Quasi-experimental investigation of effects of children's literature supported by class activities focusing on social cognition of peer relationships. Preschoolers who experienced the one-year intervention scored higher on social cognition of peer relationships (Social Knowledge Interview) than did children who were read nonrelated stories and…

Four principles of authentic teaching include motivating students by creating assignments that are meaningful and substantive, helping students understand the difference between correct and good work, judging students' work by real-world standards, and preparing students to manage the ambiguous and complex problems of real life. Examples from…

Describes a career awareness unit for middle school language arts students which focuses on the special uses of language found in different professions. (SR)

Discusses various ways to use the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Origin's Education Forum's Electromagnetic Spectrum poster to teach earth science concepts. Includes the poster. (SOE)

Explores the significance of engagement as a stance toward teaching and learning, noting how engagement can affect the way teachers and students interact in physical education settings and surrounding environments and presenting activities to encourage engagement (develop performance routines, say and switch, roundtable brainstorm, bubble gum…

Presents four short articles addressing diversity including a 3-step "Time Out" learning activity. Considers how true diversity in coverage means that all types of students are included in all types of stories in school publications. Notes that having a diverse publications staff is a way to ensure more accurate coverage of all groups of students.…

Explores an innovative teaching methodology designed to improve students' reading abilities. Discusses how this strategy, know as "snap shot linkage," has proven to be effective in combating not only students' inabilities to read and learn, but the anxiety that often accompanies reading activities. (SG)

Presents classroom procedure involving Telling, Requesting, and Coaching (TRC) to enhance reading and writing in diverse students as an alternative to probing for information without prompts to introduce lessons, which is confusing and time consuming. Notes how TRC facilitates students' recall by telling them the needed information, requesting…

Offers two expository writing exercises that, machinelike, move from word to idea to arrive at rich and evocative connections. Shows how the first exercise, the four-column association, produces a free-form paragraph or poem following a freewriting warmup. Uses the term "placket" to describe the second exercise, a poem that has a set of…

Describes the use of social justice notebooks by a seventh/eighth-grade social studies teacher. Discusses the process of notebook writing and how these notebooks have improved students' thinking skills as well as class discussion as students engage with moral dilemmas. (SR)

Describes a lesson for ninth-grade science students based on a read-aloud selection about science in space taken from "Lift Off! An Astronauts Dream" by R. Mike Mullane. Discusses specific science and language arts activities related to the selection. (SR)

Highlights the importance of inclusion of music in preschool curriculum. Promotes using a variety of musical activities to stimulate imagination including quiet listening, marching while clanging instruments, dancing, singing, and playing games. Provides suggestions on where to start, songs, rhythm instruments, musical props, stories and music,…

Describes having students in college developmental reading classes recall early memories of reading, writing, listening, or speaking (emphasizing enjoyable recollections), and then share them with the rest of the class. Notes that this experience enabled class members to build connectedness, think about literacy's many forms, and build a community…

Students studying water as a class project were concerned by levels of pollution at a nearby river and the local beach. They identified three environmental problems for research including sewage discharge, beach litter, and quality of swimming water. Research consisted of field trips which allowed for opportunities to improve skills in collecting…

Presents a rationale for utilizing trivia to teach conversation. Shows how trivia-based materials fit into communicative language teaching approaches and provides examples of trivia-based activities and explains how to use them in the classroom. (Author/VWL)