Asserting that playfulness is an important part of learning to work with others, as well as for attaining traits such as flexible thinking, persistence, commitment, and a love of and fascination with learning, this article presents a review of playfulness development, focusing on children age three to five, and describes 12 teaching-learning…

Presents activities using the Three Pigs to increase students' understanding of addition and subtraction. Argues that addition and subtraction are something that students can view and participate in when using the Three Pigs instead of just the manipulation of numbers. (ASK)

States that imagery is increasingly recognized as important in children's sense-making activities in mathematics. Presents an example of Elaine, a fifth-grade student who used her well-developed spatial sense in solving a nonroutine mathematics task. Illustrates some direct connections between a student's use of imagination and the ability to…

Presents an activity that concerns children's reasoning about counting from the perspectives of informal mathematics, work center mathematics, and cardboard box mathematics. (ASK)

Discusses ways to use cooking to teach kindergartners about science, language, reading, geography, and mathematics, including number sense, numeration concepts, geometric shapes, and measurement skills. Tips on cooking in class and several recipes are given. (MTE)

Introduces concepts of modern algebraic group theory in the form of a game. Peg boards and rubber bands represent nonnumerical group elements and are manipulated under the operation of reorienting a regular polygon. Symmetry groups are used to explore set properties, as well as commutative and noncommutative operations. (CMS)

This article presents activities for young children in child care settings using boxes of various sizes. Suggestions include making shape sorters and sensory boxes for infants and toddlers, and constructing personal collection boxes, book boxes, games, and playhouses for older children. (Author/KB)

In a work force development component integrated into middle-school social studies, students operated a mock business, applying and interviewing for positions and receiving "paychecks." The activity used journal writing, self-evaluation, and Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) components to develop key employability…

Describes the potential of using toy design and toy making to foster traditional literacy skills, cultural awareness, and scientific and technological understanding. Uses a Web site (http://www.WorldPlay.org) as both an exemplar and staring point for this exposition. Offers suggestions for engaging students in literacy acts, in the fullest sense…

Presents ideas for learning activities that involve students with nonfiction books. Includes sharing interesting facts with the class; a writing phase, including submitting manuscripts to publishers and letters from editors; and a class project to create a book of interesting facts. (LRW)

Describes how one school brought its computers out of the lab and into the classrooms. Describes the different projects that students work on. (JRH)

Presents an activity that convinces students that rock records do contain many types of "readable" evidence and gives students insight into the methods of historical geology. Describes a closure assignment that requires students to reflect upon what they have learned, organize their knowledge, and write a capstone essay on the history of the…

Explains attending a public meeting as an assignment in order to understand how environmental policy is made at local levels of government. (YDS)

Relates an interview with Will Hillenbrand, a children's book illustrator, and provides an annotated list of books he has illustrated, written, and contributed to. Discusses his mentors, favorite childhood books, differences in style, getting ideas, and how being a father has influenced his work; and includes extension ideas for learning…

A learner-centered approach to adult group instruction involved learners in investigating 20th-century events. The approach allowed learners to concentrate on different activities according to their abilities and gave them opportunities to develop basic skills and practice teamwork. (SK)