Describes a classroom project in which elementary students bake homemade bread to learn about the settlement period in Canadian history and the early history of the students' community. Maintains that students learn to compare the lifestyle of the past with the present. (CFR)

Diverts from the traditional approach to teaching ecology and moves toward a more interdisciplinary approach by engaging students in a field trip to the Rocky Mountains. Using examples and insights, the author describes and identifies opportunities for promoting knowledge, understanding, and awareness of the environment and its surroundings. (ZWH)

Maintains that writing is one of the most important skills students can acquire. Asserts that social studies teachers can help students learn the writing process through a variety of written formats, such as essays, diary writing, and letter writing. Describes a classroom activity using letters and editorials. (CFR)

Contends that band students who are taught composition techniques improve listening skills, make aesthetic decisions, and become more imaginative and creative. Presents ideas from five music teachers for incorporating composition into the music curriculum. Discusses the use of computer software in musical composition. (CFR)

Provides strategies for adapting microscope activities for students with disabilities. The following factors are considered: (1) mainstreaming strategies; (2) laboratory techniques; (3) observing and classifying; (4) vocabulary and terminology; and (5) safety. (ZWH)

Asserts that the geopolitics of the Cold War can be illustrated by the diplomatic ties among countries, particularly the superpowers and their respective allies. Describes a classroom project in which global patterns of embassy locations are examined and compared. Includes five maps and a chart indicating types of embassy locations. (CFR)

Reports on experiences and events during an educators' study tour to Vietnam. Maintains that teaching about the Tet holiday can help explain Vietnamese culture and art. Includes an annotated bibliography of 10 recommended teacher resources. (CFR)

Describes activities in a secondary music class in which students communicate with talking drums. Maintains that the class project was developed during a teaching unit on the musical practices of the Ashanti ethnic group in Ghana. Includes instructions for making talking drums and four examples of orchestrating name rhythms for drums. (CFR)

Asserts that there is an educational trend to include multicultural music in the curriculum. Questions how music teachers can integrate multicultural material. Provides suggestions including the use of culture studies, celebrations and holidays, song themes, and instrument types as springboards for teaching cultural pluralism. (CFR)

Presents a thematic project on the diversity of bread around the world designed for children from four years old to seven years old. Proposes ideas for integrating children's literature, science, social studies, math, language arts, and cooking into a set of lessons about the wide world of bread. Suggests that this project can be an exciting…

Reports on an evaluative study of a secondary level civics curriculum in the Netherlands. Finds a discrepancy between the curriculum plans of the developers and the classroom implementation of the curriculum. Recommends an implementation-oriented development strategy with emphasis on early and intensive formative evaluation. (CFR)

Asserts that sport is a pervasive aspect of society. Presents and describes four learning activities designed to help students understand the significance of sport as a social institution. Maintains that, while the activities focus on the institution of sport, they can be used in a variety of sociology courses. (CFR)

Presents ideas for creating mathematical classroom activities associated with the history of mathematics: calculating sums and products the way ancient Greeks did it, using an abacus or moving stones on a sanded floor, and engaging elementary students through role playing specific mathematicians. Suggests that through such techniques, mathematics…

Compares and contrasts the approaches to mathematics in Montessori schools and traditional schools. Suggests that in a traditional curriculum, math is studied as a separate subject and isolated discipline, in an abstract format, with the entire group of children moving together through the prescribed curriculum. In contrast, the Montessori school…

Describes three activities that the teacher can employ to help students develop thinking skills through mathematics instruction: (1) memorization using the technique of chunking; (2) higher order thinking with magic squares; and (3) predicting games. Identifies eight facets of the teacher's role in promoting thinking skills. (MDH)