The secret to teaching may be as simple as asking students good questions--and then giving them the opportunity to find the answers. The author shares how he uses essential questions that set the class off on an inquiry. Rather than consuming information that he distributes and then repeating it on a test, students carry out their own…

Presents four ready-to-use fables by Arnold Lobel, plus classroom activities and insights from the author. (Editor/SJL)

Suggests science activities for a unit on goldfish, including experiments investigating reactions of fish to light, sound, current and temperature. (CM)

A lesson plan focusing on Amendments VI and XIV to the Constitution and due process of law through the right to trial by jury is offered. Primary and intermediate students participate in the fictional trial of a weaver charged with selling goods under false pretenses. Teaching procedures and related activities are suggested. (MT)

Suggests ideas for a teaching unit designed to help children learn about recreation, business and industry and shopping centers in urban areas. (CM)

Describes a class project where children found ways to adapt to routines, situations, and events of a real community to a simulated society in the classroom. (GB)

Presents guidelines for developing thematic units for primary students (pick broad-based themes, gather resources, avoid time traps, let student interests guide the themes, create interactive bulletin boards, and organize materials). The article offers ideas, activities, and experiences for beginning a color unit and maintaining thematic teaching…

Studying about stellar constellations provides children with an opportunity to learn about ancient myths and mathematics at the same time. An interdisciplinary teaching unit combines information about myths associated with the zodiac signs and instructions for plotting the coordinates of stars. (PP)

Numerous ideas for school social studies units focus on providing a framework for the teaching of topographic map skills, initiating an interest in history, and understanding population concerns. (CM)

A teaching unit that helps fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students learn about human and animal skeletal systems is described. The unit focuses on bone characteristics and develops basic science skills, such as observation, data collection, and making and testing hypotheses. (PP)

A teaching unit uses the songs of sailors, loggers, coal miners, and other workers to illustrate how the United States was built in the nineteenth century. Words and music for seven songs are given, along with classroom activities to help children understand occupations and industries during that time. (PP)

Two New Rochelle, New York, teachers who developed a unit on ancient Egypt for gifted fifth and sixth grade students give tips on preparing interdisciplinary units which involve independent student research. Their unit incorporated social studies, science, language art, and mathematics activities. (PP)

A year-long music instruction unit introduces students to information about the lives of nine great composers of the classics and to their works. Each month a different composer is featured. No special training for teachers is necessary. (PP)