Exploring what it means for teachers to generate curriculum with their students and to share the responsibility and joys of deciding what and how students learn, this book describes teachers' own experiences in generating curriculum that integrates social studies, literacy, and whole language. The book presents practical ideas that teachers across…

The trend in many schools is to move away from using the textbook exclusively in content area classrooms and move toward the integration of various pieces of children's literature, in many instances as a thematic unit. Using a thematic approach and incorporating trade books provides students with opportunities for cumulative learning and the…

The state of Illinois is developing a statewide Individualized Education Program (IEP) training program for school staff to improve the effectiveness of IEP development and implementation. The training will cover three dimensions: (1) knowledge and awareness of required components, required participants, required timelines, rationale and purposes,…

This packet is designed to assist teachers in creating a tropical animals lesson plan that centers around a visit to the zoo. A teacher packet is divided into eight parts: (1) goals and objectives; (2) what to expect at the zoo; (3) student activities (preparatory activities, on-site activities, and follow-up activities); (4) background…

This packet is designed to help teachers maximize a zoo visit for children ages 5 to 7. The packet provides activities for use before, during, and after the zoo visit. Activities are provided to enhance student skills in language arts, reading, art, science, and math, and are correlated to the Oregon Essentials Learning Skills Common Curriculum…

The Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory's (McREL's) Mid-continent Alliance focuses on technical areas that must be considered by every school system that is serious about reform. This document contains four articles that focus on four important pieces of the school-reform puzzle: (1) standards and benchmarks for learning; (2)…

For professors of educational administration, a critical task is to design learning experiences that engage future administrators in an examination of their practice from a variety of perspectives. This challenge prompted the educational administration faculty at Eastern Michigan University to redesign its doctoral program in order to cross…

This study examined the actual content of meetings concerning the development of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for preschool children with developmental delays or visual impairments. Meetings concerning a total of 23 children in each of three programs were examined. In this study, researchers recorded and transcribed preschool…

This detailed handbook for a one-semester high school Humanities course is designed to teach students a method of understanding American culture and values which they can use to investigate and analyze the artifacts of the 1960s. The handbook's sections cover 1960s history; popular culture, including television, movies, and bestsellers;…

The articles in this scrapbook present a global perspective that is both alarming and hopeful. Drawing from Southern and Northern experiences the articles describe a world in crisis, but they don't stop there. By critically examining the status quo, the articles attempt to get to the roots of the crisis, and then move onto describing avenues for…

Theories about, methods of studying, and definitions of family have undergone profound shifts over the last several decades, and change continues to characterize developmental research on family functioning. In the 1990s, researchers have recognized the need for more descriptive studies as well as more process-oriented work. Research is beginning…

This digest provides a basic introduction to the national standards in foreign language learning, essentially a set of content standards that define what students should know and be able to do in foreign language instruction in a K-12 sequence. First, background on the development of the standards is provided, and a description of the standards'…

This paper explores the role the arts can play in peace education, an area of interest that has received little attention. Peace education is usually integrated into other content areas such as social studies, history, language, or science. The booklet emphasizes the development of imagination in art education. Students can be brought to envision…

This curriculum guide was developed to assist high school students in understanding the contributions of Tagore and Ray in the literature and film of India. The film "Rabindranath Tagore" by Satyajit Ray illustrates the life, times, and works of Tagore in Calcutta. Vignettes of Tagore's life are enacted, incorporating actual photographs…

"The Yummy Pizza Company" is an interdisciplinary thematic unit that introduces the world of work to elementary school age students. The 10 lesson outlines can be adapted up or down to be used in grades 1-5 because an attempt has been made to keep required reading and writing assignments to a minimum. Optional assignments may be added for more…