In order to help students grasp Henry David Thoreau's concepts more easily, his writing can be divided into four main themes: simplicity, love of nature, following one's dreams, and following one's conscience. Once students have a general understanding of Thoreau's ideas, they can engage in many activities to express that understanding: write…

Intended for administrators and policy makers, as well as teachers, this digest examines the current state of humanities instruction and the evolving place of humanities in the high school English classroom. The digest first explores differing definitions of the humanities, and discusses reasons for the decline in emphasis on humanities…

A kindergarten teacher used a classroom learning center approach to design and implement a practicum establishing a child-centered learning environment in her classroom. Several learning centers, including centers for math, language arts, and nutrition, were set up. Twenty-three children received individual assignments through the use of file…

This guide contains 65 model lesson plans developed by Delaware public school English/language arts teachers for grades 1-12. Each entry in the guide lists content standards, the type(s) of activities involved in the lesson (for example, class discussion, oral reports, student writing), a description of the activity, and a selection of relevant…

Describes the class activities for the first day of a freshman composition class aimed at making students more aware of linguistic and dialectal diffferences. (R B)

Stresses the importance of teaching spoken English to adolescents and provides suggestions for activities and skills. (RB)

Describes unstructured assignments that spark student interest and creativity, and develop skills necessary for coping with the ambiguities of life. (RB)

Describes secondary school students making and playing games related to specific themes in their course work. Transcripts of student discussions are used to illustrate the language and social skills to which the gaming contributed. (AA)

Analyzes Robert Cormier's "The Chocolate War" and offers seven suggestions for classroom activities involving study of the book. (GT)

"A Natural Dialogue Unit" by Vincent Wixon and "Introducing Simile" by Patty Stone are provided as examples of successful techniques for helping students draw upon their knowledge of language. (DD)

Outlines classroom activities whereby students learn to monitor and evaluate their own television viewing. (MAI)

Discusses ways to teach modern plays and poetry, using a reader response approach that makes the works more accessible to students. (HTH)

Discusses the value of teaching and producing contemporary plays as well as classics in high school. Argues for the superior interest level of challenging, low-budget, relevant dramas recently appearing on the young adult scene, such as those by Jerome McDonough and Hindi Brooks. Includes an annotated bibliography of young adult drama. (JG)

Claims that high school curricula should provide opportunities for students to vicariously explore the relationships, roles, and ideas that appear in Shakespearean drama. Uses the dilemma dramatized in "Hamlet" as an example. (JD)