Presents ideas for getting elementary students to explore the meaning of cliches and idiomatic phrases. (SJL)

Presented are several word and sentence puzzles, both simple and complex, for student use. All involve various-shaped grids made up of squares for letter or word fill-ins. (Author/SJL)

Help kids create poems, stories and plays orally and they'll be readier to write. (Editor)

Describes an early-practice approach to research skills using activity work sheets, a technique that yields an immediate bonus because once they've been mastered most students can apply the skills smoothly to many areas of the curriculum. (Author/RK)

Poems, activities and your kids' own ideas can produce a play that is truly their own. (Editor)

Students learn the sign language of the deaf as a tactile aid designed to help them spell phonetically and to motivate their interest in spelling and grammar. Generally at least a year below grade level in reading, this process helps them to renew their self concept and become more sensitive to all handicaps. (Author/RK)

One typewriter or many--a typing program delights students and helps improve language skills. (Editor)

Touchdowns, home runs, goals and bull's-eyes! These are some of the rewards in store for the students who play typing drill games at Del Mar Heights Elementary School in Del Mar, California. (Author)

Which means, receiving message loud and clear--what classroom "good buddies" do with CB lingo in language activities. (Editor)

Spelling is fun when the kids take a personal interest in what they learn. (Editor)

A monthly exchange of tips, projects, ideas and resources. (Editor)

Practicing dictionary skills helps kids discover something old, something new and something borrowed about our language's history. (Editor)

Describes a teaching unit on portmanteau words, such as "smog" and "petrodollars," which are created by truncating two words. (SJL)

This article explains the components of the reading box and trading program wherein each student creates an activity box based on books. The boxes contain books, comprehension folders, and games and activities for developing language arts, reading and thinking skills. (KC)

Use "West Side Story" or another of the many Broadway musicals that lend themselves to classroom activities to take your students off the beaten path of routine learning. (Author)