How portfolio-based conclusions about student learning might be used to communicate with audiences outside the classroom is explored. Procedures and criteria for investigating validity in portfolio use are discussed. Ten portfolios from an eighth grade language arts class are used as an example. (SLD)

Provides eight fully developed library media activities designed for use with specific curriculum units in music, reading and language arts (three activities), science, and social studies (three activities). Library media skills objectives, curriculum objectives, grade levels, resources, instructional roles, evaluation, and follow-up are described…

Presents an integrated schoolwide program in which students learn about pet care and the behaviors of 14 unusual animals. Each participating teacher sets up one animal center describing the animal and the animal's habitat. Centers change at the end of each month. Discusses costs and learning benefits of the program. (MDH)

Presents an interdisciplinary instructional unit focusing on the Mayan Civilization. Describes the use of interactive story telling and guided imagery to heighten student interest and involvement. Provides suggestions for using these methods to teach about other countries or civilizations. (CFR)

Presents a plan for developing and teaching an interdisciplinary curriculum unit combining social studies/social science and English/language arts. Argues that an integrated curriculum based on history and social studies is the key to an effective interdisciplinary unit. Provides suggested resources and instructional ideas. (CFR)

Presents a lesson plan integrating fifth language arts and social studies. Students wrote letters to the editors of newspapers in the 50 states and received hundreds of postcards and letters that were displayed throughout the classroom. Includes photographs of the students and postcards. Suggests that the activity teaches history and geography…

Describes a middle school program that focuses on creating educational experiences that foster life-long learning for all students. The Discovery Program provides a range of differentiated teaching/learning activities, including research competitions, language-arts studies, social-action projects, art exhibitions, mathematics projects, and…

Describes the authors' experiences as two middle school teachers (one in a small rural county, one in a large metropolitan school). Finds that using many young adult novels in the classroom unlocks the door of resistance to reading education and resistance to learning. Shares their experiences and strategies, describing classroom activities,…

Describes how some middle school teachers in Michigan are becoming proactive in their work to educate and reach out to parents on a day-to-day basis. Describes strategies for community building, for informing parents, and for involving parents. The teachers use these strategies as they inform parents about pedagogical practices and explain why…

Discusses inquiry in light of new emphases on student centered learning and electronic information technology. Topics include controlled inquiry, guided inquiry, modeled inquiry, and free inquiry; relationships among inquiry, media literacy, information literacy, creative thinking, and critical thinking; standards for language arts; and science…

Examined the effects of reading children's literature about diversity and participating in related interactive activities on student teachers' opinions about multiculturalism. Intervention and control-group students heard lectures on multiculturalism. The intervention group also participated in interactive children's literature activities.…

Presents five curriculum guides for art, reading, language arts, science, and social studies. Each activity identifies library media-skills objectives, curriculum objectives, grade levels, resources, librarian and teacher instructional roles, activity and procedures for completion, activity samples, guidelines for evaluating finished activities,…

Provides six fully developed library media activities that are designed to be used with specific curriculum units in industrial arts, reading/language arts, science, and social studies. Library media skills objectives, curriculum objectives, grade levels, instructional roles, activity and procedures for completion, evaluation, and follow-up are…

Describes Storytelling and Rural Areas (SARA) program for children and families at Longreach School of Distance Education (Central Queensland). SARA promotes children's oral language skills, self-confidence, and social construction. Explores ways storytelling assists this development. Notes how SARA provides links between home and school and…

Examines what happened when college students enrolled in an adolescent literature class met young readers encountering young adult literature in a Book Club setting. Describes this inquiry-based partnership between a university classroom and junior high and elementary classrooms, and the accompanying challenges and benefits for preservice…