Describes how teachers can make the most of authors' presentations to elementary students by taking necessary steps before, during, and after the visit and planning the day. The article also provides an eight-step presenter's guide for authors that can be photocopied and sent to authors before the school visit. (SM)

Presents activities to help elementary students learn to interpret history. Using the voyage of Columbus, students can learn how history is written, what a historian's job is, and why it is important to analyze more than one point of view. The activities also teach students to understand historical symbols. (SM)

Discusses the advantages of an interdisciplinary curriculum, especially in elementary school. Implementing interdisciplinary curriculum units helps children acquire targeted concepts and skills of various disciplines more effectively. Existing curriculum, current events, and student concerns are the places to find interdisciplinary unit ideas. (SM)

Presents math activities, problems, and games for teaching elementary students to recognize the world's natural symmetry and understand the mathematical qualities it represents; suggests activities with construction paper, blocks, and calculators. Instructions for using the calculator to create palindromes are included. (SM)

Presents ideas to help elementary teachers encourage their students to discover the excitement of doing descriptive, historical, or experimental research by seeking new information, testing hypotheses, gathering data, drawing conclusions, and using appropriate vocabulary. The article includes questions for children to investigate and words used by…

Presents an inexpensive class activity to teach elementary students about light reflection off various surfaces. The activity involves aluminum foil, waxed paper, magazine pages, newspapers, overhead transparency film, construction paper, fabric, and a hand lens. A student page includes questions to make students think about reflection. (SM)

Students of all ages can apply what they have learned about symmetry by creating quilts on the computer using LOGO. The paper explains how to complete a computer quilting project. (SM)

Describes innovative programs for teaching elementary school students. In Illinois, students learn about the artists Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Donatello using the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. An Oregon program prints student poetry and places it on cafeteria tables. In rural Texas, students learn about restaurant etiquette through play…

Notebooks and journals can help interest students in writing. A sample activity suggests that teachers begin the year by reading a poem about notebooks then discussing school supplies and writing. Discussions can examine creative things to write on, creative word choice, creative use of notebooks, and turning favorite words into art. (SM)

Responds to Sweet's (Steven) essay on radical pedagogy in the teaching of sociology. Observes that a problem for radical pedagogy is that it means different things to everyone. Presents an alternative pedagogical perspective based on Gramsci's (Antonio) views. Critiques claims that teaching techniques can produce social change. (DSK)

Suggests students can learn a great deal from experiences with literature that has powerful imagery. Discusses imagery in a wide variety of adolescent literature. Suggests choosing works of adolescent literature to use with students by asking: (1) if they offer wisdom; (2) if they are artfully written; (3) if they are successful aesthetically; and…

A social studies wax museum can teach elementary students facts as they celebrate Halloween. A primary activity has students determine historic scenes to include in the wax museum, practice their poses, and put on a Halloween show. An intermediate activity has students research historic events, interpret information, create backdrops and props,…

Examines how "Drama in Fractionville" (a process drama created by 3 college students) is an example of how classroom drama can manipulate a complex artistic sensibility to succeed in both artistry and education. Concludes that it is possible for classroom teachers and drama leaders alike to create drama-based lessons that ask students to…

The motivation of students is of great import to mathematics teachers. Such an abstract powerful language needs to be valued or students will not wish to study it. This article argues that mathematics may be better appreciated through the beauty of the language in which problems are written, respect for the cultures of others and through relevance…

Walking into Keil Hileman's classroom at Monticello Trails Middle School in Shawnee, KS, is a visual feast for the eyes. There is a suit of armor, a 1796 Flintock Musket, a wood burning stove from 1907, a circa 1920 porcelain barber's chair, steamer trunks carried from far off lands, a butter churn, a 1930s wringer washing machine, chamber pots,…