Tips to keep students interested during the final weeks of school include: work outside (studying bubbles and writing poetry about nature); put on a show about one subject; play social studies Jeopardy; devote entire days to one subject area; have a teach-the-teacher day, where students and teachers trade roles; and create a video keepsake…

Using a soccer cyberhunt, elementary school students can learn all about the game of soccer while practicing computer skills. The cyberhunt teaches about: the history of soccer; soccer's name in other countries; number of players on the field; women's World Cup soccer; soccer rules; soccer legend, Pele; soccer moves; and the soccer ball. A…

Presents a listing of historical books for elementary school students by author Jean Fritz; includes a poster and a calendar with daily class activities to teach students about famous historical figures. (SM)

Scavenger hunts, collecting bottle caps, observing shadows, and other outdoor activities can be developed into a mathematics unit that motivates students to acquire basic mathematical skills. A variety of natural ways to collect data are offered to help foster learning. (DF)

Nine elementary teachers explain how they design their classrooms to match and support their instructional styles. The teachers focus on whole language programs, student portfolios, science activity set-ups, technology transformation, learning center strategies, and space utilization. (SM)

Presents suggestions for bringing reading and writing to life in the classroom and helping students develop a lifelong love of both. Includes creating a refrigerator door for displaying student work, using digital notebooks, establishing a publishing center, holding lunch-bunch meetings, binding students' writing into class collections, reading…

Describes how to use authentic documents and artifacts to make history and literature come to life, describing a fourth grade study of the Pilgrims that involves using an excerpt from a 1622 journal, "Mourt's Relation," published 2 years after the Mayflower sailed. Students translate the excerpt into modern English, then illustrate a…

Describes how teachers can make the most of authors' presentations to elementary students by taking necessary steps before, during, and after the visit and planning the day. The article also provides an eight-step presenter's guide for authors that can be photocopied and sent to authors before the school visit. (SM)

Discusses the advantages of an interdisciplinary curriculum, especially in elementary school. Implementing interdisciplinary curriculum units helps children acquire targeted concepts and skills of various disciplines more effectively. Existing curriculum, current events, and student concerns are the places to find interdisciplinary unit ideas. (SM)

Presents math activities, problems, and games for teaching elementary students to recognize the world's natural symmetry and understand the mathematical qualities it represents; suggests activities with construction paper, blocks, and calculators. Instructions for using the calculator to create palindromes are included. (SM)

A social studies wax museum can teach elementary students facts as they celebrate Halloween. A primary activity has students determine historic scenes to include in the wax museum, practice their poses, and put on a Halloween show. An intermediate activity has students research historic events, interpret information, create backdrops and props,…

A teacher-researcher provides ideas for creating a writer's workshop and encouraging written expression. Suggestions include letting the children create the room arrangement, providing a variety of writing tools, establishing a predictable writing time, becoming partners with students in the writing process, and encouraging students to be active…

Presents suggestions for using children's literature to explore elementary science topics and create literature-based science activities. The article describes books that alphabetically tour the world's fruits and vegetables, describe the world through a blind grandfather's eyes, illustrate more than 600 animals and their sounds, and teach animal…

Presents hand-on, standards-based activities in language arts, math, science, and social studies, including a daily almanac; bookmark buddies; word palettes; bowling for numbers; math thought teasers; plant puzzles; fingerprint fun; a travel bureau; and an end-of-the-year bulletin board of people involved in interesting activities. Reproducible…