This lesson plan highlights one episode in the "Divine Comedy" to provide students with an introduction to Dante's poem. After a brief introduction to the opening of the "Divine Comedy," which portrays Dante as a pilgrim guided by the poet Virgil on a journey through the Christian afterlife toward God, students read Canto 5 of…

Anthologists and editors prepare the way for poetry readers, selecting works that reward close reading and assisting interpretation through annotation. But on the Internet people can return to poetry in its native state--one set of words among many others competing for appreciation--and read with fresh eyes. The learning objectives of this lesson…

Discusses how reading comprehension can be improved through research-validated instruction. Outlines emerging issues of comprehension instruction, such as the limits of word-recognition instruction, cognitive capacity constraints, and diverse text tasks. Contends that there needs to be experimental validation of comprehensive comprehension…

Explores rhetorical specification in writing tasks by examining responses to a poorly constructed task used in large-scale placement testing at a major university. Argues that fictional scenarios (writing prompts which give student writers a role to play) can be effective, provided that the roles created are reasonable ones for students to adopt.…

Describes the collaboration between two teachers, involving six eighth grade and two ninth grade English classes, to present a unit reflecting the needs, hopes, and potential of the handicapped. Explains how volunteerism was incorporated into the classroom. Describes preparation, traveling to the Special Olympics State Basketball Tournament, class…

Suggests that sometimes making assignments "vague" places the burden of decision making and problem solving on students, requires that students invent and pursue their own questions, and demands that they practice independent thinking. (MS)

Creative ways to motivate students to read and report on books include having them retell the stories differently, invent products related to the stories, share snacks like those the characters ate, illustrate action from the story, write imaginary conversations between themselves and the characters, and turn the stories into short skits. (SM)

Activities designed to acquaint students with the library media center are listed: find examples of fractions; estimate the total number of books; find information on a topic; pick favorite leads; locate the most and least popular books; find animal heroes; discover answers to questions; redesign the library; select a book for a secret partner;…

Describes a first-grade project in which students created theme-based picture books. Each student's five- to eight-page book contained a title, picture, informative sentence, and diagram on each page. Students then created tables of contents and alphabetized and indexed their books. (MDM)

Discusses the issue of students buying papers on the Internet. Considers how educators reconcile their ability to teach effectively with their students' ability to cheat and steal without the teacher's knowledge. Suggests a solution by assigning essays that cannot be bought. (SG)

This qualitative study explored college teaching in an "apprenticeship" setting, specifically the architectural design studio. The study examined studio teachers' efforts to design effective project assignments and to help students move successfully through those assignments. Two design teachers were interviewed and observed as their students…

More librarians are finding ways to integrate library instruction into existing courses in a manner that makes library resources and the methodology for finding them an essential and basic component of the courses. Course-integrated instruction requires close cooperation between the librarian and the instructor and subject expertise on the part of…

Offers tips on effectively and cheaply incorporating student graphics and photography into a literary magazine. (CRH)

This video is one of a four-part series which is designed to introduce teachers and parents to standards and teaching in a standards-based environment, and aims to help teachers and parents understand how teaching with standards can change classrooms, work assignments, and student performance. This video demonstrates what starting to meet the…

This lesson plan introduces students to one of the most widely-read genres of 19th-century American literature and an important influence within the African American literary tradition today. The lesson focuses on the "Narrative of William W. Brown, An American Slave" (1847), which, along with the "Narrative of the Life of Frederick…