Examines the rationale behind using musical drama in English-as-a-Second-Language classes, explaining that it is an enjoyable experience that enriches students' English while they are relaxed, working as a team, and having fun with their imaginations. The article explains the process of putting on a play and evaluates the effect such a project had…

Suggests strategies and resources for K-12 educators to help prepare students for a global education. Asserts that, by providing curricula and instruction that emphasize a global perspective, teachers not only prepare youths for successful adulthood but work toward creating a more humane society. (10 citations.) (VWC)

This poetry activity encourages K-3 students to recognize figurative language and symbolism in their reading and helps make them aware of different cultural heritages. The activity involves reading and discussing the poem, "Tradition," by Eloise Greenfield, (which is provided on a reproducible tear-our sheet), as well as assorted other…

Describes the use of teacher stories (both positive and negative) in teacher education, explaining the long-term goal of getting students to internalize stories that would help guide their actions in the classroom. Student reactions to teacher stories varied depending on the stories and contexts of the readings. A comprehensive list of teacher…

Presents a strategy called media potluck for teachers who want to use multimedia teaching but do not think they have the resources. The project uses sharing and collaboration to create small, low-tech multimedia centers that can attract additional resources from the school, parents, and community. (SM)

Presents ideas from elementary school teachers who have made hands-on science an integral part of their classrooms. Includes suggestions for overcoming obstacles to hands-on science, innovative teaching techniques that encourage girls to excel in science and math, model activities to win parent/teacher support, and a list of eight "sensational"…

Examines the teaching methods of David Wilkins, an African American Harvard Law School professor considered an exciting teacher by his students and colleagues. Describes his skill in getting students to attend class, engage in legal thinking, feel comfortable in the classroom, and learn the formal rituals and procedures for the court. (SM)

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…

Names hold great meaning for children and are, for many, the first word they learn to recognize by sight. Children have a great interest in learning to write their names as well as the names of their family and friends. Adults working with young children can take advantage of this interest to introduce a variety of early literacy concepts. Using…

Literacy assessments are transforming the contexts of secondary instruction. This article reports how literacy assessments are shaping the instructional choices of nine English Language Arts teachers who work in three different states in northeastern United States--New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Through interviews, the teachers reported…

"Built environment education" refers to the various types of learning activity for children and young people of school age which use buildings, places and spaces as a context for learning. It covers many different kinds of built settings such as: historic and contemporary; urban and rural; and exceptional and commonplace. It also has a…

Teaching is complex and layered. The premise of this paper is that teaching is worthy of being an object of systematic inquiry, and that such inquiry will help to clarify and potentially improve the character of teaching. It has also been assumed that a useful approach is to differentiate within teaching those aspects which can and usually are…

While researching the lives of well-known artists for a new unit in an art survey course, the instructor developed the idea of dressing in costume and presenting their lives in the first person. The primary goal of each lecture is to provide memorable information about the artist; a secondary goal is to integrate the social and political climate…

As more emphasis is placed on helping children gain a global perspective and understanding of the world, children's literature seems to be a natural vehicle for fostering that understanding. By studying the storyteller, educators can learn about literary traditions of communities, particularly traditions which reflect the use of stories. An…