading is its own reward. Literacy clubs allow children opportunities to share,…

A 19-item self-report measure was designed to promote increased self-awareness of a group leader's perceived ability to facilitate small group discussion. Results of analysis show high reliability and validity. The instrument, developed for use within education and training settings, provides a useful measure of guided small-group discussion…

Investigated metaphors used by college students to describe their conversation during seminars, examining the effect of gender and person. Data from videotaped seminar discussions and surveys of seminar participants indicated that there was a particular shaping of the seminar experience that could be related to socialized, gendered identities. The…

Discussion of the use of daily habits or common social activities by anthropologists and sociology teachers to illustrate the power of popular culture focuses on the role of coffee. Provides a list of more than 60 specific songs and albums that could be used for classroom discussion. (Author/LRW)

Interviews with the heads of the Topsfield Foundation and its Study Circles Resource Center elaborate on the use of study circles as a forum for discussion of public issues that leads to constructive social change. (SK)