Offers ideas for using comparative history in the classroom. Includes suggestions for using guided design, role playing, and an approach for a series of sequenced writing exercises. Uses the 1920s and 1970s for comparison, focusing on Teapot Dome and Watergate. (LS)

Offers a lesson plan for comparing the ideas and context of the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, and the Emancipation Manifesto issued on March 3, 1861, by Alexander II of Russia. Gives background information on the Emancipation Manifesto, discusses preparation and lesson procedures, and suggests…

Discussion of the use of instructional videodiscs focuses on authoring tools that can change the original purpose of a disc. Ways in which videodiscs can be repurposed are described, including classroom presentations, testing, and interactive lesson design. Examples of videodisc software for each purpose are given. (LRW)

Statements taken from the audiotape "South Africa: The Other Side of the Story" are used to stimulate students' critical thinking about the South African apartheid government. The lesson plan includes analyses of the statements as a teacher resource. (GEA)

Presents three physical geography lessons for teachers who may lack either formal training or resource materials in physical geography. The lessons are in response to the new Utah state requirements for junior high schools. Overviews each lesson, suggests activities, and lists materials needed each day. (KO)

Provides a lesson plan for teaching K-three students to analyze and empathize with a portrait by post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. Describes background of the artist and the painting "The Postman Roulin." Suggests instructional strategies, activities, and evaluation methods. Lists bibliographical material relative to van…

Describes a series of lessons used with a year-five class which encouraged the use of analogical reasoning in problem solving and giving attention to students' awareness of strategies and applications. Students were encouraged to discuss and question their own thinking to make connections among the problems being solved. (MKR)

There are several factors to consider when developing tasks to satisfy curricular objectives. Tasks can be written by teachers alone or by teachers and library media specialists collaboratively. Each task should have an authentic problem-driven purpose, be developmentally appropriate, have an intended audience, and introduce new concepts, content,…

This article discusses the metacognitive approach of mediated learning theory and its application to orientation and mobility (O&M) instruction for individuals with visual impairments. The theory is explained, and the structure of a typical O&M lesson is outlined, followed by an example of using the approach in a trip to the drug store. (DB)

This article encourages teachers to know the ways their individual students learn best and to integrate those strategies into teaching. Covers identifying how students learn, building new ways of learning, creating lifelong learners, assessment, a sample lesson, using technology (lists seven suggested computer software programs), and names and…

Presents activities focusing on the use of visual perspectivity. Includes reproducible student worksheets. (MKR)

Presents a lesson plan for building and investigating three- dimensional cubes and a representation of a four-dimensional cube, sometimes called a hypercube. Includes reproducible student worksheets. (MKR)

Presents an activity in which students make a simulated solar panel to learn about the principles behind energy production using solar panels. Provides information about how solar panels function to produce energy. (MCO)

Argues against the forced use of generic lesson design in science instruction. Asserts that teaching modules are popular among administrators because they seem to provide accountability. However, modules often promote traditional ideas in teaching, and administrators seldom investigate claims of programs. Critiques research cited by the Hunter…

Discusses instructional design and educational reform in public schools; describes the results of surveys and interviews with teachers that explored the use of instructional design principles in their planning processes; and provides an example of an instructional design component in undergraduate teacher education at the University of North…