Describes problem-based thematic instruction in an effort to give both students and teachers meaningful experiences. (MG)

Compulsory Greek education has long shown its need for revision. The Greek Pedagogical Institute (GPI) has presented the cross-thematic approach as a panacea, yet further changes are necessary in terms of experiential learning, school subject demarcation, teaching time management, teaching material, and the student/educator role. This article…

Looks at the educational philosophy and goals of integrated thematic instruction (ITI) as used in the daily activity of a fifth-grade classroom. Shows how ITI employs research on how the human brain learns to provide students with a learning environment and an integrated curriculum that provides each student with multiple conduits of formative…

One of the major problems with the English curriculum is that literature, language, and composition, the three major strands of the curriculum, have been separated rather than integrated within the curriculum. This inservice program, which was given for English teachers at Niles High School in Skokie, Illinois, advocates the use of conceptual or…

A sampler of thematic science lessons from the Japanese bilingual/bicultural education program of the Clarendon Alternative School, a California elementary school, is presented. The lessons are designed to integrate Japanese instruction with the core science curriculum. Each lesson contains this information: the grade level, teacher(s), and…

Explaining that an integrated curriculum is one that makes explicit the ways in which connections between ideas are perceived, this book provides background and offers practical suggestions for implementing and managing an integrated curriculum in the classroom. The book notes that the integrated curriculum approach goes by many names--integrated…

This paper discusses four thematic units that teachers can use with preschool and primary grades, along with examples of activities that can be integrated into each unit. The units include "Land of Many Colors," based upon a book of the same name that tells the story of gingerbread-shaped characters who learn to accept each other even…

Asserts that U. S. history instruction is too often characterized by a narrow focus on national events and leaders viewed through a monocultural lens. Proposes an approach that replaces this narrow view of the past with one that regards the contemporary United States as the result of both internal struggle and global interaction. (CFR)

Use of a theme- or topic-based curriculum to teach English as a Second Language in a Japanese university is described. Students are freshmen and sophomores. The thematic approach accommodates the interests of the large number of teachers in the program and encourages teacher development of instructional materials while achieving some consistency…

Asserts that the whole-language approach is a philosophy of learning in which children construct knowledge by actively engaging in classroom projects that have real meaning for them. Describes thematic studies using a whole-language approach in which children (with teacher assistance) decide what themes will be studied. (CFR)

Asserts that teaching social studies in the primary grades can be an exhilarating experience for teachers and encourages long-term interest in investigating the world among students. Maintains that cooperative learning, student research activities, integration of children's literature, writing and the arts, and the use of educational technology…

An instructional unit for Spanish second language instruction, based on an original story "El Ano Neuvo en Costa Rica" (New Year's in Costa Rica) written by Maritza Sloan, is presented. An introductory section outlines briefly the process of planning a thematic unit and its outcomes, and suggests categories of activities to support…

The six thematic teaching units, designed for teaching Spanish to native speakers in the American Southwest, are a result of a July 1993 conference of 30 middle school and high school teachers. Each unit was produced by a group of teachers, and is entirely or primarily in Spanish. The units contain lesson outlines, activities, tests, samples of…