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The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Reading Initiative and this Inquiry Study: "Exploring Visions of Literacy" invites study groups to embark on a professional journey no individual can fully predict. Through considering the visions of several leading literacy educators (B. Cambourne, M.A.K. Halliday, J. Harste, S. Harwayne) as well as the vision of another Reading Initiative study group, the study group members are invited to step back and carefully contemplate, "What is literacy? What kind of literate beings do we want to create?" Participants will consider the value of their own learning history and examine the beliefs about reading and writing that shape their classroom practice. Participants will read the work of teachers and researchers asking questions similar to their own and will document all this learning in a personal literacy portfolio. Reading experiences that each group lives together can translate directly into teaching plans for tomorrow. Every participant will emerge from this study with new ideas, new tools, new questions, and a new lens through which to view literacy learning--the path each participant creates may seem familiar to others, but it will be an individual path. Lists 17 professional reading and video resources. (NKA)

The final result of this inquiry study will be the compilation of a Literacy Portfolio on a targeted reader. The data included within the portfolio will come from strategies and tools teachers were introduced to in Year One of the Reading Initiative and for which teachers gathered data both on themselves and on younger learners. The study revisits the concepts of miscue analysis, kidwatching, close observation, and what some educators call "case study." The overarching concept of Literacy Portfolio is used to pull all of these together. Teachers will be challenged to extend their knowledge and use of assessment tools, to suspend judgment about what the behaviors they observe might mean, and to carefully plan for future instruction--a process known as "assessment as inquiry." Finally, each teacher will organize all this information in a thoughtful and useful way. Lists 24 professional resources selections. (NKA)

In this Inquiry Study, participants will explore the process of reading expository texts--the strategies participant/teachers use to make sense of them, and how expository texts are similar to and different from narrative and other types of texts. Participants will then examine aspects of expository texts, such as text structures, vocabulary, and building background knowledge, and discuss how these influence readers. To support the inquiry, numerous strategies and opportunities to "live through" a content study are provided. Lists 14 professional reading selections. Also lists suggested books, suggested articles/chapters, and suggested resource titles. (NKA)

In this high school U.S. government and U.S. history curriculum unit, students examine in depth the establishment of the state of Israel. Detailed activities are provided to teach students about the role of the United States in the creation of the nation of Israel. The materials include informational handouts for students, background information for teachers, lesson ideas and outlines, black line masters, rubrics, applications to civics and history standards, and primary source documents, including correspondence and diaries of key figures in the creation of Israel, newspaper articles, and official documents from the United States, United Kingdom, and United Nations. (RJC)

This guidebook is designed to help graduate teaching assistants plan a college course more effectively and efficiently. It is based on information from instructors in community colleges, liberal arts colleges, and universities regarding how they plan their courses. Course planning considerations are presented, sequenced generally in the manner used by faculty. A checklist at the end of the book summarizes the key course planning issues addressed. General teaching guidelines are offered concerning such issues as test construction and strategies to improve class discussions. Certain key resources on curriculum and learning theory are noted. After an introduction, the guide identifies 10 course planning steps: (1) define educational purposes, (2) set course goals, (3) select course content, (4) arrange course content, (5) consider student goals and characteristics, (6) choose instructional modes, (7) select readings and activities, (8) write a syllabus, (9) plan to get student feedback, and (10) seek advice from colleagues and experts. A final section encourages improved course planning. A bibliography listing about 15 books and about 100 periodicals is included. (SM)

Mentally retarded children, as here defined, are those who because of poor intellectual endowment are unable to cope, with the standard requirements of regular grades. They are in particular need of special educational services planned for intellectually subnormal children. These include approximately 2 percent of the school population. Some children are so seriously defective in both social and intellectual development that they may need to have the benefit of residential school care. Others are much closer to the border line of intellectual abnormality. Both of these types, as well as the intervening groups, are found in special schools and classes and sometimes in regular classes. All of them are included among the seriously deficient but educable children in our schools and institutions. Whether in a regular or in a special elementary class, in a city school or in a rural school, in a regular secondary school or in a prevocational or vocational school, in a day school or in a residential school, the basic needs of these children are the same. Adjustment should be made in accordance with the limited capacities which they present. In whatever segment of the school system they may be found, they all call for sympathetic understanding and intelligent guidance. The function of a traveler's guide is to lead the way, to point out the dangers of the road, to call attention to the beauties of the landscape. But he takes not one step for his companion. The traveler must use his own feet, his own ears, his own eyes, if he is to fulfill the purpose of his expedition. It is this function of guidance which it is hoped the present publication will perform. It does not offer a curriculum ready-made, nor even part of a curriculum. Rather its purpose is to present the fundamental principles involved, to point out desirable bases for the selection of curriculum content, to suggest a variety of activities in keeping with these bases of selection, and to illustrate how such activities can be coordinated into units of experience. Individual sections contain footnotes. [Best copy available has been provided.]