Challenges teachers to explore teacher talk and distinguish messages that unwittingly encourage dependence on authority from those that support the growth of academic autonomy through discovering relationships, developing speed and accuracy in skills, and developing understandings that serve problem solving in projects and activities. (MKR)

Describes a second-grade classroom project to collect pennies to buy playground equipment. The unit combined practical, hands-on experiences and reflected six standards from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Curriculum Standards. (MKR)

Presents guidelines for constructing group learning activities, describes group learning methods (discussion, gaming, role play, simulation, projects), and provides tips for facilitating group activities. (SK)

Forty-six intermediate and junior high students with disabilities (learning, emotional disturbance, mental retardation) participated in a noncompetitive Math Olympics. Teams of students participated in game-like activities involving basic skills, calculators, problem solving, and place value. Guidelines for planning a Math Olympics focus on…

Debunks five misconceptions about improving creative thinking. To encourage students to think creatively, instructional techniques should reflect an integrated set of mental skills, use materials mimicking real-life situations, consider students' beliefs and tendencies toward creative thinking, show metacognitive sensibility, and foster a creative…

A summer school for elementary students used activities in design technology ("children's engineering"), a problem-based approach that encourages students to use a variety of equipment in creating, testing, and solving real-life problems. Design briefs used an array of skills from other content areas of the curriculum. (SK)

Workplace learning is goal-directed activity shaped by the context and needs of a particular community of practice. Learning in the workplace includes close guidance by experts and distant guidance from other workers and the physical environment. The activities and the guidance are key components of the workplace learning curriculum. (SK)

Discusses the work of children's author Alma Flor Ada, a Cuban native who has won awards honoring Latino writers and illustrators. Includes part of an interview that explores her background, describes activity ideas, and presents a bibliography of works written by her (several title published in both English and Spanish) as well as sources of…

These two articles discuss the design and production of pop-up books, focusing on the work of Robert Sabuda. Discusses books as an art form, producing prototypes, factory production, pop-up projects for children, Web sites, and a history of pop-ups, and includes a bibliography of relevant materials. (LRW)

Discusses the importance of block play--including its contributions to perceptual, fine motor, and cognitive development--and components of a good preschool block play area. Recommends unit blocks complemented by stacking blocks, toys, beads, cubes, and Brio wooden toys. Makes recommendations for space, size, locations and connections to other…

Presents a teacher's journal that describes a third-grader's investigation of prime numbers including his communications with a university faculty member. (JRH)

Presents an activity designed to increase students awareness of the relevance of science. Involves a classroom jury trial to probe a current controversial drug, mifepristone (RU486). Reports that students perceived this to be an enjoyable as well as educational activity which made science more relevant in their lives. (JRH)

Presents strategies that use cooperative learning to enhance performance in general chemistry courses. Discusses the profile of the students and the implementation and evaluation of cooperative learning strategies. Concludes that cooperative learning in chemistry is feasible and desirable. Contains 10 references. (JRH)

Describes Chomp, an educational strategy game for use in high school programming courses that can encourage cooperative learning. Discusses rules of the game; Chomp players; Chomp board programs; Chomp tournaments; Chomp strategies; and extensions of the activity that can involve more advanced mathematics. (LRW)

Describes how to explain the organization of a library to elementary school students by making an analogy of a library being like a state: each state is made up of towns and neighborhoods as libraries are made up of areas for fiction and nonfiction. Includes a worksheet. (LRW)