Provides a guide to a first-grade teacher's methods of teaching art appreciation. She began a weekly art appreciation study integrated across the curriculum that heightened students' awareness and critical-thinking skills and enhanced their creativity by allowing them to view and respond to art and then create their own. (SM)

Computer games educate painlessly and incidentally, keeping students motivated and interested and enhancing instruction. Such games are particularly appropriate for English-as-a-Second-Language instruction, because they convey the meaning of language both visually and aurally, occupy all channels of the brain, provide a rich context for the…

In matrix teaching, teachers utilize elements of cooperative learning and project-based learning, but all students are held responsible for their own final products. A hypothetical story illustrates a worst-case scenario for cooperative learning, then the story is analyzed for its difficulties. Offers strategies for avoiding ineffectual group work…

This article describes a geometry project that used the beauty of stained-glass-window designs to teach middle school students about geometric figures and concepts. Three honors prealgebra teachers and a middle school mathematics gifted intervention specialist created a geometry project that covered the curriculum and also assessed students'…

This article describes one urban classroom and the language and literacy practices jointly constructed by a veteran urban teacher, Lynn Gatto, and her 3rd grade students. Drawing from two ethnographic studies of Gattos 2nd-4th grade looped classroom, we argue that Gatto and her students use the interplay between strategies and tactics (De Certeau,…

The following is a qualitative portrait of a creative teacher and her teaching process. Over a period of six months, five interviews were conducted with the teacher before, during, and following a university course in teacher education on instructing diverse learners. Additional interviews were conducted with six students at the beginning and end…

Community partnerships serving young children and families take many forms. This article presents six community partnerships that are engaged in innovative and creative approaches to learning. These programs have varied goals, but they share a common focus on linking community resources to enhance learning opportunities for the children and…

"The Line Between Us" explores the history of U.S-Mexican relations and the roots of Mexican immigration, all in the context of the global economy. And it shows how teachers can help students understand the immigrant experience and the drama of border life. "But The Line Between Us" is about more than Mexican immigration and…

In this article, the authors present a classic playground game called "Sharks and Fishes" to introduce second- to fourth-grade students to the concept of "predation," or the relationships between a predator and its prey. By incorporating the game in a learning cycle on predation, students not only learn about predation in a memorable way, but they…

Although the use of computer technology in classrooms is an innovative approach to teaching, teachers with creativity might not use technology as intensively as they use other creative strategies in the classroom. Eight teachers who won an award for creative teaching were interviewed in order to identify the factors affecting their use of…

Proving the efficacy of Hawaii's Poets-in-the-Schools program, this collection of descriptive statements by some of Hawaii's leading poets and teachers of poetry, and accompanied by illustrative poems produced by classroom pupils, describes the theories that were generally accepted as a working basis and the related methods each writer used in the…

Recognition of teachers has been a focus of the Diamond Jubilee Year of the National Council of Teachers of English (1985-86), which honors the outstanding teachers of some of the nation's leaders in this collection of testimonials about the influence these teachers have had on their lives. Contributors to the collection are Margaret Walker…

This curriculum guide for teachers of young children provides a framework that sets forth the program's philosophy, goals, and objectives for children, as well as guidelines for teaching that address all aspects of a child's development (socio-emotional, cognitive, and physical). It attempts to offer teachers the guidance, support, and freedom to…

The use of a student journal to relate the material covered in a particular course to real-life experiences has proven to be an effective technique that can be utilized in a wide variety of courses. This technique was adapted for use with two sections of Introductory Psychology at Emporia State University (Kansas). Students were required to write…

Since speech communication is experiencing numerous changes, it is useful to examine some of the causes of inadequate teaching in the field and various ways to solve the problems. Some causes of poor teaching are (1) the small value placed on university teaching compared to other criteria for tenure and promotion; (2) the classification or…