This ethnographic study investigated the process of rule-making in two public kindergarten classrooms in Korea. Two teachers and 38 children, ages 5 and 6 years old, participated. Analyses of observation field notes and videotapes showed teachers making weekly rules for classroom, activity centers, and special activities, using both whole-group…

This report, drawing on data from a teacher survey, summarizes methods for the effective selection of students and teaching strategies for combination classrooms (CC). A CC is defined as having two or more grade levels in one classroom. A total of 256 CC elementary school teachers completed a questionnaire, including participants of a Combination…

This document consists of six issues of a newsletter that provides a forum for the sharing of research findings and instructional strategies by faculty of Western Michigan University. Issue Number 1 addresses writing in the Writing Across the Curriculum Program with notification of a faculty workshop, hints on how to encourage good writing, and a…

Within the Caribbean context, the island of Montserrat included, ability grouping has been employed as the major organizational strategy to address academic deficiencies among high school students. Although no sound philosophical basis for this type of class/group organization has been enunciated, recent research has shown that students with poor…

Designed primarily for beginning teachers in Missouri public schools, this pamphlet provides a checklist of practical, common sense pointers for classroom teaching. Material is provided on seven topics, including planning before opening day, opening day, the first weeks, yearlong objectives, assistance from the principal and administrators, 10…

This handbook was developed for teachers with hearing impaired students in their regular classrooms. A preliminary discussion on hearing impairments describes various degrees of aural handicaps, ranging from deafness to hard of hearing, and communication methods used in educating children with these handicaps. Activities for preparing…

A classroom organization plan known as the "open concept" that includes individualized instruction, small and large group instruction, and performance contracting enhances language arts skills.

This paper examines the methods used in designing school and classroom environments. The tools are labeled: (1) discipline-centered schooling; (2) empirical-naturalistic schooling; and (3) great works schooling. First, the outline endeavors to reveal the essential elements of the three tools that represent images, structures, or "maps" of…

Cooperative learning aims to enhance students' on-task interactive behaviors in the classroom. Observation in Israeli elementary schools has indicated that interactive behavior of students in their learning sequence holds potential for quality cooperation and help among children, but that teachers lack the skills to structure learning tasks that…

Data from 12 2-hour observations of 41 elementary school classroom teachers were used to investigate classroom management problems associated with the use of small group instruction. Student engagement during small group instruction was compared with that in whole class instruction, seatwork, and transitions. Classroom narratives of subsamples of…

A total of 20 first- and second-grade classrooms were observed to determine the nature of their behavior settings, and to ascertain teacher goals and values implicit in the classroom organization. Observation revealed strong differences among subject areas in both time allotment and variety of resources and activities. Language arts occupied the…

This guide provides specific information on designing and implementing a reading program. The guide is divided into the following six parts: (1) "Planning for Instruction," including sections on setting ideal goals, establishing a "reality base," and organizing a work flow; (2) "Content Organization," including sections on the structure of…

The Utah System Approach to Individual Learning (U-SAIL) Mathematics System was developed to make it possible for teachers to provide excellence in arithmetic instruction. It is based on the premise that in order to teach arithmetic well, teachers must accurately assess, teach directly, provide students with focused practice, corrective feedback,…

This literature review concerns the concept of alternative grade configurations at the elementary level, in which elementary schools are subdivided into primary (K-2) and intermediate (3-5) units. Because of the paucity of literature on this concept, the major part of the report focuses on the reorganization of the elementary schools of the South…

Ways in which teachers organize classrooms when they have more students than microcomputers available to them were investigated as part of the National Survey of School Uses of Microcomputers, which collected data from 1,082 microcomputer-using schools. These schools represent 68% of a nationally representative sample of about 1,600…