Profiles "Barnyard Economics," a children's play produced by Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE). SIFE is a national organization for college students who provide economic education to the community. The audience-participation play uses the adventures of a pig to illustrate opportunity costs, production of goods and services, and productive…

Demonstrates how role-playing in a mock trial situation allows children to view critically both sides of an issue and introduce them to trial procedure. Offers pre-trial activities, ways to teach students to see both sides of a situation, themes for mock trials, and supporting resources. (GG)

Addresses the issue of creative teaching in social studies. Examines the way the creative classroom looks, how teachers can become more creative, and the importance of creative teaching in social studies. Concludes that creativity can foster students' understanding of social issues and aid in the retention of students until graduation. (RW)

This article presents a group project that uses math, science, and art to help elementary school students explore the tones of music in their own world. The children make music out of their own telephone numbers, create a soda bottle and drinking glass band, and graph their own telephone numbers. (SM)

This article introduces a section with 100 innovative suggestions for creative activities that go across the curriculum and across grade levels and that are designed to hold students' enthusiasm. The activities are grouped by language arts, math, science, and social studies. (SM)

Presents observations about the influence of mathematics textbooks and suggests ways to use textbooks to advantage while reordering the sequence and emphasis of topics to allow time for alternative activities. The fifth-grade mathematics curriculum is examined as an example. (MKR)

The article explains how elementary teachers can strike a balance between whole language and traditional approaches to reading instruction, describing successful programs and sharing several teachers' suggestions for combining the two methods in the classroom. A list of reading resources is included. (SM)

"The Systemic Initiative for Montana Mathematics and Science," based on a successful Dutch nontraditional curriculum, was used by a mathematics teacher to help ninth graders apply previously learned skills. Creative learning modules provided hands-on experience and helped students carry concrete knowledge to more abstract levels,…

Technology can support hands-on science as elementary students use computers to formulate field guides to nature surrounding their school. Students examine other field guides; open databases for recording information; collect, draw, and identify plants, insects, and animals; enter data into the database; then generate a computerized field guide.…

Students can participate in worldwide environmental adventures from the classroom. The Puddles to Pondwater software program introduces students to ponds and freshwater creatures worldwide. Students can adopt team members on the Congo Expedition, a group studying the African environment, and follow the expedition via satellite data and…

Special section on teaching with technology offers eight articles on how to get over technophobia, how to overcome obstacles and "do-it-yourself," teacher training, what teachers are currently doing with technology, how one school uses technology, whether technology works, how to buy a computer, and available resources. (SM)

Describes Louisiana's "Every Day Counts" program which helps boost elementary students' math skills via daily 10-minute activities with their bulletin board. The school calendar is used to explore patterns, examine data, and make predictions. Children work with place value, measurement, time, money, mental math, geometry, estimation,…

The article discusses utilization of case studies in teaching interpersonal communication, examining case studies written in dialogue to illustrate real life situations. It describes case study methodology, experiential learning strategies, and creative ways to use cases (e.g., role play, group discussion, improvisation, case analysis, and…

Describes the history, curriculum, and methodology of elementary school foreign-language (FL) learning within Waldorf schools, using information from Waldorf FL teachers, class observations, and research readings. Waldorf students study two FLs. An oral/choral method is used in the early years. Reading, writing, and formal grammar are introduced…

Five articles present tips for rallying English-as-a-Second-Language students to the enterprise of creating context, tools, and language itself. The articles focus on using original dramas created by students, teaching nonnative English-speaking medical students to comprehend their patients' colloquial language, conducting research with native…