Describes classroom word games and reading activities that encourage students to think for themselves. These include word substitution drills, reassembling sentences, and spelling-related words. Notes that encouraging students to analyze, synthesize, and apply their knowledge teaches them the skills needed to succeed as independent learners. (MDM)

This study investigated the use of videotaped versus live student presentations in a graduate career counseling course. The results of a survey administered to the students indicated a preference for videotaped over live presentations. The advantages and disadvantages of videotaped presentations are also discussed. (MDM)

Describes cooperative class projects carried out by at-risk high school students on a variety of topics about Native Americans and involving in-depth research and multimedia presentations of their findings. (SR)

Applies results from field and laboratory studies about business usage of electronic meeting systems (EMS) to the classroom setting. Argues that it transforms the classroom from a traditional instructor-centered environment to a student-centered environment in which students participate, participate more equally, and report a highly satisfying…

Suggests a prewriting activity that encompasses peer questioning to help basic writing students come up with topics for papers. Contends teachers should explain their expectations to the students and gives a homework assignment to either write a letter to their "future" children or devise a "life tree." Describes questioning in…

Our University of Alabama introductory astronomy course has large enrollments, with the usual problems of low attendance and students putting off studying until just before major exams--with predictable consequences. We tried one strategy--cooperatively answering quiz questions--during our May 2002 interim term. Classes were long: three hours a…

M. S. Peck (1987) identifies six characteristics of a "true community": (1) inclusiveness (no "in group" or "out group"); (2) commitment; (3) consensus (differences are acknowledged and processed); (4) contemplation; (5) vulnerability; and (6) "graceful" fighting (conflict should not be avoided, minimized,…

Emphasizing real-life communication skills, this book offers cooperative activities to help teachers supplement their writing programs with easy-to-use critical thinking activities. The activities in the book are suitable for grades 4 through 8, for gifted younger students, or as a remediation tool for older students. The activities in the book…

Two techniques can be used to improve spelling scores and make spelling more interesting. The first technique is a combination of peer tutoring and the corrected-test technique. Students are paired as tutors and tutees on the basis of past spelling performance. The tutor gives a series of bi-weekly spelling tests to the tutee and helps with error…

Five card games for use in beginning to advanced level Chinese language classrooms or outside the classroom are described. The games require a flat playing surface, the prescribed deck of cards, and three to five students. Instructor supervision is minimal for all but one of the games, and all provide healthy competition and fun with a purpose.…

A double cloze activity, designed to use the cloze procedure to create a realistic context for the exchange of information in the classroom, uses two versions of the same text with different words deleted in each. The administration of the double cloze can be divided into four parts. First, the students listen twice to a reading or recording of…

A collection of 56 classroom games to be used in grammar instruction in English as a second language includes five game categories: (1) traditional, competitive games modified to allow students to work in small groups and show themselves and the teacher how much or how little grammar they know; (2) Silent Way or Silent Way-inspired exercises in…

A collection of 25 games, some illustrated, for English language instruction includes information exchange games for pairs and small groups (Describe and Draw, Describe and Arrange, Construct It, Describe and Construct, Find the Difference, Complete It, Ask the Right Question, Compare and Check, Rescue), linking and matching games (Use It, Picture…

The teaching activities presented in this article focus on a bookmaking party, which gives children a format in which they can publish and share their activities in a formal way, provides them with books for recording their writing, and involves students, parents, and the community with children's writing. The paper describes the steps for…

A learning procedure which utilizes real communication activities to help students gain communicative abilities is described. The reasons for its success and ways in which it can include related areas of English as a second language are discussed. (Author/ND)