Describes a French language course at the advanced level arranged for a group of Austrian railroad employees and based on the use of prerecorded excerpts from radio news broadcastings. Gives an account of the steps and tasks involved in progressing from a global interpretation to full comprehension. (MES)

Discusses the use of radio news broadcasts as instructional materials, citing some of the advantages they afford the user. Advantages include the homogeneity of mass media language, the frequency of news flashes, and the opportunity for individual work on related newspaper articles. Illustrates steps to move from global to total comprehension.…

Explains how community legal resource persons (police officers, lawyers, law students, court employees, legislators, etc.) can contribute to high school students' understanding of the legal system. Suggestions include that the resource person's visit relate to material the class is studying and that the teacher and resource person communicate…

Presents a method of using traditional puzzles and crosswords in foreign language instruction. Instead of merely providing amusement, the puzzles are designed to assist in the learning of various language skills. This article gives directions for developing puzzles specifically designed to teach grammar, vocabulary, and culture. (Author/PJM)

Notes that interaction between writers and interpreters can improve a sometimes tenuous relationship. Provides classroom assignments, performance activities, and workshops to promote interaction and understanding. (PD)

Proposes the use of the guided design model, a means of introducing students to decision making in their chosen field of study, in the English teacher education curriculum. Discusses the distinguishing characteristics, development, and execution of a guided design project on censorship. Offers materials for such a project. (RL)

School music education must promote ethnic identity and intercultural appreciation through hands-on musical experiences with traditional and contemporary music from around the world. Students themselves direct each other and their instructors in these activities. (PMJ)

Individualized reading and writing tasks are suggested for use in a functional approach to teaching English as a second language. The tasks, each of which has a product, an audience, a function, and a linguistic focus, are based on students' communicative needs in various situations. Individualization promotes language learning. (PMJ)

Suggests field trips and other community exploration activities to show students that reading exists as a useful skill outside the classroom. (SJL)

Describes three class activities that help students analyze the mass media messages of political candidates and that give students insights into language manipulation techniques. (RL)

Describes a way of getting students to write poetry through writing collaborative poems. Relates the step-by-step procedure used by a class in writing a collaborative poem, and presents their poem. (RL)

The relationship between dimensions of classroom environment and off-task behavior among kindergarten students engaged in academic activities is studied. Evidence is presented substantiating the importance of signal continuity in maintaining students' task-oriented behavior. (JMF)

Describes ways in which English teachers can capitalize on the natural response of teens to music. (RL)

Demonstrates the use of simulations and games in large classes as complements to the lecture method. Students generally respond favorably to the use of these strategies and indicate that they facilitate classroom communication and student interest, concept understanding, and personal growth. (JMF)

Described is an activity designed to make the concepts of experimentation, independent variables, and dependent variables easy to understand by using observable characteristics of several rods to illustrate these concepts. (DS)