Describes the "Chinese Menu System" of student instructional units based on the ideas of James R. Moffet being used by teachers in the Columbus, Georgia, area in which students select learning activities from categories constructed around a single topic. (JL)

Enumerates ways in which material recorded directly from the radio (interviews, sports commentaries, etc.) and TV ("People's Court") can be used in high school to teach a wide range of English skills. (NKA)

Introduces a new column that will tell about research being conducted in the classroom. (EL)

Points out reasons why educational innovations fail and suggests ways to make current efforts in writing instruction more successful. (JL)

Enumerates reasons for using quotations as a staple in the English classroom, such as: to lend authority to words, to summarize a concept, to motivate or inspire, or to enhance vocabulary growth. (NKA)

Applies educational research on the composing process to the writing of junior high school students. Explains how tapes were used to create a new unit aimed at correcting student writing weaknesses. (JL)

Suggests that modeling the writing process be carried one step further by the classroom writing teacher to the publishing component, and recounts some of the benefits to be gained by doing so. (NKA)

Recounts a teacher's successful search for a game that would reinforce her students' grasp of English grammar. (NKA)

Shows that, although peer editing groups are effective, they also have their limitations, and advocates instead the use of revision workshops as a practical alternative. Contains a checklist used in a revision workshop. (NKA)

Uses ideas contained in King's book as the basis for a unit on critical analysis of horror films for composition students. (NKA)

Outlines a method for preparing student-generated television shows for the local cable television channel. (NKA)

Suggests an alternative approach for a popular culture course--an exploration of the culture of the students' parents, or "unpopular" culture. Possible activities for a unit include: interviews (on entertainment preferences, for example), observations (dress codes for social gatherings, parental food and drink habits, etc.), or an attic…

Recommends a three-part writing process of prewriting, writing, and postwriting activities that uses the cultural world students bring with them to the classroom to stimulate writing improvement. (JL)

Discusses the impetus towards social relevance among educators in the 1960s and 1970s, then assesses the resulting interdisciplinary orientation of elementary and secondary school English curricula in the 1980s. Surveys ways that English classes address the social consequences of science and technology. (JG)

Outlines a student-conducted literature course that uses several classic novels ("My Antonia,""The Pearl," etc.) as the basis for group discussion, writing, and oral performance activities--all directed toward extracting "meaning" from the books selected. (NKA)