A Hawaiian hula instructor describes how she teaches hula dancing to her students, explaining that there is no difference in how she shows them how to do something within or outside of the classroom. The article emphasizes the importance of students understanding and experiencing what they are being taught. (SM)

From leading garden tours to planning a visit for Japanese teachers and participating in community theater, middle schoolers at Fort Worth's Applied Learning Academy learn academic content by working on community projects. Students' writing skills soared as they developed, edited, and field-tested brochures and trail-guide maps for their botanical…

The Model U.N. is a popular experiential learning program that engages students through cooperative-learning techniques and multicultural education. Every year over 60,000 U.S. secondary and college students participate in role-play simulations of United Nations meetings. Students are challenged intellectually, enjoy stimulating group activities,…

When a male student enrolled, a university program designed to prepare counselors for helping women experienced problems in terms of other students' feelings of safety and trust in sharing experiences, qualitative differences in topics discussed, and use of experiential learning drawn from women's life experiences. (SK)

Examines the role of children's play as part of developmentally appropriate practices for young children. Suggests that schoolchildren's play is creative, and more complex than that of younger children. As work and play intertwine throughout the layers of the classroom, the combination helps them learn to manage time responsibly. (AA)

People will learn better if they like what they are learning. Computers offer an extensive library of cases, examples, and stories that are easy to access, fun to work through, and tell students what they want to know. One example is the ASK system, a 15-module, self-study, multimedia program that is fun for trainees to use, which should enhance…

Hands-on experience lets students explore, discover, and think their way through science. The article explains why hands-on science works, presenting tools for getting started with few resources. Activities have students work with the environment in their backyards and the schoolyard. Resources for hands-on science are presented. (SM)

Elementary teachers can use graphing to introduce students to one another. An eye color graphing activity helps students learn more about each other while experimenting with different ways of organizing and displaying information. For follow up, students can apply their graphing knowledge by collecting and displaying data from their families. (SM)

Discusses the work and philosophy of Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori. Examines her belief in students' need to exercise correct thinking through sensory experience. Describes Montessori's views on the development of children's moral values through interaction. Identifies the upbringer's role as the active supervisor of children's…

At St. Paul's Catholic High School (Ottawa, Ontario), the Cooperative Mentorship Program linked gifted high school students with community/business mentors. Working on student projects enhanced responsibility and self-esteem, developed interpersonal skills, and gave valuable workplace experience. (SK)

A program that allows teachers to see what is going on in the world beyond the classroom is described. During the program, teachers will be able to use lab equipment, witness experiments, and hear about state-of-the-art science from working scientists and mathematicians. (KR)

Elementary teacher describes a two-week project which involved using cooperative learning to teach sixth graders about averages. Cooperative groups worked to find the daily average of a variety of items. Students had real-world examples of averaging to replace standard textbook drill and practice. (SM)

Presents creative ways for teachers to interest students in learning history by encouraging a feel for the context and interrelationships of events. Names, dates, and events are interspersed with opportunities for students to experience history through their own lives (e.g. oral histories, personal scrapbooks, family photographs, and household…

Discusses the idea that hands-on science education should give credit to the scientists who originally conducted the experiments now repeated in classrooms. Plant experiments originally done by Stephen Hales are described and given as examples. (KR)

Four elementary teachers present earth-friendly ideas to help students explore nature: creating suncatchers out of pressable outdoor items; making and filling nature explorer kits; producing ecology booklets with covers; filling shoeboxes with natural materials to make rhythm instruments; and making crayon rubbings of outdoor items. (SM)