Summarizes Brock Cole's novel for young adolescents: "The Goats." Provides discussion questions and classroom activities in language arts, drama, research; mathematics, creative writing, similes; and presents an annotated bibliography of fiction for young adolescents dealing with runaways, self-reliance, family, friendship, courage, overweight,…

Describes using "magic squares" for vocabulary development and assessment, in combination with various everyday Australian words that differ from American usage. (SR)

Discusses the use of humor in the English-as-a-Foreign-Language classroom. Suggests that when student laugh they learn better. Highlights ways to make learning activities fun and provides a humor questionnaire. (Author/VWL)

Describes how the author became critically aware of the dynamics of literacy and race in a composition classroom. Introduces his students to rap music as a legitimate literacy and a type of literature in its own right. Describes the lesson plan he used in the project and explains some of the theory that inspired his classroom inquiry. (SG)

Describes how one teacher educator uses book clubs as a way to model and confirm the value and power of shared reading experiences. Considers how preservice teachers will act upon their new knowledge gained in book clubs to inform their planning and practice. Suggests bringing book clubs into classrooms. (SG)

Explores--through a close analysis of one innovative class project--the questions of text, power, and technology implied in a shift to a broader definition of text in the English classroom. Poses the intersection of technology and media literacy as a crucial site for new understandings of the texts at stake in twenty-first century literacies and…

Focuses on changes in instructional approaches in the schools following the adoption of block scheduling that may influence student learning. Examines a number of student outcomes, including student grades, honor roll and failure rates, the numbers of students successfully completing Advanced Placement courses, and achievement test scores from the…

Considers that the comparison between children's success in learning new names in the Harry Potter books versus the relative failure of adults to learn new names connected to the September 11th attacks provides a real-world situation from which principles can be deduced to help educators succeed in teaching vocabulary lessons. Offers classroom…

Reports the experience of one teaching team's attempt to implement a "philosophy of choice" into a large lecture course at a major university. Assesses students' willingness to embrace innovation in the classroom, how choice-based learning impacted student self-assessed learning, and what considerations students take into account when selecting…

Details several strategies that address Michigan's 12 content standards necessary to achieve proficiency in the use of the English language arts. Describes 10 well-researched teaching strategies that address one or more of the standards at the upper elementary and middle school levels. Encourages teachers to seek out other teaching strategies that…

A class assignment was designed to present factors affecting leadership dynamics, allow practice in model and theory building, and examine leadership from multicultural perspectives. Students developed a profile of a fictional or real leader and analyzed qualities, motivations, context, and effectiveness in written and oral presentations.…

Describes how the author worked to create a writing program that was more aligned with her philosophy of education. Notes how she worked hard to give students choice in their activities so as to provide them with the chance to take ownership in a few areas of their learning. Focuses on what other researchers and educators had to say about writing…

Describes the incorporation of thematic teaching into the author's Reading-Writing Workshop class. Shares a few activities from one coming-of-age unit that increased engagement and helped students generate writing topics that genuinely interested them and related to the same theme. (SG)

Recommends a handful of activities that have consistently proven both useful to the author and helpful to his students. Describes activities including the Thesaurus Game, Word Pairs, Signs and Notices, the Sears Roebuck Game, the Mental Symposium, and Cubing. Concludes that these six devices prod students in directions that help them concentrate…

Notes that the process of creating a poem not only demonstrates the inherent characteristics of the imaginative experience, but when it is written and shared in a supportive group, it validates diverse student voices and establishes the foundation for a classroom community. Presents three techniques that are important and valuable methods to…