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In accordance with current recommendations concerning teaching reading to kindergarten children, this paper presents a kindergarten reading curriculum. Included are a description of major instructional techniques, a time-line illustrating how instruction might evolve across the school year, and finally, a battery of informal tasks for assessing reading ability at the end of the kindergarten year. (SRT)

Meeting the needs of students who are below their grade level in spelling ability is a continual problem for elementary teachers. Much has been learned over the past 15 years about how children learn to spell in the primary grades. Developmental spelling sequences have gained credibility and developmental spelling theory has provided important diagnostic and instructional guidance to primary teachers. In helping poor spellers progress, teachers must first diagnose the level of ability at which students are operating. To do this, the teacher must decide what aspects of children's performance predict their future spelling achievement. Once the instructional level is determined for groups of children and appropriate spelling materials have been located for each group, the traditional practice of having children study, memorize, and take weekly tests on graded lists of words should be initiated. The key to an effective spelling program is the establishment of a strong classroom writing program in which the teacher monitors and comments on the children's spelling. (This essay reports on an actual fourth grade classroom, and includes tables of data and graded spelling lists from the Qualitative Inventory of Word Knowledge.) (JD)

These guides are designed for use by early childhood teachers in conjunction with four popular children's books, providing teachers with lesson plans and activities to develop their students' thinking skills. Each guide focuses on a specific book and skill as follows: (1) the guide for "The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters" emphasizes the whole language approach to teaching writing skills; (2) the guide for "The Paper Bag Princess" emphasizes predicting skills; (3) the guide for "Pigs" emphasizes sequencing skills; and (4) the guide for "The Velveteen Rabbit" emphasizes self-esteem. The guides also contain ideas for integrating the books and lessons across the curriculum. (MDM)

This booklet examines the development of a student enrollment contract designed for home study and discusses the items that need to be included in the document, what a home study contract is, how to begin to design it, what areas the contract should satisfy, and the items that should and should not be included. Finally, samples of enrollment contracts are provided to be used as a checklist in order to gauge whether or not all relevant information and legal items are included. It is noted that before designing a contract it is advisable to become familiar with the various laws and regulations established by state and federal governments. (GLR)

Collected are seven technical assistance papers concerning the development and implementation of community school age day care programs. The first paper provides a step-by-step guide to organizing a school-age child care program and the second paper focuses on developing a high quality program. Paper 3 explores administrative, policy, and legal issues related to running an effective program. The fourth paper discusses financial management of programs and the fifth indicates ways of finding the money needed to operate the program. Paper 6 discusses aspects of serving children with special needs in a school-age child care program. Paper 7 discusses personnel issues. Each paper lists sources of additional information. (RH)

Written from the vantage point of a library personnel director, this paper presents recent graduates of M.L.S. programs with practical guidance for finding first jobs. It covers four basic areas: (1) the ways one may look for a job, (2) what one should expect from an employer in the employment processes and on the job, (3) what an employer expects in the same circumstances, and (4) recent trends and projections for placement. (RAA)

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate methods for developing cognitive processes in adult students. It discusses concept formation and concept attainment, problem solving (which involves concept formation and concept attainment), Bruner's three stages of learning (enactive, iconic, and symbolic modes), and visual thinking. A curriculum for logical thinking is described that would make the processes of concept formation and concept attainment visible by incorporating the visualizing of solutions to problems. Suggestions for a curriculum for logical thinking include encouragement of students' working in pairs or small groups on problem solving and concentration on the process of the reasoning, not the response. Samples of types of problems used in a curriculum for logical thinking follow. Solutions are provided for each exercise. These types of problems appear: concentration, visualization, abstraction, Venn diagrams, pattern seeking, analogy, verbal analogies, inductive reasoning, and charting. (YLB)

Designed to provide logical guidelines and to outline optimum conditions for the conservation of a research library collection, this "mock" policy statement can be modified to a particular library's situation. It includes principles of conservation and elements of a comprehensive conservation program, such as collection maintenance, and organization of a conservation department. A selection of 64 readings provides the basis for further study of conservation administration in a research library. (Author)

A technique for teaching writing in academic English as a second language (ESL) to students bound for college-level courses focuses on one essential reading and writing skill: using multiple sources as input for writing. The program is designed for any level and consists of a series of readings and a number of questions, the answers to which become successive paragraphs or sections in a final paper. The procedure for developing such a unit includes: selection of a topic of interest to the class; location of three sources of appropriate difficulty from among ESL reading texts; narrowing the topic to one that can be covered through use of the sources; deciding on the procedure to be followed in organizing the topic (what questions can or should be answered and in what order); reviewing the resources to assure that at least two contain information relevant to each question; distributing the questions to the students in sequential order; giving each student access to all sources; having the students take notes from the sources; having students write a first draft essay answer to each question, using only their notes; and having students put the pieces together to form a whole essay from the revised and edited sections. (MSE)

This competency based curriculum guide is designed to give teachers an insight into the tasks necessary for students to be trained for employment in a photo-offset printing shop. The guide contains 127 task sheets grouped into eight areas: (1) job planning, layout, and design; (2) composition; (3) image assembly; (4) photo conversion; (5) stripping and platemaking; (6) offset presswork, (7) bindery and finishing; and (8) pre-employment and placement. Each task sheet states the task, performance objective, tools and materials needed, student action required, and performance checks to be used. It is noted that the identification of tasks was carried out through research and visitation of related high schools, area vocational centers, colleges, and the printing industry. (LRA)

This paper proceeds through an interdisciplinary unit of inquiry-based instruction, using the Vietnam War combat novel or memoir as a coming of age narrative, the classic thematic structure of the "bildungsroman." The paper discusses several key inquiry activities and asks readers to focus on two other key inquiry activities to help illustrate how the activities and the unit work and how one activity leads to and connects to another activity. It proposes that the idea of the "bildungsroman" is reflected in the set of key unit questions and problems that provide one basis for an inquiry-based thematic unit. Sample lessons provided in the paper have been set up so that students have a variety of opportunities to interact in different ways, and through their interaction, to build data sets that they will use when they analyze and write about the literature, to develop and practice key thinking strategies, to foster respect for diversity, and to promote habits of mind--critical thinking about literature. (Contains a 54-item selected bibliography. An appendix provides the lesson plans addressed in the paper.) (NKA)

The identification of learning disabilities (LD) in preschoolers in inclusive settings presents a number of obstacles related to the federal definition in the reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This definition appears to emphasize school performance, which is not an appropriate measure for preschool-age children because of natural variability in development and the lack of formal school learning. This paper identifies possible precursors and characteristics of preschool children which can predict learning problems at school age, techniques of functional assessment for busy teachers of inclusive classes, and relevant interventions. The paper asserts that rather than focusing on academic performance, evaluation should determine whether there are specific delays or deviations in the developmental domains which include the social-emotional, adaptive, motor, communication, and cognitive areas. The most common characteristics of LD at preschool age are: age inappropriate hyperactivity, impulsivity, distractibility, inattention, disinhibition, disorganization, speech/language delays, auditory processing delay, visual processing difficulties, short- and long-term memory delays, social-emotional problems, and awkwardness in gross and fine motor skills. Assessment of such behavior by teachers should be functional, able to be performed during daily routines. Such assessment includes curriculum based measurements, play assessment, and portfolios. The paper concludes by describing interventions in the developmental domains of behavior, speech and language, auditory and visual processing, cognitive, motor-adaptive, and social-emotional. Contains 46 references. (EV)

Current technological advances have made possible teaching techniques which were previously impossible. Distance and distributed learning technologies have made it possible to instruct outside of the classroom setting. An advantage to this advance includes that ability to reach students who are unable to relocate to the university. However, there is another advantage which makes teaching the family communication course using these technologies more intriguing: the ability to discuss issues of a potentially sensitive nature, family relationships, in a fairly anonymous manner. This paper discusses teaching techniques, such as problem based learning, utilizing distance and distributed learning technologies including curricula on CD-ROM, e-mail and listservs, on-line databases and course materials, and on-line chat rooms. The paper analyzes the implications of a classroomless, non-face-to-face, mediated technology on interpersonal and family communication course anthropogogy. Contains 37 references and 2 tables. An appendix contains two figures--screen dumps from the presentation program developed for the paper. (Author)

Presented as a conversation rather than as a single-voiced academic paper, this paper describes the three people's experiences with experimental academic writing as students and as teachers. It describes such writing (or autobiographical scholarship) as a hybrid blend of autobiographical bits and scholarship, writing and reading, public and private, accessibility and specificity which is inspired by or collaborates with feminist, anti-elitist, multi-ethnic, reader-response, ecocritical, and postmodern theories. The paper then describes teaching experimental kinds of writing alongside more traditional forms, and notes that experimental writing helps students who have felt less engaged with standard academic writing to discover voices they had closeted and enables them to enter the conversation where conformity to standard approaches had left them mute. According to the paper, the writing teachers have also noted that experimental writing draws students into what they are writing about in interesting ways. It is then noted that experimental writing raises new questions about evaluating writing--evaluating experimental writing requires more dialogue with the writer to understand the experiment. The paper concludes that although experimental writing requires more dialogue with students, teachers think of their students more as writers and the students respond more as writers--with skills, knowledge, intention, and an ability and desire to learn and to use writers' tools. (RS)

While teacher educators prepare students throughout their coursework for successful teaching careers, the subjects of interviewing and the rigorous demands of full-time teaching are often not specifically covered. This paper reviews the essentials of interviewing techniques and addresses issues related to the realities of a first full-time teaching position. Steps in the hiring process are outlined, including those prior to the interview and aspects beyond the control of the candidate; 26 possible questions candidates may encounter are listed. Suggestions are offered for helping students prepare to meet the challenges that will probably confront them as beginning teachers. These are: maintaining classroom discipline; managing classroom instruction and facilitating students' learning and mastery of material; and adapting to the workload. The paper closes with suggestions to help students prepare for a fourth challenge: that teachers be familiar with the formal and informal requirements for successful teaching in their specific school and district. (Contains 12 references.) (ND)

This paper explores questions about linear relationships through the use of pattern. Participants in the session generated and extended patterns and used calculators to investigate the relationships. Examples from current Texas Instruments (TI) books and U.S. textbook series, plus examples from proposed TI materials are shared. These activities support the middle grades algebra strand suggested in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Principles and Standards document. (Author/KHR)

Following a widespread national trend, in 1996, a new two-credit hour course titled "Introduction to Civil Engineering" was introduced at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC). The class has a one-hour lecture per week, and a two-hour lab or small group session. One reason for the introduction of this class was to provide earlier contact with the students in the civil engineering (CE) major in an effort to reduce the number of students who change their major before they take a civil engineering class. Additional reasons for the introduction of this class were to provide training in the use of computer programs that the students will use in subsequent classes, and to provide a design experience early in the student's program of study, thereby, helping to integrate the engineering design experience throughout the curriculum. The final reason for this class is to introduce students to some basic concepts of statistics. These last three reasons are based on Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) suggestions to integrate design, computer usage, and statistics throughout the civil engineering curriculum. The topics of the lectures include the following: A discussion of the profession of engineering; sub-fields of civil engineering (i.e., structures, environmental, etc.); engineering ethics and professionalism; the engineering design process; written and oral communication skills; and introduction to statistics. This paper will focus on the experiences of the author with the last topic: Introduction to Statistics. Very basic statistical concepts were covered. About 6 class hours were devoted to the subject. Professionally prepared instructional videotapes were used. Some homework was assigned. The topics covered included measures of center (mode, mean, median), histograms, normal distributions, standardized curves, and linear regression. Student performance was measured by the homework grades, and student attitudes and opinions were measured by a questionnaire prepared by the author. The results are interesting. As might be expected, students found the topic to be of little interest. Student performance depended on their math backgrounds. The students were taking Math classes such as College Algebra, Trigonometry, and Calculus. As is expected, students in the higher level classes performed better. The material covered did not require the knowledge or use of Calculus, however. The conclusions of this work are that it is difficult to get engineering students to be interested in statistics, especially at the freshman level. One major difficulty with teaching this topic in a freshman class is the disparate math skills. The typical first semester engineering student is often not taking Calculus I as they did in the past. The implications of this fact are far ranging. The traditional eight-semester curriculum is predicated on taking Calculus very early in the program. If many students are not taking Calculus I until the second or third semester of their academic careers; the structure of freshman-level introductory courses needs to be carefully considered. (Author/YDS)

This paper lists five principles to consider that will enable beginning teachers to defend Individualized Education Program (IEP) decisions for students with disabilities in due process hearings. The first principle urges teachers to consider placing children with disabilities in regular education with supplemental aids and services when making placement decisions. A four-factor balancing test is provided that asks teachers to consider the educational benefits of placing the child in a full-time education program, the non-academic benefits, the effect the child would have on the teacher and other students, and the placement's costs. The second and third principles state that decisions should be made in the child's best interests and should always be individualized, and that general education teachers who will have a child with a disability in his/her class should be fully aware of the nature and extent of the child's IEP. The fourth principle highlights the need for a full continuum of services to be available. The final principle urges teachers to use the IEP to document the placements considered, the rationales for rejection of placements, and the rationale for the recommended placement. Each of the principles includes a list of questions for self-assessment for compliance with the principle. (CR)

This paper presents specific strategies to assist collaborative consultation efforts by educators of students with disabilities. First, a definition of collaborative consultation is offered and advantages of this approach identified. Next, essential skills and strategies to gain acceptance and establish credibility in collaborative situations are examined. Essential skills include familiarity with both regular and special education programming and good interpersonal communication skills. Specific strategies for consultants include treating others with respect, sharing information about one's own skills, using appropriate language, modeling appropriate listening skills, modeling interview skills, giving and receiving feedback, and exercising situational leadership. Finally, a list of eight steps for initiating and carrying out collaborative consultation is offered. Steps include establishing the relationship, gathering information, identifying the problem, stating the target behavior, generating intervention strategies, implementing the intervention, evaluating the intervention, and withdrawing from the consulting relationship. (22 references) (DB)

Focusing on the use of popular magazines in interpersonal communication instruction, this paper argues that such magazines can provide a rich source for application and criticism of interpersonal communication processes in everyday life. The first section of the paper reviews research and criticism dealing with the content of magazine articles that offer advice on interpersonal relationships and related topics, noting that such research and criticism are rare in the field. The second section provides a framework for integrating popular literature into the interpersonal course by discussing three methods of integration: critique application, discussion application, and role-play application. The third section of the paper describes in detail a critique application given in a basic interpersonal communication course, characterizes the students who completed the assignment, presents results of a questionnaire administered to those students, and examines the implications of such an assignment as well as its utility. A copy of the questionnaire is appended. (FL)

Case studies can be a powerful strategy to use for helping students learn critical thinking processes that are key to interpreting and responding to literature and writing. Some of the major benefits of applying case methods are: cases provide an environment for active learning; they encourage the creation of a community of learners; cases help students tap into their prior knowledge; and cases help students come to understand the characters, concepts, and themes in the literature, primarily through discussion and debate. One such case study activity prepares students for Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel "The Scarlet Letter" and also teaches students some of the skills and strategies involved in writing an argument. Another activity is designed as a prereading activity for works such as William Golding's "Lord of the Flies" or Jack London's "The Call of the Wild." The activity is designed to put students in a "survival mode." Case studies can enliven literary study, help students learn how to interpret and write about literature, and help them to become more independent learners. (Contains 19 references; appendixes contain the two case studies on which the activities are based.) (RS)

This guide explains the concept of "special play" and provides instructions for parents on how to use this daily 15-minute play period to encourage positive behaviors in their young children. The purpose of special play is to create situations in which children become aware of feelings that they have not previously recognized, build children's feeling of trust in their caregiver, and build children's self-confidence. During these daily sessions, parents should watch the child carefully, talk about what the child is doing, mimic the child's actions, play alongside them, and let the child lead the interaction. Parents should not teach, boss, or judge the child, but simply follow their lead and play with them. The guide discusses limits and restrictions for special play, along with suggestions for special play activities at dressing/undressing time, mealtime, while riding in the car, and at bath time. Self-evaluative questions are included for parents, as well as a form for recording individual adult-child interactions. (MDM)

This study examined methods of providing language evaluation and remediation services to students with language impairments in the regular classroom in order to focus on authentic classroom-based language and discourse. Evaluation was through observation of routine social uses of dialogue between students and teachers. Remedial strategies involved coaching behaviors situated in the classroom context. Three elementary school-aged children with expressive language difficulties each received language support three to four times each week, for approximately 30-minute periods. "Sit-in" language support involved providing individual cuing (visual, gestural, or tactile) and modeling to help the child participate competently in discourse; "pull-aside" language support consisted of discussions in alcoves or just outside the classroom to provide constructive feedback. "Pull-out" language remediation was used primarily at the beginning of the school year for formal evaluation and planning. Examples from sessions with each child illustrate the different types of support provided. Evaluation found a qualitative improvement in the students' classroom communicative competence and suggests that the guided participation in classroom discourse yielded appropriate communication strategies, which resulted in reinforcement and internalization. (Contains 24 references.) (DB)

Testing and evaluation are important components of effective instructional software development. Many evaluation approaches today are multifaceted, employing a combination of methodologies and multiple data collection techniques. In this paper, several approaches to evaluation are discussed. Computerized tracking systems, videotape recording techniques, and verbal protocol analysis are presented as means by which to conduct more direct comprehensive evaluations of multimedia and hypermedia learning environments, as well as for observing learners' information processing. Results from inquiries that have employed these approaches are discussed, and their potential to affect the study of learners" cognitive processes is reviewed. Information is also provided on cognitive information processing and knowledge construction. Three tables illustrate concepts. (Contains 19 references.) (MAS)

A group of classroom activities to develop oral Japanese skills at the high school level are described, with illustrations and, in some cases, student worksheets. The activities include: (1) a game for determining the appropriate referent for an adjective; (2) a paired-student activity in which students match individuals with characteristics; (3) a board game, with cue cards and answer cards provided; (4) a game in which students find a classmate who has a specific characteristic; (5) a personal oral interview exercise; and (6) a game for discovering shared interests. A list of additional resources for oral activities appropriate to the high school classroom is appended. (MSE)

A Health Occupations Program designed as an integrated science course offers students at Evanston Township High School (Illinois) an opportunity to master science skills, content, and laboratory techniques while working and studying within local hospitals (the Evanston Hospital and St. Francis Hospital) as well as within their high school classrooms. Students must have completed a course in biology and must take a math and chemistry course in conjunction with the program. The first phase of this course (two days per week in the morning) involves students actually studying and participating within a hospital setting spending a total of 6 weeks per department in each of six areas of their choice. These departments include nursing, clinical laboratory, physical therapy, radiology, patient registration, respiratory therapy, blood gas laboratory, dietetics, central sterile services, and occupational therapy. Their instructors consist of the professional hospital staff. The second phase of this course (3 days per week in the morning) involves classroom work at the high school. Materials covered at this time reinforce that which is covered in the hospital with added topics such as medical ethics, medical careers, history of medicine, and the disease process. Their instructors consist of the high school professional staff. This course offers opportunities for community resources to interface directly with the high school student and its curriculum. Science integration (physics, chemistry, and life science) is achieved through the variety of areas available to the student both in a nontraditional setting, the hospital, as well as in a traditional classroom setting. The following materials are included: (1) courses objectives; (2) agreement hospital/high school; (3) agreement student/parent; (4) program rules and regulations; (5) student expectation form; (6) hospital rotation procedures; (7) evaluations of student performance; and (8) student responses regarding their program experiences. (ZWH)