This collection of papers delves into reflection as a concept and provides specific, replicable tools for professional practice. Each chapter draws on a particular school situation, demonstrating the value of teacher reflection and describing the nuts and bolts of the process, offering protocols for handling many different circumstances. After…

Literature circles generally involve four or five students who are actively engaged in cooperative learning. Learners choose a library book to read based on interest. The same titled paperback might be discussed by participants in the literature circle. Alternative suggestions for literature circles include choosing a library book on a similar…

These classroom guides, designed to accompany the daily CNN (Cable News Network) Newsroom broadcasts for the month of March 2002, provide program rundowns, suggestions for class activities and discussion, student handouts, and a list of related news terms. Lead stories include: the U.S. expands the War on Terrorism into the Republic of Georgia and…

Reveals that reticence does not necessarily impede group process; however, reticent individuals are seen as less effective participants and they are less likely to emerge as group leaders. Reviews research on reticence in group interaction and provides suggestions to instructors of small group courses on how to help reticent students participate.…

The group strategies that are discussed include brainstorming, problem solving, debate, games, the lecture forum, open forums, panel discussion, question and answer sessions, role playing, quizzes, roundtable discussions, success-storytelling, and the symposium. (RL)

Describes establishment and activities of a support group for hard of hearing secondary students, who may not define themselves as either deaf or hearing. Examples of discussion topics include definitions, dealing with insensitivity, student advocacy, assistive devices, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and self-exploration. (DB)

Stories can help teachers give children models and mores for reflection and growth. This article suggests specific books that deal with lying and provides guidelines for class discussion. (IAH)

Through lively discussions of specially selected texts, students of diverse abilities often discover that they can learn a lot from one another. The Touchstones Project in a Baltimore (Maryland) middle school features group discussion of classical texts. (Author/TE)

Reflective questioning creates opportunities for individuals to reflect aloud, be heard by one or more colleagues, and be prompted to expand and extend thinking through follow-up questions. The article examines the origin of reflective questioning, explains how to develop reflective questioning skills, and discusses outcomes associated with…

Suggests five activities for the college classroom to stimulate discussion when students report results of small- group discussions to the class as a whole. The activities "newsprint dialogue," rotating small-group stations, "snowballing,""cocktail party," and "jigsaw" stress maximum student participation, interaction, and intellectual engagement.…

Presents three activities to help primary students come up with writing ideas. The first helps students share ideas and see patterns in topics. The second has students discuss topics in groups to determine a variety of potential writing topics. The third has students review their topics and compare them with their classmates' topics. (SM)

Discusses the place of cooperative learning in education and presents mathematics activities for cooperative groups. Concludes with the benefits of using scored discussions in mathematics classrooms. Contains 16 references. (ASK)

This critical review examines 18 books available to the general public about learning disabilities (LD) and offers guidelines for use of these books by professionals. Books are grouped into three categories: those written from the perspective of parents and individuals with learning disabilities, those written from an LD professional's…

The Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching (FAST) project, which began under the sponsorship of the Hawaii Science Curriculum Council, contains a series of interdisciplinary science courses that emphasize the foundational concepts and methods of the physical, biological, and earth sciences. By directly involving students in investigating…

To bring educational research into focus with tested classroom practice, this booklet provides an introduction to small group discussion. The theory and research section discusses the importance of small group discussion, characteristics of small group discussions, group attraction based on Maslow's hierarchy of basic human needs, group decision…