This article presents a brief biography of author Jon Scieszka, best known for his first published title, "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs!" which has become a modern classic. The publication of this creative and inventive title led to the numerous fractured fairy tales published since its release in 1989. His books have received numerous…

Children may feel a sense of ownership when they learn a new vocabulary word that genuinely excites them--a dynamic word, a poetic word, a word with a delicious sound or interesting meaning. Right away, they like to try out these words, experiment with them, incorporate them into the speaking and writing, and impress others with their mastery.…

Read Across America Day was created by the National Education Association in 1998. This column presents suggestions for classroom activities that can be used to celebrate this day. Suggestions include: (1) Making a Read Across America flag; (2) Taking pictures of staff with their favorite books; and (3) Sending out ballots asking students and…

On an outdoor stage, a boy named Peter addresses the audience. "If you believe in fairies, clap your hands," he urges. There is a deep sadness in his voice for he is dealing with the possible loss of a special friend. Peter is begging the audience to respond and enter his make-believe world. This is the only way, he explains, that the poisoned…

This month's feature is Vicki Cobb's "I Face the Wind" (Illus. by Julia Gorton. HarperCollins, 2003) which introduces the wind's characteristics and actions through experiments and observations complemented with Gorton's creative illustrations. "I Face the Wind" was a 2004 Sibert Honor Book. The Sibert Award and Honor books are awarded annually to…

It is possible to create an environment in which students are engaged in learning a topic like photosynthesis but are not doing a laboratory activity? Is there some way for students to get content and the history of a topic without a lecture? The activity described in this article is a result of the author asking these very questions. Several…

The "Battle of the Books" program includes the competition of English classes against each other and each class has a designated team, which gets first chance at the questions, but can ask for help from the rest of the class. Most of the competitions included two or three teams battling the competition and the winning scores got higher at each…

This paper investigates some aspects of number patterns that have been a subject of interest and engaged students of mathematics for many years. It is left for the teacher to select and fashion any aspects they feel suit their own students.

Two examples of the types of classroom-proven, research-based activities and ideas are presented. These are expected to spark and inspire new ideas that could be used to argue the repertoire of resources.

The use of the Instant Messenger (IM) environment to carry out structured online class discussions in graduate teacher education courses is described. Properties of IM are delineated, and specific procedures in using IM as a vehicle for class discussions are discussed. Attributes of Type II technology applications are addressed directly, and the…

This brief column offers ten tips on how to revive classroom learning centers by cleaning up, reassessing spaces, and adding fresh materials. Some of the tips include: create colorful banners; provide inspirational materials; and share surprise boxes.

By the time students reach a middle school science course, they are expected to make measurements using the metric system. However, most are not practiced in its use, as their experience in metrics is often limited to one unit they were taught in elementary school. This lack of knowledge is not wholly the fault of formal education. Although the…

Hexaflexagons (or flexagons) have a magic that has enthralled some of the greatest minds for over half a century. Their name comes from "flexible hexagon", which is the form in which they were first discovered by their inventor, Arthur Stone, an English graduate student at Princeton in 1939. In this article, the author talks about using flexagons…

Authentic literacy activities in the classroom replicate and reflect literacy activities that occur in people's lives outside of school and instructional contexts. A growing body of research supports use of such activities in teaching and learning. The authors elaborate on the definition of authentic literacy, describe supporting research and…

In this brief column, three teachers submit recommendations on strategies and activities for teaching poetry. Walter H. Johnson suggests that using sonnets as an introduction to poetry can be a rewarding way to combine poetry terminology, a bit of literary history, and the search for meaning in poems. Joseph Sottile describes a classroom activity…