Teaching deeper learning involves cultivating the critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration skills that students need to be successful in their college, career, and civic life. It also involves encouraging students to be active participants in their learning. Public schools across the United States often work to help students develop…

Peer learning allows a positive use of differences between pupils, turning them into learning opportunities. Yet education professionals often remain unfamiliar with the principles necessary to guarantee its effectiveness. The aim of this book is to help practitioners establish well-structured and effective peer learning projects using a variety…

The 21st century has brought an increasing demand for expertise in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Although strides have been made towards increasing gender diversity in several of these disciplines, engineering remains primarily male dominated. In response, the U.S. educational system has attempted to make engineering…

Web-based instruction is not a new phenomenon. There are 15-20 years of research and literature to support the effectiveness of web-based instruction. The purpose of this article is to synthesize the research in this field in order to determine which factors are critical to the success of web-based instruction. We created a toolkit to assist…

Presents detailed information about the Cape of Good Hope project in which pairs of students designed capes and cloaks out of the garbage bags for a fashion show. Also describes student objectives, unit goals, group activities, products required, and the final show and presentation. (ASK)

A teacher introduced folklore to multiage groups of students aged 5-12 by encouraging them to work together on projects that included locating family origins on a map, collecting family recipes for a cookbook, compiling a photo album, and writing a play based on war stories gathered from relatives. (LP)

Intended as an aid to elementary school teachers, this 48-page handbook presents a literature unit based on the children's book, "Pocahontas" by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire. It begins with sample lesson plans, a unit planner, getting to know the book and author, and suggestions for using the unit activities. Next, a section offers…

Discusses a student project requiring a student to sample a population of interest to obtain a set of data, compute the necessary descriptive measures, and make a conclusion based on the data. Described are the introduction phase; formats; handout material; and suggested projects for individual and teams. (YP)

Describes how an eighth-grade teacher interested her students in reading and writing using cooperative learning and newspapers. During National Newspaper Week, students grouped into mixed ability clusters then completed weekly newspaper reading activities over the rest of the year. Team members agreed on role assignments and rotated…

A sixth grade teacher discusses how she enhanced student writing and thinking skills by having them collaborate on a class monster story. The article describes how they created the story. A copy of the story is included. (SM)

Intended as an aid to elementary school teachers, this 48-page handbook presents a literature unit based on the children's book, "Jumanji" by Chris Van Allsburg. It begins with sample lesson plans, a unit planner, getting to know the book and author, and suggestions for using the unit activities. Next, a section offers unit activities…

Experience with student teams working on policy analysis projects indicates the need for faculty supervision of teams in the process of addressing complex issues. The problem-solving approach adopted in one policy analysis course is described, including assignments and tasks, issues and sponsors, team dynamics, conflict management, and the…

Maintains that group activities in the classroom can be beneficial both socially and academically for students. Presents a six-step plan for helping students develop social skills while working in cooperative groups. Discusses classroom management, grading, and lesson structure issues related to cooperative learning. (CFR)

"Lights, Camera, Action" is a culminating language arts video activity for middle school students with mild disabilities, designed to integrate reading, writing, listening, speaking, acting, drawing, technical, and time-management skills. The cooperative learning activity resulted in production of a short videotaped program which was later viewed…

A classroom technique for helping elementary and secondary school students of English as a second language (ESL) integrate language skills into the language arts curriculum is described. The activity, shadow play, is used as a culminating experience in a unit on the solar system, and consists of the development of dramatic scripts based on folk…