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)

Describes why and how to make movement part of the teaching routine to enhance the curriculum. Information is presented on movement logistics, managing movement, and music. The article explains how to integrate movement activities into specific science, social studies, math, and language arts units at various elementary school levels. (SM)

Puppets provide simple, effective ways to connect social studies and language arts, promote cooperation, and teach about other cultures. The article describes how to make puppets and presents two elementary-level puppet activities. One teaches cultural values using puppets as storytellers; the other explains how to create a puppet play. (SM)

This special section describes one elementary school's Art and Artists theme, which allows students to study art across the curriculum. Various types of projects are described, including a classroom art museum, self-portrait painting, writing about art, scientific drawing, and a study of shapes. A pullout presents examples of student work. (SM)

Four elementary teachers describe how they support an interdisciplinary curriculum using integrated units. One builds tall towers of spaghetti. Another touches on all subjects using baseball card games. The third turns the playground into an archeological dig. The last sails the ocean along with the Pilgrims. (SM)

Creative activities can enliven math classes and enhance student learning. Several suggestions are given for creating amusing word problems and lively drills. Included is a reproducible word problem sheet. (IAH)

A fifth-grade teacher discusses why she teaches with historical fiction, presenting tips on choosing good historical fiction, reviewing her favorite new historical fiction books, and highlighting how to use historical fiction to teach by discussing Pocahontas to help students differentiate between make-believe and history. (SM)

An intermediate school teacher describes a successful integrated curriculum unit that taught students basic geography, technology, and writing skills as they pretended to travel across the United States. The project required a large map, a resource library, a computer, and word processing, database, spreadsheet, and drawing software. (SM)

A Chapter 1 school motivated students using technology and the arts. A partnership with the Pennsylvania Academy of the Arts helped students develop cognitive and creative skills while working in concrete ways. Using computers, each class chose an artist, developed a class museum, and exhibited at the student-staffed museum. (SM)

Article discusses the four elements of good elementary science programs and offers ideas for creative hands-on science and across-the-curriculum activities (e.g., a please touch science center, curriculum planning chart, and getting to know you water activity). It notes science-related events and describes four science reference books. (SM)

Provides a guide to a first-grade teacher's methods of teaching art appreciation. She began a weekly art appreciation study integrated across the curriculum that heightened students' awareness and critical-thinking skills and enhanced their creativity by allowing them to view and respond to art and then create their own. (SM)

This article presents a group project that uses math, science, and art to help elementary school students explore the tones of music in their own world. The children make music out of their own telephone numbers, create a soda bottle and drinking glass band, and graph their own telephone numbers. (SM)

Describes the winners of the Prentice Hall/National Middle School Association Teaching Team Awards (established to recognize exceptional interdisciplinary projects by middle school teaching teams). Students designed a new school, simulated a journey over the Oregon trail, conducted oral histories, and turned a local river into a learning…

Presents middle school-level interdisciplinary activities for exploring medieval life. Students conduct research then create their own castles, design personal coats of arms, learn about jousting, go through a typical castle dweller's day, learn about carousels, discuss castle life from Mark Twain's perspective, and attend a medieval feast. (SM)

Middle school teachers can integrate math and language skills with an innovative project that puts math on display. The "Math Museum" has students visit exhibits (colorfully illustrated math problems) in pairs, then discuss ways to approach and solve each problem on display. (SM)