Describes a five-step creative writing program designed to improve student language skills. (JL)

Discusses (1) what is popular music, (2) reasons for using popular music in social studies classes, (3) where resources on teaching popular music can be obtained, and (4) how a social studies teacher can introduce popular music resources in instruction. (CMV)

A monthly exchange of tips, projects, ideas and resources. (Editor)

Several models of learning contracts designed to match the process-rather than product-oriented learning patterns of gifted students are presented. (RW)

Presents three drawing/writing activities for primary grades: telling picture stories, attaching words to picture stories, and (for older primary students), interpreting writing through art. (SM)

Presents a study examining whether different types of counter-examples exist and the extent to which counter-examples generated by mathematics teachers and pre-service teachers for a hypothetical audience of students have an explanatory nature. Concludes that counter-examples generated by student teachers and teachers can be classified into three…

Presents ideas for tools useful for teaching writing in elementary school, such as carbon paper, stick-on flags, blank books, scissors, rulers, tape, stationery, postcards, card stands, clotheslines, and Polaroid cameras. Notes on materials dos and don'ts and special writing projects are included. (SM)

Presents activities that teach elementary students how light works by having them make rainbows. A primary-/intermediate- level activity involves conducting a rainbow color survey, and a student page provides a copy of the rainbow color survey. A primary-level activity has students create rainbows using water and a mirror. (SM)

Reviews the literature for empirical support of the use of humor in classroom teaching. Concludes that the judicious use of humor by a teacher can facilitate student learning, and offers guidelines for its use. (FMW)

Presents nine video activities for use in physical education. Teachers can use video to get to know students, provide otherwise unavailable information, document funding needs, familiarize newcomers with the school, and train students. Student applications include individualized or group feedback, video research, video commercials or skits, and…

This article describes how to play a card game entitled "Is It 10?" which is designed to capture elementary school students' attention while they practice addition, explore number combinations, and learn beginning probability concepts. Suggestions for both primary and older students are provided. (SM)

Using the work of Anselm Kiefer, the article reflects on postmodern developments in visual arts, arguing that the developments point away from ideas about art that provide the impetus for discipline-based art education. Students need education in the arts that helps prepare them for the larger cultural arena. (SM)

Creative ways to motivate students to read and report on books include having them retell the stories differently, invent products related to the stories, share snacks like those the characters ate, illustrate action from the story, write imaginary conversations between themselves and the characters, and turn the stories into short skits. (SM)

A secondary teacher in Hawaii's Kamehameha schools describes how she teaches her students about video and television production. Because it is a school for native Hawaiians, the program emphasizes cultural documentation. Through the program, students learn to research, interview, organize video footage, write, rewrite, and use technology. (SM)