A culturally relevant curriculum lets Hispanic students learn from a familiar cultural base and connect new knowledge to their own experiences, thus empowering them to build on personal knowledge. Teachers must understand Hispanic culture to help students embrace the authentic information they receive. Describes culturally relevant curriculum and…

Argues that the young adult novel "Shabanu" by Suzanne Fisher Staples is a book that can capture students' interest, allow them to experience a strong female protagonist, address social issues around the roles of women, and provide teachers with a rich resource for discussing and cultivating positive views toward women. (SR)

Introduces Project WRITE (World Resources for Integrated Thematic Education). Features six science-based units that include "American Revolution: People and Technology", "A Look Inside Ourselves", "Westward Ho!", "Animals and Humans Living Together", "Environmental Awareness", and "1800s: The…

Addresses Edward Hopper's painting "Light at Two Lights" and the painting's real life subject, Cape Elizabeth Light (Maine). Discusses the fate of lighthouses; includes lessons in visual arts, mathematics and science, language arts, geography, and social studies; and lists internet sites for Edward Hopper and lighthouses. (CMK)

Introduces an activity that involves nature transects and requires students to use their process skills. Indicates the possible use of transects for student evaluation and examines the implementation of transects in the elementary curriculum in a multidisciplinary approach. Provides details of the activity. (YDS)

Discusses a study that examined what tenth-grade students enrolled in three academic tracks of language arts know about using the Web and how they search the Web for information. The major research hypotheses addressed in this study focused on two dependent variable sets, general knowledge (GK) and search knowledge (SK), and their relationship to…

Discusses the introduction of Cosmic Education to Montessori elementary school children, focusing on the way the curriculum is structured around five "great stories": Creation, The Coming of Life, The Coming of Humans, and the stories of the development of Language and Mathematics. (JPB)

Discusses the contextualized needs of rural language arts teachers, highlighting how one such teacher responded to challenges she faced and noting how graduate teacher education programs can be tailored to provide teachers access to the theory, pedagogical approaches, professional networks, and opportunities for empowerment that can help them…

Describes a proven program of structured, sustained silent reading (SSR) for middle school students that helps students successfully develop academically and socially. Notes the learning climate attends to the cognitive, personal, and social needs of the learner. Discusses student-teacher conferences and SSR, and negotiating individual reading…

Focuses on the painting done by John Sloan called "Grand Central Station" and provides background information on the subject matter and the artist. Includes projects in social studies, language arts, mathematics, and visual arts appropriate for upper-elementary through high school students. (CMK)

Describes an activity called "Critical Analysis of Literature." Students read, think, debate, and write about controversial books, examining whether each novel should be included in the school curriculum. This teaches students to critically analyze information, develop an appreciation for literature, and develop a respect for thinking on their…

Describes how the author's 6 middle school students living in a village in the Yukon, 100 miles off the road system just below the arctic circle, enthusiastically wrote stories or poems about their lives. The students shared their works via an online electronic conferencing system with students from the unimaginably different landscape of the…

Investigates how technology can be integrated into existing secondary English language arts curricula in ways that avoid the perpetuation of social injustice, withstand inequalities, and resist false commercial ideologies. Describes preservice English teachers' web pages constructed in response to E. Anne Proulx's novel "The Shipping…

This learning activities notebook presents creative, elementary- and secondary-level, standards-based learning activities for teachers by teachers. They include a November-December teaching almanac, mathematics activities, language arts activities, science activities, and social studies activities. A reproducible sheet presents a Santa Sightings…

Describes the work of art titled "Aftermath" by Michael Olszewski, who has described it as the aftermath of intense anger. Includes background information on Olszewski. Includes activities in science and chemistry, art history, social studies/psychology, mathematics, visual arts, and language arts. (CMK)