This booklet was developed from the premise that the activity of drama is central to a child's language experience. Its purpose is to help the classroom teacher initiate drama activities, understand the relationship of the activities to one another, use drama activities as an integral part of the classroom curriculum, and determine whether the…

This paper reports on an experiment carried out by the Chinese language program at Oberlin College to use play production as a means of teaching spoken Chinese. The experiment was inspired by the fact that teaching spoken Chinese cannot be solved by traditional classroom methods, particularly at the intermediate level. The lack of texts, the…

In exploring nonverbal language, this book suggests activities in which children can express and interpret meanings with more than words, provides a starting point for teachers in helping children develop nonverbal communication skills, and recommends that teachers build language arts programs which emphasize more than just words. Contents consist…

This ideabook, designed to aid parents and teachers in developing the preschool child's powers of creative thinking and self-expression, suggests 50 ideas and activities for stimulating creativity in preschool children. The entries are presented in five chapters: (1) Viewing the World with Wonder and Open Eyes; (2) Natural Artistic Talent; (3)…

The IALAC (I Am Loveable and Capable) story presents one day in the life of 14 year old Randy, who puts on his IALAC sign each morning and sets out to face the world. As "put-downs" occur at home and at school, little pieces of his sign are torn away; by the end of the day very little of the sign remains. This allegory is a tool for humanistic…

This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of peers in reducing the isolation of preschool children who exhibited very little or no interaction with peers. Selection of subjects was made on the basis of quantity of verbal behavior and amount and quality of classroom play. In a 15-minute dyad play situation which maximized the…

Games and dramatic activities can help students explore their personal responses to literary works.

Discusses guidelines for using various teaching methods: (1) lecture, (2) discussion, (3) demonstration-performance, (4) dramatization, (5) role-play, and (6) problem situation or case studies. Reviews the strengths and weaknesses of each method. Also suggests determinants for the selection of methods. (CSS)

Recently a group of Newcastle teachers spent a week inside some London schools teaching classes they had never seen before. They worked with local teachers and children under the eagle eye of Dorothy Heathcote. Here is a report on the way that the week developed. (Editor/RK)

Describes a role-play exercise in which several groups, of varying ability and of six members each, acted out a crime story, with the help of written information. Preparation included vocabulary and pronunciation exercises. After performance, errors were corrected and the play performed again, with roles re-distributed. (IFS/WGA)

Defines "creative rehersal" as a semi-structured playing of a narrative thread in a spontaneous manner by a child or group of children and an adult in order to practive problem solving abilities and describes the interaction of a child and an adult in such a situation. (MH)

Includes an annotated bibliography of documents in the ERIC system that (1) provide insight on the value of role playing and dramatic play in the classroom and (2) suggest a variety of classroom activities that use improvisation as tool to help children retain ideas, emotions, or any academic lessons. (JD)

Describes a class project for which students discussed their conception of a hero, defined a hero in an essay, researched a specific person they felt was a hero, and finally, gave an oral presentation to the class acting out the character of their hero. (SRT)

Describes a three-step process which enables students to understand the subjunctive in German. This method is based on Stephen Krashen and Tracy Terrell's Natural Approach and involves students in communicative situations through the use of props, dialogs, and mini-dramas. (SED)

Describes an experiment in which 43 children aged 12 to 13 years were withdrawn from their regular classes to spend a week in a French immersion program. The week was organized around the theme of the French Revolution; a particular part was assigned to each student. All activities were in French. (SED)