Argues that students need to recognize the purpose for which data is gathered, classified, and arranged. Discusses insights into mathematics teaching and learning in a Japanese classroom. (CCM)

Discusses four categories of instructional strategies for teaching civics and citizenship education and their implications for Asian schools: class-based, passive-cognitive; school-based, passive-cognitive; class-based, active-participatory; and school-based, active-participatory. Concludes that no one strategy alone will be effective, but…

Conducted a case study of two Hong Kong kindergarten teachers to examine their understanding and implementation of play in the curriculum. Results showed that they had immense difficulties understanding the concept of learning through play, and there was a gap between teachers' espoused theories and practice. (SM)

Describes the positive results when a high school English teacher decided to have her students choose poems to be presented to and discussed by the class. Notes that Alice Walker's poems were chosen often by the students. Suggests students began to have a genuine interaction with these poems they chose themselves. (RS)

This classroom activity demonstrates the importance of question wording on surveys. In the activity, students compared data from 2 versions of a short questionnaire that differed only in the wording of the questions and the response scales. Class discussion focused on how wording affected the data and, consequently, how difficult it would be to…

This article examines the benefits and teaching procedures resulting from a classroom activity in student problem posing. The benefits included an enhancement of student reasoning and reflection and a heightened level of engagement. "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics" indicates that one of the critical requirements for successful…

Bulletin boards throughout schools in the month of January often have mittens, snowflakes, or penguins as decorations. This month's topic celebrates those tuxedo-clad birds that have come to symbolize winter and provides students with the opportunity to investigate adaptations that help penguins survive in their environment.

One of the "good old" standard activities middle school students seem to enjoy is paper chromatography. The procedures and materials needed are relatively simple and the results can be colorful. All too often, the activity ends just after these colorful results are obtained, cutting short the potential it holds for some further inquiry. With some…

The term "science fiction" has become synonymous, in the media at least, for any discovery in science too incredible or unexpected for the nonscientist to imagine. One of the most common classroom uses of science fiction is for students to pick out flaws in science fiction movies or television shows. Unfortunately, this approach can result in…

This article discusses how paper folding can be used in the classroom to introduce the standard results of school geometry, such as the transversal and parallel lines results, along with results concerning angles in convex polygons and centres of triangles, for example. Angle bisectors, midpoints, perpendiculars are all straightforward…

This article focuses on how young children build math skills in everyday play and activities. Children focus on six categories of mathematical content including classifying, exploring magnitude, enumerating, investigating dynamics, studying patterns, and exploring spatial relations. The article gives advice to both teachers and parents on how they…

Babies' interest in the outer world develops very slowly. During the first half year or so, babies are strongly tuned in to themselves. They feel hunger pangs when they need to be fed. Their skin is fragile, and they need help maintaining their body temperature in cold weather. This article discusses outside interests, safe exploration, animal…

We developed a computerized game designed around principles shown to improve classroom performance and experience: multimedia, practice testing, vivid instructional techniques, and in-class participation. Students compete as 2 teams, and the game plays like Jeopardy meets Hollywood Squares with learning outcomes. Our evaluation indicated that the…

When Candee Fick's daughter was in the first grade, her self-contained special education class planted some crocus bulbs in September. The crocus bulbs were going to be Christmas presents for the children's families. However, the plants were not watered once as the teacher became busy. When Christmas came, the teacher decided that there was a good…

Claudia Klein Felske, a high school English teacher, has created a vital dramatic experience in the classroom with the help of a guest workshop leader. The three activities, such as how to read William Shakespeare, Metaphor Theater and character cacophony, which helped students to experience the intensity of language and discover ramifications of…