Describes the uses of riddles with elementary school students to create interest, develop literacy skills, promote learning in the content areas, and have fun. Notes 16 books of riddles. (SR)

Making connections is always an important task for teachers. Science teachers are encouraged to connect new learning with students' prior knowledge, learning with student interests, learning with cultural experiences, and classroom activities across academic disciplines. Strategies that facilitate these connections help teachers enrich and enhance…

The author describes a method of teaching initial sounds in words. The teacher writes a story using vocabulary that have the same initial sounds. The stories keep the students' attention and help in the teaching of phonics. (MS)

Discusses two passages from novels (Sheri Tepper's "After Long Silence" and Cynthia Voight's "A Solitary Blue") that feature music. Discusses ways language arts teachers might use these passages in the classroom. (SR)

Recounts a classroom visit by children's poet and illustrator Karla Kuskin, and the flurry of activity and preparation that preceded her visit. (HTH)

Describes how two eighth-grade language arts teachers ventured into the territory of vocabulary development. Describes several class activities and strategies they used to increase students' vocabulary and to make students into enthusiastic explorers and discoverers of words. (SR)

Bilingual education has been a focus in Taiwan especially alter the educational reform in 2002 (Ministry of Education, 2003). With the educational reform, many teaching methods and approaches had been explored and implemented recently to enhance English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education. The traditional teaching approaches focused on the…

In this article, the author discusses a five-month interdisciplinary bird study that she designed for her seventh-grade students that combines life science, technology, writing, art, mathematics, social studies and literature. The driving force behind this yearly unit is the BirdSleuth eBird program (formerly the Cornell University Classroom…

Describes a study showing that primary grade students can benefit from using a word processor in activities that involve the creation of text. Suggests activities that further extend the value of the word processor in language arts instruction. (EL)

Recommends helping reluctant readers learn to make videos as a strategy for helping them engage in language arts activities for authentic purposes. Discusses equipment needs, preproduction, storyboarding and script creation, production, and suggested topics for school videos. (SR)

Describes Word Storm, an activity that juxtaposes the use of vocabulary words in context with the students' speculation about each word's functional application. (SR)

Discusses six books written for professional educators, discussing them in two groups; those that tell educators about a particular type of children's literature, and books that show how to engage children in literature study. (SR)

Discusses a mystery novel ("The Butcher's Theater" by Jonathan Kellerman) in which one detective has a physical disability and another has a learning disability. Discusses how this novel and a specific read-aloud from it can create an awareness of what disabilities are and how to acknowledge them. Notes specific language-arts activities related to…