Describes efforts of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus Department of Educational Services to promote the integration of circus themes and activities into elementary school curricula. (CMV)

Discusses procedures for selecting literature reflecting the subtopics of a specific theme. (HTH)

Profiles curriculum reform efforts at a Spanish Harlem school participating in a diverse, 150-member Basic School Network inspired by Ernest L. Boyer's work. Curriculum is constructed around eight commonalities: the life cycle, use of symbols, group membership, sense of time and space, aesthetic responsiveness, connections to nature, production…

Offers connections and resources about how to build a literature-based curriculum that goes beyond just the use of fiction. Provides an annotated list of 90 books on the topics of the cycle of seasons, weather cycles, cycles of the universe, and life cycles to use in connecting fiction and nonfiction. (MG)

This report summarizes and compares the views of six experts in art education concerned with teaching art for students' conceptual understanding at the elementary level. Two art education professors and three public school art specialists who teach art at the elementary level engaged in comprehensive written exercises to address issues related to…

The 21st-century integrated curriculum will be based not on themes, but on broad, unchanging concepts. The concept-based curriculum will require teaching of necessary language arts and other skills as needed for in-depth concept study. This approach offers common learning for all students by broadening specific objectives of many subject areas.…

This booklet describes a school district's evolution from a neatly compartmentalized language arts curriculum to a curriculum integrated around broad topics and themes of study. Sections of the booklet discuss the mounting tensions in the school district's language arts program; committee work that formed the foundation for change; the 5 target…

The role of the Catholic school educator is to "help each student become the 'new creature' that each one is potentially, and at the same time prepare them for the responsibilities of an adult member of society." The potential referred to includes mental, physical, psychological, and spiritual growth. This resource and planning guide for…

Intended for use by teachers in preschool through intermediate grade classrooms, library media specialists, and other educators, this book presents 26 literature frameworks that involve students in reading and sharing literature in connection with thematic units. Each framework suggests books and literature-related materials to coincide with…

Describes a massive cultural transformation project at two Charlotte, North Carolina, elementary schools that used Deming's total quality management principles to restructure curricula according to Boyer's eight commonalities of learning. Shows how the FADE (focus, analyze, develop, and execute) model was used to develop a well-coordinated,…

Provides a rationale for the shift from textbook to thematic instruction in middle schools. Describes a six-session staff development model for thematic instruction that covers the utility and applicability of this approach, development of thematic units, use of literature in such units, assessment of student progress, and implementation of…

This practicum paper presents a thematic K-12 social studies curriculum to meet an expressed need of social studies teachers of a school corporation to upgrade the teaching of social studies. The teachers wanted the subject to be more relevant to students' lives and to incorporate a more holistic approach. Content overview of the K-12 currriculum…

Space Academy is a three-week theme study summer camp for grade one-eight students. Science, humanities, fine arts, and physical activities are intertwined. Physical activities integrate movement skills, fitness development and concepts, and social and emotional skills into the camp's theme. (IAH)

Intended for use by teachers in preschool through intermediate grade classrooms, library media specialists, and other educators, this book presents 26 literature frameworks that involve students in reading and sharing literature in connection with thematic units. Each framework suggests books and literature-related materials to coincide with…