Contends that young children are fascinated by big books and teachers find them enjoyable and effective. Discusses appropriate multicultural content for big books and presents suggestions for effective classroom use. Includes a bibliography of big books categorized into six multicultural groupings. (CFR)

Contends that many teachers find it difficult to teach about South Africa because of a lack of appropriate instructional materials. Recommends three novels and includes suggested learning activities for each. Also recommends and includes the use of photographs and quotes from South African leaders as instructional resources. (CFR)

Discusses Howard Gardner's views regarding students' academic abilities. Describes the use of primary sources in history instruction. Includes a guide for analyzing primary sources for each level from kindergarten through eighth grade. (CFR)

Describes the use of poetry in U.S. history instruction. Contends that using simulations, historical documents, and literature help make students keenly aware of conflicts and the human impact of historical events. Recommends that students write poetry related to historical topics and includes five examples of student-written poetry. (CFR)

Presents the 1994 children's trade book recommendations of the Joint Committee of the National Council for the Social Studies and the Children's Book Council. Discusses the six criteria for book selection. Includes an annotated bibliography of more than 140 books categorized by primary, intermediate, and advanced grade levels. (CFR)

Asserts that studying regional holidays provides an opportunity to teach about the multicultural nature of the United States. Describes the background and history of the Mardi Gras holiday in New Orleans (Louisiana). Provides individual and group activities for teaching about Mardi Gras and includes suggested resources. (CFR)

Describes a project in which grade-four students read a historical novel and wrote essays as historical characters. College-level education students also read the novel and replied to the elementary students. Concludes that the project helped students achieve preestablished instructional goals. (CFR)

This paper reviews the literature and reports on three studies evaluating the use of hypermedia computer study guides or supplementary reading materials with regular students, remedial students, students having learning disabilities, and poor readers. Introductory material explains what hypermedia is and describes typical features. Research…

A study examined preservice teachers' responses to a teacher education course and explored the relationship between how the preservice teachers made sense of the coursework and the assumptions of teacher educators. Nine preservice teachers enrolled in a preservice content area reading summer course were each interviewed six times during the…

This teaching guide is a resource for the classroom teacher of limited-English-proficient (LEP) migrant students. Following introductory information about LEP students, the guide contains sections on: (1) organizing your class for language learning, emphasizing cooperative learning; (2) language development, emphasizing social interaction; (3)…

This presentation describes the use of portfolio assessment in a teacher education course "Teaching Reading in the Content Areas," which is required for secondary certification. Portfolio assessment provides students with opportunities to determine which skills are most congruent with their respective areas. The main body of this paper…

This edition is an annotated list of 390 literacy materials for adult new readers. All the materials are written on an eighth-grade level or below. These paperback instructional titles, many in workbook format, are for use with adult basic education (ABE) and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students. The introduction includes guidelines for…

A qualitative investigation was undertaken of the impact of a yearlong secondary reading course and practicum on two preservice teachers' beliefs about reading instruction and their actual classroom practices. Course-related data included transcribed interviews with the course instructor, narratives of course observations, and copies of course…

Reflecting a collaboration in terms of content areas, levels, and audience, this volume represents the efforts of science teachers and reading teachers to understand and help one another fine tune their craft. Chapters in the volume include: (1) "Metacognition, Reading and Science Education" (Linda Baker); (2) "Science and Reading:…

Intended for elementary and secondary school teachers, supervisors, curriculum specialists, and researchers, this report presents the proceedings of an institute on the Learning from Text Project sponsored by the University of California and the California State University systems. After an introduction by institute chairperson Deborah Hancock,…