In this article, the authors unveil the Trade Book Inquiry Design Model (IDM) blueprint. Anchored in a compelling question inspired by a trade book, the new blueprint is broken into two instructional blocks: "Reading and Comprehension" and "Living Social Studies." The inquiry template is designed to be instructionally efficient…

This study investigates the use of inquiry learning (IL) approach for intellectually disabled (ID) students. It draws on findings from the trial lessons of 6 classes of ID students in a project developing an adapted General Studies Curriculum for ID students at primary level. Data analysis focuses on examining how IL was employed for ID students.…

In 2003, the International Conflict Resolution Centre at the University of Melbourne, Australia, produced a primary school teaching manual for UNESCO Vietnam. The finished manual included lesson plans and materials for a five year, 50 lesson peace education course. The manual is one of the first examples of a systematic core national curriculum in…

A teacher of visually handicapped students at the upper elementary level describes a lesson plan from a creative science program which involves students in a model experiment about plant growth. (CL)

By helping children to form positive thinking and learning habits, and to develop a range of transferable skills, we give them the tools they need to become successful learners. This book is grounded in the best of current practice and theories surrounding thinking and learning skills. It provides a highly effective method for introducing a…

The small school system of Genoa City, Wisconsin, developed a comprehensive curriculum to guide daily classroom instruction. Steps included selecting a textbook series before beginning the curriculum revision process and individualizing the guide by highlighting each teacher's areas of accountability. (MLF)

Fifty-six elementary school teachers list the planning decisions they make as they prepare a lesson, class period, unit, or course. More than half the respondents used a planning model that differed in some degree from the model used and taught in the college methods classes. (Author/MLF)

Presents two lesson plans exemplifying analytical geography. The first lesson shows how medical geography can be used to track the silent route of cholera. The second lesson about the Bermuda Triangle is an exercise in fundamental mapping skills and teaches children a valuable lesson in double-checking facts. (RLC)

Sample lesson plans integrating law related questions into the daily curriculum of all grade levels and using involvment and inquiry oriented methods are presented. (Author/DE)

Reports on curricula adjustments after the 1997 Red River Flood forced schools to end the academic year five weeks early. Fifty-seven teachers from five elementary schools in Grand Forks (North Dakota) answered the study questionnaire. Finds that, following the flood, teachers spent more time reviewing material from the previous year and helping…

A podcast is audio or visual content that is automatically delivered over a network via free subscription. The advantage podcasts have over traditional oral reports is that students can edit and revise until what they say and how they say it is perfected. iLife applications are ideal for creating podcasts and other digital projects because of…

Designed for elementary school teachers and administrators, this guide describes instructional activities for teaching students basic water safety and swimming skills. Objectives are outlined and lesson plans for beginners and more advanced learners are offered. Appendices include an activity chart, instructor evaluation form, time sheet, student…

This sourcebook is designed to assist school systems in developing a comprehensive curriculum for environmental education in grades K-12. A consideration of the need for environmental education is projected in Chapter 1 through a set of objectives together with an analysis indicating ethics and attitudes about environment to be the most…

Three valuable approaches to utilize in improving the social studies curriculum may be to develop resource units, teaching units, and lesson plans. Resource units contain a collection of more objectives, learning activities, evaluation techniques, and bibliographical entries than can possibly be used by a given teacher for a particular classroom…

This booklet provides an assortment of materials relating to a cognitive approach to community-based multicultural education. In a brief discussion, the first article presents a preliminary formulation of some views about multicultural education. The text includes a list of basic skills and thinking processes which may be taught and learned…