“Hooked on Phonics” -- A Product Designed to Take Teaching Reading Back to Basics
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This 14 page report discusses the reading program “Hooked on Phonics” that is used to help children in learning to read and write. Proponents of the program believe that it is vitally important to understand that a great number of the children who appear to be unable to understand a concept or a set of directions are actually having problems recognizing actual words. As a result of having to direct their focus so carefully and devote so much attention to slowly and carefully figuring out the words, they focus less attention on what the text means. Children who recognize words more readily can focus more attention on meaning. That recognition can be enhanced through understanding the relationship that exists between sounds and letters in an alphabetic code. Phonics then establishes the basis for that process of decoding words. Bibliography lists 9 sources.
Filename: BWphonic.wps
Essay Title: “Hooked on Phonics” -- A Product Designed to Take Teaching Reading Back to Basics

“Like Letters in Running Water”: A Critical Review of the Curriculum Philosophies of Mary Aswell Doll
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A 4 page review of the contentions presented by this author in “Like Letters in Running Water: A Mythopoetics of Curriculum” regarding the curriculum value of fiction. This paper contends that Doll is correct in identifying fiction as a conduit to student understanding of historical circumstances and relationships. Analyzes this contention using primarily the writings of feminist author Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Concludes that while a student might recoil if only given historical detail as it is presented in the common curriculum, when provided these same messages in a fictional format they are able to forge a connection between history and reality. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Filename: PPedCurr.rtf
Essay Title: “Like Letters in Running Water”: A Critical Review of the Curriculum Philosophies of Mary Aswell Doll

“Summary and Commentary on Article on the Constructivist Model of Maths Teaching”
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A six page paper which summarises Constructivistic Math Instruction for Diverse Learners, by Mercer, Jordan and Miller (1996) and gives a commentary on the educational strategies described in the article. Bibliography lists 1 source.
Filename: JLmathsconstruct.wps
Essay Title: “Summary and Commentary on Article on the Constructivist Model of Maths Teaching”

“Teacher Certification Tests”
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A paper which looks at various aspects of teacher certification, in terms of the nature and scope of the tests, the ways in which they are implemented on a national level, and the extent to which the tests provide a valid assessment of teacher capability in the classroom. Bibliography lists 9 sources
Filename: JLteachcert.wps
Essay Title: “Teacher Certification Tests”

“The Dollar a Year Principal”
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A five page paper which looks at John Dunworth’s account of the way in which he structured a failing elementary school, and the implications which his practices have for the education system as a whole. Bibliography lists 1 source
Filename: JLSchools.rtf
Essay Title: “The Dollar a Year Principal”

“The Skillful Teacher” by Stephen D. Brookfield
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A 5 page report of the book “The Skillful Teacher” by Stephen D. Brookfield. No additional sources cited.
Filename: RAbrook.rtf
Essay Title: “The Skillful Teacher” by Stephen D. Brookfield

“The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes”: A Review of the Contentions Presented by Author Alfie Kohn
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A 5 page overview of Kohn’s view that the utilization of a reward system in education and other social arenas results is more deleterious than positive results. Kohn contends that rewards-systems lead to extrinsic motivation, behavior in which the reward is obtained by any means possible even if that means is counterproductive in either the educational sense or in the ethical sense. The obvious consequence is a decrease in intrinsic motivation such as interest and a concern for quality. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Filename: PPedRwrd.rtf
Essay Title: “The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes”: A Review of the Contentions Presented by Author Alfie Kohn