This report summarizes results from a Fall 2007 Austin Independent School District teacher survey with teachers reporting what areas or topics in which they would like more professional development. The most commonly requested topics included integrating technology, motivating students, designing classroom activities, differentiated instruction,…

Ensuring that students spend time preparing for class has always been one of the challenges of teaching. Indeed, when students are given an assignment that they are required to do before coming to the next lecture--whether it be written exercises or just studying--one wonders how often they are actually doing it. There are many ways in which…

Any curriculum consists of several components: objectives, attitudes, time, students and teachers, needs analysis, classroom activities, materials, study skills, language skills, vocabulary, grammar and assessment. Before setting up a program or course of study, these components should be determined and described in detail. In fact, these elements…

Spanish language teachers are encouraged to introduce popular sayings, figures of speech, and proverbs into the language curriculum, both as a means of maintaining the usage of the expressions and to bring variety to the language taught. Definitions, characteristics, origins, and general uses of such expressions are outlined. Some of the most…

This book, the second of three volumes, contains educational, culture-sensitive activities tested and designed for use in native and multicultural classrooms. The activities, developed Native Education Services Associates, stress the importance of culture in students' lives, and teaches them basic personal and community-related skills so they may…

The skills taught in the Cognitive Research Trust (CoRT) program and the Instrumental Enrichment (IE) program are unlikely to transfer to thinking in the regular curriculum. The exercises in these programs might be fun to do, but the thinking required is done outside the context of significant subject matter in the humanities and the sciences. The…

This book presents ideas, strategies, and information intended to help teachers provide students with skills to perform effectively on specific writing tests. The first part of the book ("Background/Rationale") encompasses two major topics--the composing process and scoring methods--to give background for ideas and suggestions in other…

The Learning Cycle, a popular medium for teaching science lessons, can be used to teach a language arts lesson on acronyms, an appropriate skill topic for students in grades four through six. Acronyms are fascinating words that can challenge students to solve the puzzle of what the letters stand for. The three-phase Learning Cycle arranges…

Based on a course that inquired into the similarities and differences between the discourse forms of argument and dialogue, this paper explores theoretical issues related to these communicative forms. The purpose of the team-taught course was for students to explore the possibility of non-polarizing public discourse. The first two sections of the…

Intended as an aid to primary school teachers, this handbook presents a literature unit based on the children's book, "The Cat in the Hat" (Dr. Seuss). It begins with sample lesson plans, a unit planner, getting to know the book and author, and suggestions for using the unit activities. Next, a section offers unit activities focusing on…

Rural school students need ample opportunities to engage in creative writing, particularly the writing of poetry. A student teacher and a cooperating teacher in a rural fifth-grade classroom (with 12 students) guided the students in the writing of limericks by starting out with couplets, then triplets, and then limericks. The teacher had clearly…

Designed to be used by teachers with varying degrees of dramatic arts experience and by students with limited English proficiency as well as native English speakers, this clear, simple guide familiarizes teachers and children with classic literature through the narrative-mime approach. The guide contains: (1) eight of Aesop's fables adapted and…

Assuming no prior dramatic training or experience with adolescents, this book contains approximately 50 dramatic activities that have been devised, adapted, and used with success with adolescent performers, ages 12 to 15. Not a textbook for performers, the book serves as a resource for drama teachers and coaches, Scout leaders, church youth…

Suggesting that improvisation is an invaluable technique that can be used in acting classes and in rehearsals for school, amateur, and professional productions, this book presents 900 improvisation ideas for teachers and directors to use. The first section presents ideas for improvisations on character conflicts, including teen/parent conflicts,…

Based on survey data and written for educators and parents, this book examines the role of war play in early childhood education settings, its potential negative effects, and what educators might do to limit these effects. This examination is offered from both a developmental and a sociopolitical view. Four approaches to solving potential problems…