Asserts that arts can be catalysts for learning and should be a basic part of students' education, describing the traditional school as factory model of education versus school as studio, which uses the arts as a vehicle for curriculum. The paper examines the status of arts education, discusses alternative paths to reform that acknowledge arts as…

Using a soccer cyberhunt, elementary school students can learn all about the game of soccer while practicing computer skills. The cyberhunt teaches about: the history of soccer; soccer's name in other countries; number of players on the field; women's World Cup soccer; soccer rules; soccer legend, Pele; soccer moves; and the soccer ball. A…

Presents five cross-curricular activities involving student snapshots that are designed to keep students motivated. Activities include creating a class book with teacher and student photographs, making photo magnets using frozen juice can tops, developing a first-week word wall with students' names and photographs, and creating a post office with…

It is widely assumed that the theatre, particularly theatre for children, can and should teach. It is also widely assumed that the theatre can and does do harm, real harm, especially to children. And it is universally assumed that even if the theatre does not teach, it should do no harm. This author believes that these assumptions are true: that…

The usage of poetry for learning mathematics is discussed. Formula poetry involves repetition instead of rhyme and is thus useful in understanding mathematical concepts.

Teaching has often been thought of as a creative performance. Although comparisons with performance were originally intended to emphasize teacher creativity, they have become associated instead with contemporary reform efforts toward scripted instruction that deny the creativity of teachers. Scripted instruction is opposed to constructivist,…

Using life-affirming values as a starting point, authors conducted action research to investigate ways of enabling pupils to experience freedom of choice, and to participate creatively in class activities, thus allowing them to begin to enjoy the subject of agriculture. The research problem was: How to encourage pupils to independently and freely…

It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them. Educators are very serious about education in CES schools. However, in their earnest attempts to engage students in meaningful and thought-provoking work or dialogue, is it possible…

Using the "Boxed Voices" project as one way to connect traditional and non-traditional literacies, the author examines her work with preservice and inservice teachers (university students) as they develop and sustain collaborative, literate learning communities. In her multiliteracy process, the author takes the reader from theory to practice as…

It was the perfect Halloween project. Each class would construct a three-dimensional "monster" out of common classroom materials (construction paper, cardboard boxes, tape, markers, glue, string, etc.), then write down instructions for building the monster and send them off to another class in the district, or in some other district, or even some…

Most teachers' classroom experiences likely confirm that "fractions have always represented a considerable challenge for students, even into the middle grades" (Van de Walle 2004, p. 242). Because both movement and music enhance learning and retention of academic content (Jenson 2000), we developed a series of lessons that integrated kinesthetic…

This article describes a take-home literacy project in which kindergartners took home books, a stuffed animal, a camera, and a shared writing activity to complete with their families. The children later shared their writing and experiences in school. The resulting written responses and photographs depicted a level of involvement with the families…

What happens when children come across texts that push the boundaries of what they expect to encounter when they pick up a picture book? There exists a genre of nontraditional picture books, commonly referred to as "postmodern picture books," which is characterized by a variety of alternative literary and illustrative devices. Given that…

This article gives examples of elementary teachers using physical models of function machines with their K-5 students. (Contains 13 figures and 4 online resources.)

All the general music books the author has seen teach the pentatonic scale, and achieve success with it, by having students play only on the piano's black keys. The trick to preventing this exercise from sounding simplistic or uninteresting is to teach improvisation in the A-flat Dorian mode. Using A-flat as the tonal center puts that center right…