Offers excerpts from Kenneth Koch's classic book in which he tells how he and Kate Farrell taught poetry writing to elderly people in a nursing home. Describes four poetry writing classes, first giving students' poems, then Koch's commentary. (PA)

Relates how serendipity led the author to discover the power of Polaroid pictures to motivate her first-grade students and their parents to do homework. Notes that the technique works for many in-class activities and projects (many of them relating to families). (SR)

Describes a news conference simulation involving students from business communication classes and presentational speaking classes, which is used to prepare business students to "think on their feet" while under stress and facing a potentially hostile audience--conditions that business professionals are apt to encounter. (SR)

Outlines a method of storytelling and movement whereby the teacher tells a story and the children rework and dance the story. Describes supporting scholarly and philosophical concepts; classic myths of many cultures are noted as most appropriate for this process. Suggests that this method enhances cognitive function, stimulates imagination,…

Defends "Velveteen Rabbit," a beloved classic, on its 75th anniversary. Finds that the story of a toy which becomes real has stood the test of time, even though critics call it overly sentimental. States that it deals with a universal theme and prepares its young readers for life's vicissitudes. Lists the book's classic elements. Gives questions…

Uses six students' writing to detail classroom revision techniques that have students write alternative sections of their essays, generate new aspects of their topics, and see other possibilities in their work. (SR)

Offers a panel discussion assignment which requires students to draw from the patterns of ideas presented throughout the semester and apply them to a longer text and engage more actively with literary texts--it also provides a detailed introduction to a wide range of novels impossible to present in one course. Details the assignment. (PA)

Describes "Sort, Search, and Discover," a spelling instruction strategy that assesses students' current knowledge and individualizes the study of words with common spelling patterns or rules. Discusses how it was developed, the five-day instructional plan, and how to adjust for an inclusion classroom. (SR)

Addresses the cultural diversity that exists in English-as-a-second-language classrooms. Discusses a Halloween story unit developed to help students bridge cultural differences. (RS)

Discusses how students can learn history and use research skills as they study the genre of biography. Presents a biography unit on Western artist Charles M. Russell. (RS)

Discusses the term "information gap," which suggests that the primary reason for communication is that each person possesses knowledge that is unknown to others. The article summarizes theories behind peer interaction in language learning and describes the construction of Information Gap Activities (IGA) in the foreign-language classroom…

Argues that children's multicultural literature can help explore negative bias--how it develops through ignorance and is disarmed by sharing accurate information concerning cultural variations. Presents a five-phase procedure for exploring bias using children's multicultural literature, and illustrates it by applying it to the book "Flossy…

Presents an inquiry activity in which students design a solar cooking apparatus. Students are also asked to write a paragraph that explains the ways in which science knowledge helped them in the design of their cooker. Includes a grading rubric. (SOE)

Argues that developing a critical praxis for teaching the young to "read the world" involves seeing the world in more than one way, so more than one definition of "normal" exists. Suggests learning to read the world means learning to see the coexisting multiple realities in daily life and to remain aware of those outside one's immediate view.…

Attempts to make classroom activities relevant to the real world, and, whenever possible, provide students with assignments in their final year of studies that both prepare them for their Masters dissertation and allow them to carry out research relevant to real people and the real world. Describes an interdisciplinary and intercultural…