Presents six classroom activities to be used with a unit on the European exploration period. Links the activities to the themes presented in the Position Statement on the Columbian Quincentenary published by the National Council for the Social Studies. Includes recommended teaching procedures and instructional materials. (CFR)

Describes the Teaching with Historic Places Project, a cooperative effort of the National Park Service and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Explains the project's background and the factors that served as criteria for the lesson plans developed by classroom teachers and project staff. Includes information on obtaining the lesson…

Describes having students write lab reports that concentrate more on writing and independent thought. Students take the role of scientists writing about their findings for publication. The teacher acts as a journal editor, reading the reports and either accepting them for publication or suggesting ways for improvement. (PR)

Describes a Russian approach of using literature to make physics instruction more interesting and attractive to students. (PR)

Describes a contest where sixth-grade students observe the results of a week of planning, folding, testing, and comparing their best paper frog designs and hopping techniques. This integrated unit helps children unleash their imaginations and develop problem-solving skills. (PR)

Examines how teachers allocate instructional time in reading classes. Indicates that teachers used 34% of time in reading and responding; 24.89% in listening and discussing; 8.36% waiting; 20.28% completing skill development; 7.52% in telling, writing, and narrating; 3.47% in other activities. Notes that the recommendation that time spent reading…

Provides a cognitive reading guide for the first four chapters of the novel, "Where the Red Fern Grows" (Rawls, 1961), that incorporates teacher-directed whole-class instruction with a student reading guide to equalize instruction for various levels of learners. Ideas for whole-class instruction are contained within the lesson plans. (CR)

Describes five participatory workshop activities to be used when offering a communication workshop to help ensure that participants understand, retain and apply the ideas and information presented. Activities include second/foreign language simulation, speech reading, language/learning disabilities simulation, and coarticulation simulation.…

Presents materials for an instructional activity where students contact and interview members of the local legal community concerning issues of civil law. Includes a series of question and situations that students can use to elicit responses. The questions concern constitutional rights of students, tort law, and family law. (MJP)

Presents a lesson plan based on the instructional practice of "Academic Controversy.""Academic Controversy" involves using student research and classroom debate to decide issues with clearly defined positions. Uses a civil rights case as source material and includes lesson procedures and a student handout. (MJP)

Presents the materials and procedures for an instructional activity using a student forum to discuss litigious activity in the United States. The forum is an organized role play where students assume the representative roles including a single working mother, the CEO of an insurance company, a corporate lawyer. (MJP)

Offers guidelines for enhancing science instruction for students with disabilities by adapting, implementing, and assessing an activities-based approach. This approach features a structured learning cycle, emphasis on the relationship of science to students' lives, experiential learning, interdisciplinary themes, cooperative learning groups,…

Presents an alternative to the competition fostered through traditional science fairs. The Science Expo is an all-day event meant to show students and the community that science is fascinating and fun. (PR)

Presents an alternative to the traditional science fair. The Science Expo features students projects, science games, teacher demonstrations, and business and organizational exhibits. (PR)

Maintains that there is general consensus about recommended reforms in the teaching and learning of history but that it is unlikely that many will be adopted on a broad scale. Asserts that the emphasis on active, student-centered approaches to learning are the best ways to organize history instruction. (CFR)