Participation in the National History Day program (involving student papers, presentations, projects, and performances) provides many opportunities for eliciting the gifted behavior of sixth- through twelfth-grade students. The program, which emphasizes student involvement in real problems, can be used in the resource room, mainstreamed, advanced…

This article provides directions for teaching intermediate grade level children about the history which can be learned by studying old cemeteries. A sample handout for student data collection is included. (JDH)

Describes a small-group exercise that allows students to discuss affective and cognitive aspects of puberty. After reading textbook chapter on puberty, students wrote a group letter to a male or female child explaining changes child would encounter during puberty. Procedure increased student knowledge about puberty and made them feel more…

This article describes how to involve students in creative follow-up activities for the six-episode public television series called "Newscast from the Past." Suggested are a class newspaper, mock interviews, time lines, and student-made newscasts complete with commercials. Includes ordering information for the teacher's guide to the…

A teacher describes how a classroom diary, part of a daily classroom routine, was created through class members sharing their experiences with each other. The diary also served as a teaching tool in such areas as language arts and handwriting. (CB)

Provides a lesson plan for primary grade-level students based on William J. Glackens' oil painting, "The Cedar Walk." The goal of the lesson is to introduce students to landscape/seascape painting. (JDH)

Presents a lesson plan for introducing students in grades four through six to Thomas Moran's painting, "The Grand Canyon." The goal of the lesson is to illustrate the importance of the American West as a subject for artists in the nineteenth century. (JDH)

Differentiates vocabulary learning from concept learning. Provides two activities designed to help students invent new concept labels or rename existing labels after examining the substance and meaning of the underlying concepts. (JDH)

Provides concrete ideas for increasing the interest level of elementary and secondary students in geography. States that instruction must begin with the personal interests of students, and recommends such activities as using maps to trace the "geogeneology" of students, the origins of rock groups, athletic competitions, and natural disasters. (JDH)

This article surveys information resources, contemporary issues and trends, and selected instructional strategies useful in teaching undergraduate criminology. Instructional resources reviewed include textbooks, professional journals, and reference works. Twelve issues and trends are identified and three exemplary learning activities are…

Using open-ended problems with more than one answer is disucssed, with examples. Other tips on open-ended problem solving are included. (MNS)

Explains how a computer and a large-screen television can help journalism instructors teach editing and writing skills. (FL)

Presents a collection of teaching activities suitable for middle grade students. They include a program for an Apple sketch pad and a Logo procedure to determine what angles produce polygons. Comments related to inputing variables, replicating patterns and figures, and using electronic spreadsheets are included. (JN)

Upon completion of these two lessons, high school students will be able to distinguish between power and authority and analyze how individuals or groups exercise power. The lesson, which can be used in world history classes, deals with the period of time between the two world wars. (RM)

Practical advice on teaching about genocide is provided. Specific learning activities to help secondary students arrive at a more experiential awareness of such inhumanity are suggested. (RM)