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1. Virginia: The Old Dominion

   In: English Teaching Forum 2009, Volume 47, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   This article describes Virginia. It presents facts about its geography, climate, history, work life, symbols, and tourist attractions and activities. It also provides useful websites about Virginia.

2. Language and Life Sciences: Mapping the Human Genome (Reprinted from Chapter 1 of the FORUM Electronic Journal Language and Life Sciences)

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   The authors use the study of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid, the building blocks of all living things) to develop student vocabulary and assist in developing a fundamental understanding of the science behind DNA. The article provides supplemental material including helpful Web sites, student group activities with handouts, vocabulary lessons, and warm-up activities.

3. All That Jazz

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 2 Format(s): Text, Image / Poster / Maps

   This article is the first of three to introduce Jazz music, which was born in the United States over a period of 200 years. Jazz was influenced by African, Latin American, and European music. It is generally accepted that Jazz was first recognized in New Orleans, Louisiana, the southeastern United States. This mostly historical article features many Jazz musicians including Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton, Buddy Bolden, Joe “King” Oliver, and Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong. A list of Web sites is included.

4. The Cotton Club

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 2 Format(s): Text, Image / Poster / Maps

   This one-page piece details The Cotton Club, one of the most glamorous dance and music clubs in New York City in the 1920s and 1930s. The Cotton Club was located in Harlem, which in the 1920s was an African-American residential and cultural business center in New York. The club had 30 to 50 chorus girls who danced and sang and were only hired if they were beautiful and very tall. Although the singers and dancers were almost all black, the audience was almost all white, which was a sign of the racial American society at the time.

5. Module 5: Learner Feedback

   In: Shaping the Way We Teach English: Successful Practices Around the World Format(s): Text, Video

   This Module of the Shaping the Way we Teach English Series contains a lesson plan and accompanying video that is focused on formative feedback.

6. Great Nicknames of Jazz

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   The last of a three-piece article describes many of the nicknames that leading American Jazz musicians had. A nickname is a name that a person earns in addition to their given name. For example, Edward Ellington was called “Duke” by his friends and family when he was a child because he acted like a member of a royal family. Musicians like Lady Day, Duke Ellington, and Dizzy Gillespie were leaders in the Jazz music culture.

7. Poetry Corner: Reading and Reacting to a Michigan Poem

   In: English Teaching Forum 2009, Volume 47, Number 4 Format(s): Text

   “Poetry Corner: Reading and Reacting to a Michigan Poem” consists of activities targeting reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills using a Michigan poem called “How Is It That the Snow,” written by poet Robert Haight, who lives in Michigan.

8. The Lighter Side

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 2 Format(s): Text

   This "Lighter Side" begins with a contest to name a Jazz song. The answer is "Georgia On My Mind." Although there is an American state called Georgia, Georgia is the name of a girl for whom the song was written in 1930. In the second section of "The Lighter Side," definitions and uses of the word Jazz are given.

9. Noun Compounds and Compressed Definitions

   In: English Teaching Forum 2003, Volume 41, Number 3 Format(s): Text

   This article discusses the difficulty of understanding noun compounds in professional texts in science and technology, business, medicine, law, and other areas of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). It provides techniques and activities to teach students how to decode noun compounds to see the link between definitions, which are usually familiar, and noun compounds, which are usually not familiar. These strategies can help students overcome this difficulty in reading advanced and specialized texts.

10. Module 6: Managing Large Classes

    In: Shaping the Way We Teach English: Successful Practices Around the World Format(s): Text, Video

    This Module of the Shaping the Way we Teach English Series contains a lesson plan and accompanying video that is focused on how to manage large classes.

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