With increased pressures on school districts to enhance student achievement, administrators are implementing professional learning communities (PLCs) as one method to improve student performance (DuFour & Eaker, 1998, Hord, 1997, Thompson, Gregg, & Niska, 2004). Educators working within a PLC experience a shared ideology, supportive…

Discusses the use of literature in the whole-language approach. Examples show the integration of a second grader's experiences with the curriculum; integrating the language arts in the middle school via study of the author as well as the book; and the integration of literature into the study of history. Titles to use in each area are suggested.…

This study investigated the effect of the integration of media projects into an existing language arts curriculum on the year-end achievement of fifth and sixth grade students at the University of Wyoming laboratory school. During their communication arts block of language arts, reading, and literature, each student completed a minimum of four…

Designed for use by teachers of mentally gifted children, this book is one of a group of curriculum materials prepared by the California State Department of Education for a project on the mentally gifted. The contents of this book on literature are divided into four chapters, each of which deals with some aspect of literature instruction in…

This collection of seven essays provides a general theoretical discussion of the overall speech program for the elementary and junior high schools and develops several aspects of instruction in detail. Dorothy C. Higgenbotham formulates a comprehensive proposal for the development of a total speech program. The essentially symbol-centered nature…

Presents the responses of three fifth-grade students to two current children's novels to show how popular literature and personal response can provide teachers with insights about the literary understanding of their students. (HTH)

This booklet of teacher-developed and teacher-tested activities and strategies draws upon the curriculum areas of language arts, mathematics and social studies. Though prepared for fourth, fifth and sixth grade students, the material is adaptable for primary grades and can be used for group activities or as individual task cards. Activity sheets…

This test is designed to measure children's reading understanding of similes found in literature books suitable for grades four, five, and six. The simile is presented in context and is questioned in multiple choice format. The possible answer choices are based on the responses in a pilot study which could be divided into nine categories. An…

This paper investigates the proper length of instruction in various curriculum areas. The 17th century educator, Johann Amos Comenius, believed that a teacher should be careful not to present too much for a child to learn. A review of the research shows that there are no clear and ironclad answers. Some studies have shown that large deficits in…

The packet describes procedures for identifying Hispanic elementary students with high academic potential and presents an instructional guide for programing. Guidelines are presented for conducting a needs assessment on the extent of ethnic imbalance in current gifted programs, encouraging referrals from all staff, and describing the search of all…

Directed to teachers and teacher trainers who want to infuse career-related principles into their existing basic skills curriculum (language arts and mathematics), this report presents strategies and ideas for both the primary and intermediate levels within the elementary school. The first section addresses the need for materials to help…

Focuses on the use of trade books in the social studies classroom. Presents different trade books on human rights, child laborers, and different cultures for use with intermediate grade students. Includes lesson ideas for each topic and provides unit culminating activities. (CMK)

Three case studies describe and analyze the events occurring in three classrooms in the St. Louis metropolitan area during the first year (1979-1980) of the use of ThinkAbout, a series of 60 15-minute programs designed to strengthen the reasoning skills of fifth and sixth graders, and to review and reinforce language arts, mathematics, and study…

The second of a three-volume set, this handbook provides direction to teachers of grades 4-6 for integrating occupational information with the academic subjects of social studies, language arts, mathematics, and science. Following a section on bulletin board ideas, separate subject sections present teacher and student directed activities which…

The activities described in this booklet were developed by three teachers in the Burrillville Reading Observes Necessary Communication Objectives and Skills (Broncos) project, a Right to Read program in Burrillville, Rhode Island. The eight activities may be used in elementary schools to integrate language arts with other subject areas including…