The Talking Drawings Strategy: Using Primary Children’s Illustrations and Oral Language to Improve Comprehension of Expository Text

Listening and reading comprehension can be assessed by analyzing children’s visual, verbal, and written representations of their understandings. “Talking Drawings” (McConnell, S. (1993). Talking drawings: A strategy for assisting learners. Journal of Reading, 36(4), 260–269 is one strategy that enables children to combine their prior knowledge with the new information derived from an expository text and “translate” those newly-acquired understandings into other symbol systems, including an oral discussion with a partner, a more detailed drawing, and written labels for the drawing. The Talking Drawings strategy begins by inviting children to create pre-learning drawings. These initial drawings are a way of taking inventory of a child’s current content knowledge about a particular topic. After pre-learning drawings are created and shared, children listen to or read an expository text (e.g., information book, passage from a textbook) on the same topic as their drawing. Pairs of students discuss the information and either modify their pre-learning drawings to be more detailed or create completely new drawings that reflect the recently-acquired information. Students are encouraged to label their drawings with words in a diagram or schematic fashion. By evaluating the “before” and “after” artwork, educators can identify advances in students’ reading and listening comprehension of the terminology, facts, and principles on a particular topic.     

Increasing cesarean birth rates: a clash of cultures?

Cesarean birth rates in the United States reached a high of 27.6% in 2003, a 6% increase over 2002. A cultural conflict appears to exist between the views of those who believe that birth is normal and many cesareans are unnecessary and the views of those who feel that higher rates are justifiable. Childbirth educators can share cultural concepts of normal birth in their classroom.     

Multiple Dimensions of Instructional Effectiveness in Reading: A Review of Classroom Observation Studies and Implications for Special Education Classrooms

The purpose of this study was to review and analyze effective classroom reading practices for early graders, using information gathered from the existing content-general and content-specific observation protocols measuring teachers’ classroom reading practices. Dimensions and constructs from 28 observation studies were synthesized to identify classroom instructional practices that have positive impacts on student achievement. Findings revealed that (a) instructional support, emotional support, and classroom management have positive impacts on student achievement, (b) the degree to which instructional practices are effective depends on students’ particular learning needs, and (c) students’ entering skills and primary language are associated with instructional effectiveness in reading. Challenges and implications for future research on effective instructional strategies for special education and the development of an observational protocol for special education teacher effectiveness are discussed.     

Moving Towards a Fair Start: equal gender opportunities and the careers service

Although there is now a considerable literature on gender inequality in education and employment, there is virtually no research on the Careers Service which provides a bridge between the two. Based on a national survey of all Careers Services conducted in 1987, this paper explores the significance afforded to gender discrimination and the nature and content of equal opportunities policies designed to counter it. It draws attention to the differences in meaning which the term ‘equal opportunities’ can have and to the changing context in which equal opportunities policies now operate.     

Environmental print and word reading

The nature of the earliest stage of reading was examined by comparing two views about the importance of environmental print in children’s learning experiences. One theory holds that environmental print leads to the acquisition of reading through developing rudimentary representations of specific words and logos, while the second theory concerns assembled phonology and asserts that reading begins with knowing letters and their sounds. Supporters of this theory hold that knowledge of environmental print and logos is reading the environment and may not directly facilitate the acquisition of word reading. Two studies were conducted with non-reading preschool children in which environmental print knowledge was assessed and related to word recognition training. In the first session of each study children were presented with accurate representations of environmental print and logos such as ‘McDonalds’ and ‘Stop’ to find the ones they were able to identify and the ones they failed to identify. In the second session learning trials were conducted with those words from the logos that the children identified and also those that they failed to identify and with matching control words. Both studies found that the words from the known logos were more readily learned than the matching control words, but only in Study 1 were the known logo words learned more readily than the ones the children did not know. The results were discussed in terms of Gibson’s (1969) theory of perceptual learning, and supported the view that environment print and logo knowledge facilitated word reading.     

Career education and career guidance: Strategies for implementing career development

Dedmond is Supervisor, Career Education and Career Guidance, Virginia Department of Education.     

Auditory Frequency Resolution in Human Infancy

Frequency resolution is a fundamental capacity of the auditory system that underlies the perception of all complex sounds. The development of this capacity has not been well characterized in humans. This investigation used a nonsimultaneous pulsation threshold technique to examine the development of infant frequency resolution. Psychophysical tuning curves were obtained for 3- and 6-month-olds and for adults at either 500, 1,000, or 4,000 Hz. Both the sensation level and the sound pressure level of the stimulus were varied for adults to determine the contribution of stimulus intensity to age differences in frequency resolution. At 500 and 1,000 Hz, 3- and 6-month-olds' tuning curve widths were equivalent to adults'. At 4,000 Hz, the 3-month-olds' tuning curves were broader than those of 6-month-olds and adults, even when absolute sound pressure level was equivalent. The maturation of psychophysical frequency resolution in infants is discussed in terms of the general development of the auditory system and of nonsensory factors that might contribute to age differences in performance.     

Integrating storytelling and quantitative career assessment

International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance - Combining quantitative career assessment with narrative career counselling is a career counselling challenge. The Integrative...