Many unexplored possibilities remain for comprehensive and systematic use of popular song in the foreign language classroom. The song is both a pedagogical tool (for listening comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, conversation, composition, culture, and history) and a subject for literary study. (Author/MSE)

Music can be a powerful force in the language arts classroom and an important vehicle for teachers who want to lead students into literature. The paper discusses the power of popular music to first attract students, notes how to use other musical genres, describes guided listening, and explains important parallels between poetry and song. (SM)

This report describes the process used by the Arts Midwest task force on freedom of artistic expression along with their findings and recommendations as they examined issues surrounding freedom of expression at the beginning of the decade. At a time when the National Endowment for the Arts was struggling through rigorous congressional…

Rap, a popular music that emerged in the United States during the 1980s and 90s, is described as a creation of young African American culture. It belongs to a centuries old legacy of using language creatively in everyday life. The roots of the music are seen as part of the African-American oral and musical traditions that encompass the hidden…

It is the position of the National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) and the College and University Physical Education Council (CUPEC) that all colleges and universities uphold a physical activity instructional program for students as a strong and integral part of the academic curriculum. Bombarded by popular culture, newfound…

This issue of Focus on Law Studies contains the following articles: "T.V. Law: Image versus Reality" (Suzanne Frentz); "Teaching about Civil Rights in the 1990's" (Cynthia Hamilton); "A Social History of Black Lawyers in Popular Culture" (Ric Sheffield); "Will the Real Lawyers Please Stand Up!" (Susan Adair Dwyer-Shick); "Equality, 'Political…

The American professor in a foreign country must be prepared formally and informally to address questions about the United States, its present, past, and future. Part of bringing American culture to the foreign campus is bringing the openness of American professors to their students. (MSE)

Recommends that English teachers encourage students to explore interaction of popular culture and oral communication. Discusses similarities between personal letters and contemporary recordings. Identifies over 60 letter-related song titles that have used postal imagery to depict a variety of human circumstances and lists over 20 references.…

Argues that reading of just any kind is not enough to stave off the effects of television. Contends that the reading must involve quality books, rather than mass-marketed, instantly gratifying books geared to the lowest common denominator. (JK)

This publication contains teaching ideas generated by classroom teachers. For grades K-5, newsletter editor Laurel R. Singleton explains how students can explore the quilt as a metaphor used in literature to represent American values and ideals (the lesson is adaptable for all age groups). For grades 5-8, social studies teacher Claire McCaffery…

Examines television's impact on children, discussing how much television children watch, what children watch and how it influences their world view, how parents dispel mass media misconceptions and fears, and whether children would get better grades if they watched less television. Suggestions for making television an educational resource are…

This book surveys the important available books on mythologies of all parts of the globe and the cultural contexts from which the mythological traditions emerged. Written as a series of bibliographic essays, the guide opens with a description of major reference sources encompassing many cultures, as well as those tracing particular themes (such as…

Building on the author's groundbreaking work in "Building Superheroes," this book traces the influence of a wide-ranging set of "textual toys" from children's lives--church and hip-hop songs, rap music, movies, TV, traditional jump-rope rhymes, the words of professional sports announcers and radio deejays--upon school learning…

Provides an annotated bibliography of Web sites on the American West, the Oregon Trail, Santa Fe Trail, Gold Rush, Donner Party, mountain men and the fur trade, Native Americans, cowboys, and western folklore. Lists related books, activity books, and CD-ROMs on cowboys, migration, and settling. (PEN)

The open-ended activities in this book are designed to extend the imagination and creativity of students and to encourage students to examine their feelings and values as influenced by the media. The activities focus upon the cognitive and affective pupil behaviors described in Williams' Model: fluent thinking; flexible thinking; original…