Explores the modern history of homework, beginning with its origins in eighteenth-century England. Discusses early educational reformers' resistance to homework. Reports that former Soviet space advances spurred a U.S. reexamination of homework through the 1960s and 1970s. Examines the contemporary view of homework as an inexpensive means of…

Suggests methods for teaching about Yugoslavia. Recommends assigning students to maintain journals of news clippings about developments in Yugoslavia. Proposes forming cooperative-learning groups for researching the country's various regions. Offers activities for teaching about language arts, fine arts, reading and literature, religion,…

Provides an annotated list of items from the ERIC database concerning the teaching of history. Includes documents dealing with social history, citizenship education, and the teaching of history through literature. Offers instructions for obtaining ERIC documents. (SG)

Maintains that a dichotomy exists between the educational objectives articulated by college professors teaching elementary education and the classroom techniques of social studies teachers in elementary school. Elementary school teachers favor textbook and teacher-centered instruction, while college instructors argue for nontraditional approaches.…

Suggests that in social studies class, instructional methodology becomes the link between the subject matter and what is learned. Offers "All Roads Lead to Rome," a unit plan in which students have opportunities to become self-directed in their work. Provides lessons involving study skills, chronology, and culture and daily life. (SG)

Describes a project where students in an Italian elementary school wrote letters about Columbus and his contributions. Finds that these students have not lost their view of Columbus as a great hero. Includes a list of organizations and resources for teaching about Italy and Columbus. (CFR)

Introduces a way for teachers to capture the interest of elementary students using fictional literature in social studies instruction. Argues that, by helping students learn the importance of history, they tend to pay better attention. Suggests that the use of historical fiction helps students become better critical readers and thinkers. (DSK)

Maintains that children's literature and trade books can be a springboard for the social studies curriculum. Argues for the use of text sets, especially in the younger grades. Provides bibliographies of three text sets covering the topics: friendship, families, and community helpers. (MJP)

Discusses the Columbus Quincentenary and its impact on the K-12 history and social studies curriculum. Reviews the differences of opinion about Christopher Columbus and the results of the voyages of discovery. Warns that teachers must be wary of instructional materials that are based on political and social ideologies. (CFR)

Reports on a study of 200 lesson plans developed by student teachers. Found that lessons based on the Teach-Practice-Apply Model had fewer objectives and more fully developed lessons than those based on a conventional model of lesson development. Calls for additional research to examine the effects of lesson planning on student achievement. (CFR)

Introduces a project to engage preservice teachers in a service learning activity. Provides background on service learning and how to incorporate it into the classroom. Suggests that preservice teachers need to experience service learning so that they will be better prepared to implement service learning in their future classrooms. (DSK)

Presents the value of portfolio experiences for graduate students. Posits that, by using portfolio assessment, students take more responsibility for their own progress, and they have the opportunity to be a part of their own learning process. Provides a summary of student assessments of their portfolio experience. (DSK)

Addresses the reasons for exploring semiconductor technology and organic semiconductors in schools for either middle school or secondary students in an interdisciplinary social studies and science environment. Provides background information on transistors and semiconductors. Offers three social studies lessons and related science lessons if an…

Presents strategies for improving student literacy skills within the social studies discipline, focusing on the book, "Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl." Includes strategies for prereading (what we Know-what we Want to know- what we Learned (K-W-L) and Anticipation-Reaction guides), during reading (graphic organizers), and post…

Suggests using issue-centered approaches in elementary social studies instruction and discusses one example, the Reconstructive Model by Frank Simon. Argues that by using this model, teachers can develop their own issue-centered lessons and units about history. Provides an example of a sixth-grade lesson on disabled students developed using this…