Excerpts are presented from a teacher's diary of her first year of teaching gifted primary grade students. Principles learned over the first year include: (1) lesson planning must be flexible; (2) gifted students prefer subject matter content to brain exercises; and (3) work in the affective domain is as essential as study in the cognitive realm.…

Included are brief articles on a laboratory approach for teaching basic geometry, having students give examples, and trigonometry and design. (MNS)

Cites six new ERIC documents for teaching economics in the elementary and secondary classroom. Topics include: teaching strategies; free and inexpensive materials; software; unions; and lifestyles. Also indicates how the documents can be ordered or searched for. (TRS)

Presents a lesson plan based on John Singleton Copley's 1795 oil painting, "Portrait of Nathaniel Hurd." The goal of the lesson is to give students in grades four through six an awareness of portraiture and how portraits record not only character but historical times and customs. (JDH)

"At the Piano," an oil-on-canvas painting completed in 1859 by James Abbot McNeill Whistler, is used as the basis of a lesson designed to help junior high school students analyze the painting's mood, subject matter, and composition. (JDH)

This article shows how to convert expository textbook material into puzzling mysteries for students. The five-step instructional process is illustrated with two sample lessons. Includes student handouts. (JDH)

Provides a lesson plan and student handouts for examining the question of whether Shays's Rebellion was an important cause of the United States Constitution. (JDH)

The effects of teacher behaviors comprising lesson organization on student achievement were investigated in undergraduate students. Two instructional conditions were proper versus manipulated sequence and explicit organization behaviors present versus absent. Explicit organization had a significant effect on achievement. No significant…

This study examines student process behavior differences resulting from divergent lesson planning patterns within an experimental teaching unit. Two physical education teachers planned and implemented contrasting lessons for an identical teaching goal. Differences in student process behavior are discussed. (Author/DF)

Explains the concept of language function and its importance in classroom instruction. Defines specific language functions--controlling, informing, forecasting/reasoning, and projecting--and suggests how children can practice these functions within the scope of a social studies lesson. Includes sample lessons and lists of activities to elicit…

Provides a framework for planning an approach to text through drama and describes a lesson plan using this approach with "Red Shift" by Dorothy Heathcote. (HOD)

Describes a 15-hour inservice program for classroom teachers based on the "school is work" approach to career education. Program objectives are listed, progression of the learning experience is defined, and significant operational concerns are examined. (CT)

This model develops the ESL component by combining practical advantages of bilingual classrooms and theoretical trends in bilingual education while avoiding traditional ESL texts. Included are identification of objectives, materials selection, English language inventory, and lesson design and presentation. Content area in both languages is used to…

Presents a sample lesson plan (suitable for grades 6-10) and examples of other problems useful in teaching data processing skills. The plan (focusing on planning investigations, data collection, and data processing) is based on the Data Processing Operation Guide, a 10-step model of intellectual operations that can be used in problem solving. (JN)

Some general suggestions for using films to teach values education are discussed, and two specific lessons for using films to teach secondary students about the conflict over the use of French and English in Quebec and Canada and about war are presented. (RM)