Asserts that citizenship is actualized through curriculum and instruction that emphasize learning as a process of discovery rather than a transmittal of information. Describes how a presentation which involved a flag-burning stimulated shared inquiry. Offers a detailed method that uses chaos in the interpretation of literature to increase…

Demonstrates how discussion and collaborative learning can be an effective means of empowering the students and helping them to learn about literature. Asserts that talking in groups can be a powerful avenue for learning. Includes actual transcripts of student discussions. (PRA)

Discusses collaborative learning and group work. Asserts that teachers often put pressure on a group so that students cannot communicate freely. Suggests changing evaluative markers from good and bad to most outrageous, most thought provoking, and most humorous, so that students' creative energy can flow. Includes transcripts of student…

Offers ways to teach students to understand and appreciate stories not just for their plots but for their stylistic features. Suggests that teachers demonstrate alternatives by rewriting passages in ways different from those chosen by the author, and asking students to describe the differences. Includes classroom examples. (PRA)

Offers seven approaches to integrating foreign students and recent immigrants into the culture of the school and classroom. Discusses the meeting of the minds, growth through participation, mingling languages and literatures, a cultural-heritage project, sharing food and stories, new friendships through journals, and ideas for involving parents.…

Discusses four books that can capture the interest and touch the lives of teenage wrestlers. Asserts that, if teachers understand the wrestler's predicament, they can become part of a supportive network actively showing support for a student-athlete's goals, desires, and interests. (PRA)

Offers four reviews of readable and user-friendly handbooks or dictionaries of English usage, and ideas for their use in teaching. Includes handmade as well as published handbooks. (PRA)

Reviews and describes Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (HBJ) Literature Series. Discusses the contributors to these anthologies, the content, and a teaching apparatus. Concludes that HBJ has made few changes in their books over the years and has paid only the most cursory attention to how schools, teachers, pedagogy, literature, and culture has changed.…

Discusses three philosophical pillars that support collaborative learning: "spaces of appearance," active engagement, and ownership. Describes classroom experiences with collaborative learning supported by these pillars. (PRA)

Offers peer-response groups as a method for teaching composition. Discusses published and student models, practicing in class with a teacher's draft, and how to form and run peer-response groups. Lists five observed qualities of successful groups, and describes how the teacher fits into the process. Includes examples from students' papers. (PRA)

Asserts that role-playing peer-response groups provide effective feedback and help students develop a sense of the characteristics of a particular audience. Illustrates with a sample lesson (a college application essay) by outlining five steps of the process. Offers other uses of the role-playing peer-response groups method. (PRA)

Describes the positive experiences of a tenth grade writing teacher using peer evaluation to encourage revision of papers. (PRA)

Argues the artificial, propagandistic quality of demonizing the enemy, a technique used by both sides in the Persian Gulf War. Asserts that principled and effective foreign policymaking requires intelligence and moral courage, whereas demonizing the enemy requires only a phrase book and the will to injure. (PRA)

Describes a group investigation unit in a tenth grade English class that focused on the Middle East. Outlines six stages used for the investigation. Discusses the use of a steering committee as well as the problems and frustrations experienced during the project. Lists 10 areas in which the students' skills were expanded. (PRA)

Describes a course designed to challenge students to look at the way they are influenced by the mass media. Provides details of the procedures for forming the cooperative groups, the material used, the issues discussed, and the students' responses. (PRA)