Oral reading, usually designated as unessential, is an effective teaching technique which students enjoy. Through careful preparation, reading to students can help to develop linguistic, cognitive, perceptual, and affective abilities necessary to read well. This can be combined productively with a program of silent, independent reading. An outline…

Communication theories provide some assistance to these involved with interpretive reading, but the performance of literature calls for its own theory based on meaning and the unique qualities of interpretive skills. Theories of meaning involve both word meaning, based on the generalized processes of shared language experiences, and a personalized…

This seven unit curriculum guide, a revision of the 1968 Michigan Speech Association guide (ED 026 390), is designed to provide individualized instruction for the high school student in speech communication skills. The authors develop each unit by first asking important questions about the subject and the student and then suggesting a variety of…

Dynamic classroom role-playing for junior and senior high school classes in literature and acting is an essential ingredient in cultivating characterization and interpretation if a student is to learn the technical skills of performance. Although no simple classroom performance blueprint exists for predicting the degree of success a student…

Any use of language involves the following interlocking systems: (1) referential; (2) contextualization; and (3) ideology. These together constitute culturally viable "discourse systems." Examination of these systems as they operate in daily contexts reveals a paradox in the concept of literacy. (Author/BJV)

Describes two classroom activities that were developed to promote a whole language approach to listening, speaking, reading, and writing. One involved fifth grade students who wrote legends that other students paid to read and evaluate, and the other involved an eighth grade English class who gave free poetry readings in a coffee house setting.…

A high school library media specialist uses storytelling regularly in her oral presentations for students. For an audience of adolescents, stories need to be selected carefully and edited to keep the action moving. Music and character voices are effective in capturing and holding teenagers' attention. Storytelling is a tool for curriculum…

This performance guide is the result of work conducted at the University of Virginia's National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute, 1989, on "Spanish Literature in Performance," in which 25 secondary school Spanish teachers studied Spanish texts from the perspective of classroom performance to deepen knowledge of the texts and…

This performance guide is the result of work conducted at the University of Virginia's National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute, 1989, on "Spanish Literature in Performance," in which 25 secondary school Spanish teachers studied Spanish texts from the perspective of classroom performance to deepen knowledge of the texts and…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 15 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) creative dramatics and theatre arts among socially and emotionally handicapped inner-city adolescents; (2) The Toone Marionette Theater of Brussels; (3)…

A method of studying the responses of adolescents to literature was devised and utilized in analyzing the reactions of 52 ninth- and 10th-grade students to four short stories. Each story was divided into six sections and the students' verbal responses were recorded after reading each section. The resulting data indicated that, of the seven…

The purpose of this second book of 21 self-contained essays is the same as that of the first volume published in 1972: to bring together the scholarly theory and current research regarding oral interpretation. One third of the essays are centered on literature itself: prose fiction, poetry, and the drama. These essays discuss topics such as point…

During the 1950s, when it first began, Readers Theatre was textual in its emphasis; it involved the group reading of literature and the staging of poems and poets' stories, essays, and scenes. In its second stage, during the sixties, Readers Theatre became a directors' art; it was the director who adapted and arranged the literature and whose…

The curriculum outlined in this document was designed for the creative teacher to use in a learning environment which encourages pupils to experiment, to explore, to develop a positive self-image, and to express ideas freely and without fear of losing dignity. This document defines 19 drama skills and describes drama activities, with suggested…

Shows that storytelling can be used in elementary language classes to build self-esteem among students, because telling stories drawn from their memories reveals students' lifelong relationship with language. Emphasizes the importance of choosing appropriate stories to tell, and discusses an activity where students retell the story of a book they…