Middle school history teachers confront the same challenge every day: how to convey the breadth and depth of a curriculum that spans centuries, countries, and cultures. In "Making History Mine", Sarah Cooper shows teachers how to use thematic instruction to link skills to content knowledge. By combining thought-provoking activities and rich…

Describes how American and Russian students engaged in service learning in their own communities as part of an organizational communication class in which they learned communication principles and applied their skills to assist non-profit organizations. Describes both projects, stumbling blocks, and course outcomes. (SR)

Describes Academic Service-Learning (AS-L), in which classroom content is infused into a community-service experience. Describes a successful AS-L project in a business-communication class. Notes that its greatest strengths are students' tying theory into actual application of principles, student passion for the work, faculty enthusiasm for the…

Describes how the author's eighth-grade language arts inquiry-based instruction blossomed into student-based community learning, with students defining and seeking their own relevant goals, bringing the community to school with an art exhibit of tolerance, volunteering at a nearby elementary school, creating community gardens to fulfill a…

A composition instructor developed a course that has moral traction, a course intended to serve as a blueprint for students, a heuristic for enlarging social consciousness and effecting social change. On the first day of class, the instructor introduces the "fundamental theme" of poverty and a schedule of assignments/activities that…

Discusses the many benefits of service learning, and offers examples from the author's high school students. Notes literacy and language arts service learning projects; the importance of integrating service learning into a regular program of instruction; programs and resource materials that support service learning at the K-12 level; and students'…

Describes a "distant service learning" unit in a first-year composition course in which students wrote for a nonprofit organization in the classroom. Discusses program activities in relation to the first-year composition curriculum, program activities and the nonprofit organization, classroom implementation and assessment (including scoring guide…

Discusses links between poverty and student performance and achievement. Describes service learning and social reconstructionism (the relationship between school curriculum and the political, social, and economic development of society). Offers an example from an inner-city urban high school English class, describing social reconstructionism for…

This guide aims to help teachers plan, reflect on, and revise learning expeditions. Growing out of the metaphor of an Outward Bound wilderness expedition, learning expeditions are long-term, in-depth investigations of a topic that engage students in the world through authentic projects, fieldwork, and service. The work centers on critical…

Describes the rationale for using reflection to link service experience to learning in college instruction, and offers guidelines for developing effective reflection activities: linking student experiences to learning objectives; giving guidance for the reflection activities; scheduling the activities regularly; allowing feedback and assessment;…

Describes an eight-phase model for project-based learning via the Internet: watching, wondering, webbing, wiggling, weaving, wrapping, waving, and wishing. Highlights Internet research tools as well as Internet and print resources for an investigation of homelessness, hunger, and poverty; and provides introductory activities using Internet…

Describes a community project (based on Kenneth Koch's book "I Never Told Anybody") in which students in a ninth-grade English class paired up with nursing home residents, making regular visits to encourage them to write poetry. Discusses finding a place, getting ready, working together, and what students learned about writing poetry and about…

Classroom experiential-learning activities help college students understand the social-justice issues implicit in their service-learning projects and become culturally dexterous leaders. Classroom exercises described cover trust building, communication, consciousness of power and class issues, differentiating between social service and social…

Ideas, shortcuts, and tips on discipline, portfolios, academics, and parent involvement are organized in a list format to help teachers work more efficiently. The six chapters include: (1) Academics (Reading, Writing, Spelling, Science, and Math Journals); (2) Portfolios; (3) Discipline; (4) Caring; (5) Parents (First Time Communication,…

This teacher's guide has been developed for use with the Peaceful Solutions video series. It provides information for educators who want to learn more about how to prevent or reduce youth violence. Through video, print, and on-line components, Peaceful Solutions is intended to increase awareness about educational practices that help promote peace.…