Describes the "American Families Project," in which students from two or more schools participate in a creative writing, historical research activity, each playing a role in a fictitious family living in 1838 and corresponding with each other. (RS)

Presents an instructive outline for writing a research paper for National History Day. Organizes the process into three steps: (1) select an interesting topic; (2) develop a strong thesis; and (3) write a well-constructed paper. Includes hints on organization, technical matters, editing, and readability. (DK)

Presented are 15 ideas for projects which require gifted elementary or middle school students to study a topic in depth. Ideas are in an easy-to-use "reproduce, cut, and distribute" format. Ideas are intended to foster individual creativity and production and cover such topics as plantations, insects, stars, telephones, bridges, and space. (DB)

Various aspects of the solar sail spacecraft such as solar sailing, solar sail design, navigation with solar sails, solar sail mission applications and future prospects for solar sailing are described. Several possible student projects are suggested. (KR)

Presents the writing-intensive design for a retailing management course developed by its instructor in accordance with writing-across-the-curriculum principles. Provides an overview of the semester-long project. Details project procedures for preparatory activities, field research, and writing the marketing plan. (SR)

Includes "Learning by the Numbers" (Oliver); "Industrial Control through Electronics" (Cowen, Haynie); "Data Control with a PC" (Zoghi, Lorenzo); "Portfolio Assessment" (Wolansky); and "Quality in the Classroom: Evaluating Individuals in Group Projects" (McCrea). (SK)

As a means of improving their writing skills, mostly African-American students from Elizabeth City State University gathered reports from African Americans in 16 northeastern North Carolina counties about extrasensory perception, contact with the dead, and other anomalous experiences and compared them to reports from Chinese students and students…

Describes a semester-long project for a first-year writing class in which students work collaboratively to research an artist as a person, write an essay as a monologue, and present the monologue as a one-person play to the class. (SR)

Describes a long-term science study project on natural disasters and phenomena in a second-grade classroom in which students had the major responsibility to plan, choose, inquire, and problem solve as they chose topics, browsed and read, planned and made murals, wrote and drew in their journals, and designed dramas which mixed story and…

Advice on how to transform a practical idea into a first-class science fair project is provided. How to do scientific research, what to include in a science fair report, how to pick a topic, when to begin, writing the report, and making the display are topics of discussion. (KR)

A sixth grade teacher discusses how she enhanced student writing and thinking skills by having them collaborate on a class monster story. The article describes how they created the story. A copy of the story is included. (SM)

A teacher of sixth grade social studies classes describes how he implemented the core practices of the Foxfire approach, including student ownership, problem solving, and decision making; connections to the community; small-group teamwork; the teacher as facilitator and collaborator; and ongoing reflection and group self-evaluation. (SV)

The advantages and disadvantages of entering the Westinghouse Talent Search are discussed. The caliber of the contest is indicated by the accomplishments of its alumni. The careers and characteristics of past winners are described. (KR)

Describes the "kids2kids Writing Circle," a national electronic writing project inspired by an elementary teacher who interested his students in writing by sending their work to another class electronically. Information on necessary equipment, how to participate, and how to register with the electronic mail network is included. (SM)

Describes the Los Angeles Urbanscape Tour, in which the city of Los Angeles provides 11th graders with a living laboratory of the principles studied in-depth in their literature and social studies classrooms. Describes writing assignments which grew out of the tour. (SR)