The author describes how her personal interest in puzzles led her to create Puzzle Parties at the College of Santa Fe in New Mexico. Now regular events, these puzzle parties attract several hundred adults and children from the community. (SJL)

An Oregon teacher describes how she and her class planned and experienced an overnight hiking trip. (SJL)

Discusses recent criticisms of school volunteer programs and suggests ways to counteract these concerns with a well-planned program. Appended is a directory listing three nationally validated volunteer programs and three other resource agencies. (SJL)

Presents guidelines for an efficient class trip: pre-visit the site with the parent chaperones; delegate groups of students to carry out specific assignments during the field trip; and plan class follow-up activities. (SJL)

Suggests a design for parents' night in which the children, in this case first graders, show their parents around via a games-and-reward format. (SJL)

A ten-step approach is presented by which two teachers can implement their own team teaching arrangement. Advantages, disadvantages, planning, scheduling, and room design are considered. (SJL)

Teachers' associations are discovering a grass roots reaction of concern, frustration, and resentment surfacing among regular classroom teachers over the way they say administrators are implementating PL 94-142. However, some help for teachers is on the way, through in-service training and new weighted class size formulas. (Author/SJL)

An experienced teacher presents guidelines for starting Sustained Silent Reading in a classroom, including explaining the program to the students and dealing with those who forget their books, disrupt the class, or fidget. A list of teacher background readings is included. (SJL)

With the help of the music, physical education, and art teachers, two third-grade classes wrote, scored, and produced an original operetta in a five-month interdisciplinary classroom project. The process is outlined and recommended by the authors for almost any grade level. (SJL)

The principal of Grafflin Elementary School describes how staff, parents, and students worked together to build a school greenhouse. He explains how PTA cooperation was secured, money was raised, construction accomplished, and how the facility is used by each grade. Also provided are classroom gardening tips and a booklist. (SJL)

The author suggests the use of chronobiology--the body's 24-hour cycle rhythms--to chart children's physical, emotional, and mental reactions in order to more realistically and productively structure learning activities. This exercise also involves math and science skills. (KC)