The featured document that is the main topic of this article, Robert E. Lee's Demand for the Surrender of John Brown and his Party [at Harpers Ferry], October 18, 1859, is from the Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s-1917; Record Group 94, and is in the holdings of the National Archives. As a part of "Teaching with…

Movies with teachers as main characters provide a powerful medium of instruction in the teacher-education classroom. The authors describe a graduate course for practicing teachers, "The Portrayal of Teachers in Film," in which such movies stimulate the examination of trends in the portrayal of teachers and serve as springboards for the exploration…

Descriptions of disciplinary practices can suggest visions of authentic classroom activities. Designing activities that are effective, however, requires an additional framework for identifying a discipline's generative resources -- that is, those learning targets that enable students to make disciplinary sense and progress in subsequent…

The Golden Ratio is sometimes called the "Golden Section" or the "Divine Proportion", in which three points: A, B, and C, divide a line in this proportion if AC/AB = AB/BC. "Donald in Mathmagicland" includes a section about the Golden Ratio and the ratios within a five-pointed star or pentagram. This article presents two computing exercises that…

Inventors design new products because there is a strong need for them. Understanding this and discussing it in the classroom will show students how technology, math and science are used to improve everyone's standard of living and strengthen the economy. There are numerous connections to history, social studies and literacy--making the study of…

This brief article describes the history, traditions, and food of the Mexican holiday known as Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Day, and explores classroom and studio activities that teachers can do with their students. Teachers are urged to encourage students to explore the topic of the Day of the Dead, comparing it to other traditions and…

Everybody accepts that Americans celebrate the independence of the United States on the Fourth of July, in remembrance of that famous date in 1776. In this article, the author features a simple lesson designed for students to check the accuracy of this most basic of American historical facts. During the lesson, the students examine nine pieces of…

Making students' learning experiences as direct and real as possible has always been challenging for educators. Ancient wars and forgotten statesmen often hold little excitement for students. Innovative teachers often use artifacts and primary source documents to transform a vicarious learning experience to a much more direct one. Films, like…

A collaborative effort between business and chemistry resulted in a class project called the Proteomics Stock Market Project. The project includes biochemical and marketing concepts, technology, writing assignments and group work.

Vocabulary is important, yet instruction in word meaning is often tedious and ineffective. This article presents motivating and time-efficient strategies for introducing and practicing the meaning vocabulary students will encounter across subject areas and texts in school. In the "Semantic Impressions" word-introduction strategy, students write a…

The daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public school classrooms has been mandated by numerous state legislatures, resulting in much controversy and not a few lawsuits. In one Colorado lawsuit, both sides based their respective cases on the Pledge's purported "educational value" or lack thereof, but neither defined what…

This article describes First Week Movement Activities, an activity-based series of lessons designed to help teachers get to know the students, and the students to know each other. This breaks down barriers students may have with each other. Getting to know one another creates an atmosphere that is conducive to learning and sharing for the rest of…

Every teacher has one particular wish, and it is usually for a peaceful classroom. This article features several tips for educators on how to have a peaceful classroom. They should plan carefully for their first week. They should write out half-hour segments of what they wish to accomplish. They should introduce a Peace Table, set up near their…

If vision can be considered the basis of geographic inquiry, then it must involve looking with discrimination--the ability to discern clues in our surroundings that speak to spatial processes or patterns in all aspects of geography--physical, cultural, economic, and so on. Geographic thinking also involves making spatial generalizations. We do…

In this article, the author responds to a teacher's request for advice on how to handle one 4-year-old child in her class who cannot seem to focus on tasks and activities. The author provides some suggestions on how to work with one or more children who are easily distracted. The author points out that one of the most important life skills is the…