A Curriculum Guide Using Modality Strengths to Introduce Basic First Grade Reading Skills

This curriculum project reviews what the current literature reveals about the meaning of modality, what we know about modality strengths, matching student modality to teacher modality, as well as research studies related to modality-based instruction. The curriculum developed by the author is specifically designed for first grade teachers to use in correlation with the Ginn Level Two basal reader, Pocketful of Sunshine. The curriculum includes activities on how to introduce the objectives found in Pocketful of Sunshine to visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. It also includes activities of reinforcement for all types of learners. The curriculum was submitted to two professors at the University of North Florida and two first grade teachers in Duval County to rate according to professional quality , usability and effectiveness. Results of the rating scale indicated this curriculum to be of professional quality, very organized, complete, easy to use and correlated well with the Ginn Level Two basal reader, Pocketful of Sunshine. Recommendations suggested that teachers would be more likely to use this curriculum if they had inservice training on modality-based instruction

Giant ants and killer children: Fear and popular culture in 1950s America

This public history thesis consists of three main sections that combine to form a complete plan for a museum exhibit on 1950s American fears as seen through the lens of popular culture. In American popular memory, postwar America often emerges as a somewhat simplistic time in which every citizen was mired in conservatism and concerned only for communist spies and nuclear devastation. Though these were very real fears for the majority of the population, their fears also went much deeper than this. Through the museum exhibit medium, this thesis explores fears of loneliness, humanity’s capacity for evil, and societal collapse that occupied the minds of postwar Americans. Horror and science fiction are a uniquely useful medium to explore such fears as each attempts to break down and explore the particular fears and neuroses of its historical moment. Films, television shows, and literature written in the horror and science fiction genre are thus used to explore such fears. The exhibit plan is divided into a research paper, an exhibit brief, and an exhibit script that combine to complicate popular memory concerning 1950s America

AIDS knowledge, condom beliefs and sexual behaviour among male sex workers and male tourist clients in Bali, Indonesia

The objective of this paper is to describe the AIDS knowledge and risk behaviours of male sex workers who serve predominantly male clients in Bali, Indonesia, to discuss implications for the spread of the disease, and to discuss appropriate interventions for these groups. Data are drawn from a qualitative study of the workers and clients consisting of interviews with many open-ended questions. The results of the study are viewed in terms of the AIDS Risk Reduction Model (ARRM). The data indicate that there is a very active community of male sex workers and male clients in Bali that is at risk of AIDS infection. Multiple sexual partners, unprotected anal intercourse, and frequent experience with STDs put both workers and clients at risk. Workers had limited knowledge of AIDS and STDs, although clients were mainly well informed. Both groups were characterized by frequent mobility. High levels of alcohol use by clients were reported before and during sexual encounters and may be a factor in increasing risky sexual behaviours. Interventions for these groups should include improving knowledge of workers, improving STD treatment for both clients and workers, skills training for sex workers, and increasing availability of good quality condoms and lubricants