Describes how an elementary teacher developed a daily writer's workshop. Suggestions for finding time to write include reducing use of workbooks and skillsheets, looking for redundancy in curriculum programs, concentrating on writing for a shortened period of the school year, and creating time-saving instructional strategies. (SM)

Presents guidelines for developing thematic units for primary students (pick broad-based themes, gather resources, avoid time traps, let student interests guide the themes, create interactive bulletin boards, and organize materials). The article offers ideas, activities, and experiences for beginning a color unit and maintaining thematic teaching…

Presents suggestions for teaching students about poetry by using pets. The article recommends discussing poems about pets, writing with rhyme to describe pets, writing free-verse sketches about pets, collaboratively describing pets, and studying line breaks by writing one-line descriptions of imaginary pets. A reproducible teacher page offers two…

Offers tips on creating interactive bulletin boards and displays designed to help elementary students develop thinking skills and number concepts and to help teachers with such daily tasks as taking attendance, keeping track of birthdays, doing lunch counts, maintaining job lists, and exploring individual student characteristics. (SM)

Presents suggestions for developing a thematic teaching unit to help students overcome fear by learning about the courage of survivors in literature. The article recommends reading a story aloud, discussing courage and survival of the characters, and developing group-guided reading activities that involve individual or group projects. (SM)

Discusses the advantages of an interdisciplinary curriculum, especially in elementary school. Implementing interdisciplinary curriculum units helps children acquire targeted concepts and skills of various disciplines more effectively. Existing curriculum, current events, and student concerns are the places to find interdisciplinary unit ideas. (SM)

Describes how elementary teachers can set up meaningful guidelines to enhance the productivity of writing workshops. Writing workshops accommodate the idiosyncratic nature of individual writing and learning processes. They provide a highly structured environment with clear rules and procedures. The article explains how to establish classroom…

Describes a miniscience unit on frogs for elementary grades that teaches students about how frogs develop from tadpoles and how frogs need water during their entire life cycle. Students learn such skills as observation, collecting, and recording data. Provides addresses for ordering resources for teachers and students. (SM)

Presents a critical thinking exercise program, modeled on a physical exercise workout, for elementary teachers to use in the classroom. It includes warm-up exercises, a more strenuous workout, and a cool-down period for the brain. (SM)

A social studies wax museum can teach elementary students facts as they celebrate Halloween. A primary activity has students determine historic scenes to include in the wax museum, practice their poses, and put on a Halloween show. An intermediate activity has students research historic events, interpret information, create backdrops and props,…

Introduces a section that focuses on educational technology, including classroom-friendly hardware, software, and peripherals that can help support teaching and enhance student learning. This section also offers information from teachers about technology products that they find indispensable. (SM)

Autobiographies are useful in teaching middle school reading and writing since middle school students tend to focus on topics about themselves and their place in the world. Autobiographies offer a powerful mechanism for self-reflection. This paper presents activities demonstrating how to use autobiography to motivate students to express their…

Through a variety of methods teachers in a British teachers' college became aware of their own behavioral traits and how some could be controlled, others accentuated. Some of the exercises they used are discussed in this article. (Author/RK)

How do children best learn science? Not by being told about it, and not by watching someone else perform science demonstrations. Children best learn science by doing science, says the author. (Editor/RK)

The author, an experienced substitute teacher, described her exciting encounters in the classroom. The ideas have implications for all of us. (Editor/RK)