Analyzes information in the ERIC data base which concerns mastery learning and mastery testing with emphasis on the secondary school. (MKM)

Presents six ideas for teaching vocabulary including using firsthand experiences as illustrations, concrete items and visuals, comparisons of related words, variations or transformations of words, figurative meanings, and context to make intelligent guesses. (RS)

Describes an activity in which students learn new words by guessing the meaning in isolation, in context, and then by looking in a dictionary. Notes that the pressure on students to be correct is removed by having different students guess the meaning at each stage of the activity. (RS)

Presents numerous suggestions for effective and efficient meetings, including: deciding on the meeting's purpose and outcome; preparing and sending out an agenda before the meeting; starting meetings on time; using a variety of strategies for reaching decisions and solving problems; and compiling and distributing minutes as soon as possible. (RS)

Responds to a number of letters from readers of this column. (RS)

Suggests applying questioning strategies based on literal, interpretive, and applied levels to reading assignments. (MKM)

Describes and evaluates the Test of Adolescent Language-2 (TOAL-2), a revision of the Test of Adolescent Language (TOAL). Concludes that while the TOAL-2 is a good test to identify language disordered students, it is not effective in determining areas of relative strength and weakness in language abilities. (MM)

Even those who fail may be aware of the value of reading. (Author)

Discusses three "poem cycles" which represent a collaboration of a poet and a painter. Notes that teachers will find these cycles to be treasures that will heighten young people's appreciation of the natural world and will show them the power that a collaboration of different modes of expression can have in creating meaning. (RS)

Discusses procedural schematics (how-to texts). Suggests activities to help students understand these documents. (RS)

Examines the broadening scope of "literacy" as reflected in the ERIC database. Argues that the definition of literacy has expanded to include making meaning from a variety of sources and communicating it to a variety of audiences. (RS)

Suggests that becoming aware of the origins of common words and learning how more sophisticated words relate to historical developments can help students learn vocabulary. (RAE)

Shows how the scheme for understanding mimetic documents in previous columns can be used as a framework for understanding the levels of knowledge that make up John Anderson's "declarative stage." (RS)

Describes pictures--visual mimetic documents which show the denotative and connotative features of some object, state, or event. Presents instructional activities which use pictures. (RS)

Suggests that true literacy is "a reaching out for understanding about the significance of human experience." (MKM)