An activity book presents arts and crafts projects for the special events and holidays occurring during November and December. The section includes class activities, student activity pages, and directions for making several kinds of bird feeders. (SM)

Creating a class book can be an effective way to stimulate early elementary students' creativity and self-expression. The six steps are to: introduce the project; create the story; decide who does what; get it down on paper; put it all together; and share the experience. (SM)

Presents crafts projects to accompany the discussion of African tribes and their ceremonial items. The article describes how to create a ceremonial mask, ceremonial shield, goodbye cloth, and necklace. Background information is included for each item. (SM)

Several classroom consumer education activities are discussed for use in instructing elementary school children. (MJB)

By introducing students to the idea of inventing their own celebrations, teachers encourage creativity and help them sort out values and make decisions. Students can savor a sense of community as they share discoveries with classmates. Examples of several invented celebrations are recounted. (MT)

Events and activities based on holidays and anniversaries occurring in September are suggested for elementary grade levels. (FG)

A close involvement with the arts helps students develop skills useful for any area of the curriculum. Techniques are suggested for making the arts more than just extracurricular activities. (DF)

Describes one elementary teacher's strategies to help students learn spelling using cooperative learning groups. Mixed-ability groups of four children are established, and students take turns being the caller, recorder, reader, and checker. Students retain more because of the amount of repetition. A weekly classroom spelling schedule is presented.…

Presents an excerpt from a play that can be used to help students learn about Black history. The play focuses on an African-American town, Boley, Oklahoma, that outsmarted the most feared bank robbers of the 1930s. It emphasizes Black triumphs. (SM)

Guidelines for teaching about the relationship between African and American houses include an activity in which children unravel a trail of clues, moving from a West African house to a "shotgun" house in America. A student activity page on houses in Nigeria, Haiti, and New Orleans is included. (SM)

Cemeteries can provide valuable teaching tools for studying art, genealogy, botany, math, geology, and local history. Several activities are suggested that will make a field trip to a local cemetery a learning experience. (IAH)

A list of activities for creative dramatics work in the classroom. (MM)

Presents low-cost learning activities to help teach elementary students about the earth's magnetic field. One project has students make a model of the earth's magnetic field. Another has them experiment with magnetism. (SM)

Elementary school activities designed for celebraing the significant dates of each school month, excluding December, are described in this compilation. The collection covers birthdays of well-known people, historical events, mathematics, writing, reading, science, history, social studies, art, and cooking. (JW)

Several across-the-curriculum activities, with a penguin theme, are described. Research, discussion, science, writing, math, and art activities are listed. Included is a list of resources which gives sources for books and posters. (IAH)