To aid at-risk children, summer intervention programs must emphasize links between physical well-being and drug awareness, nutrition, health, and safety. West Virginia's Project YES (Youth Enrichment Services) is a comprehensive, community-based program highlighting many aspects of child development. The article describes the program's history,…

Integrating children's weather-related family folklore with scientific investigation can be an effective way to involve elementary and middle level students in lessons spanning the disciplines of science, geography, history, anthropology, and language arts. Describes weather folklore studies and examples of weather investigations performed with…

Presents an interview with Ernest L. Boyer. Describes approaches to improving civic education. Identifies student passivity as the primary obstacle. Urges greater scrutiny of the information that teachers present to students. Proposes placing that information in historical, social, and ethical perspectives and integrating and applying it. (DK)

Explores the learning opportunities that might be created in mathematics instruction if reading were reconceptualized as described in the NCTM statement on communication. Develops the notion of "reading to learn mathematics" by enunciating and illustrating its key components. (44 references) (MDH)

Presented is the idea that art can be used to present early concepts of geometry, including the notion of the infinite. Discussed is the symbiosis that exists between the artistic and mathematical views of points, lines, and planes. Geometric models in art and using art in the classroom are discussed. (KR)

Describes La Guardia Community College's interdisciplinary approach to the teaching of critical thinking, focusing on the program's impact on literacy, reasoning, problem solving, and critical attitudes. Presents guidelines for integrating critical thinking. Discusses the importance of professional development to encourage curricular changes,…

Offers suggestions for teaching critical thinking in writing and humanities courses. Explains the rules of freewriting as they are presented to students, compares left- and right-brain qualities, and describes assignments involving focused freewriting and metaphor, and efforts to make assignments relevant. Describes the evaluation process and…

Considers critical thinking skills employment qualifications. Utilizing accounting classes as an example, offers guidelines for using literature to help students understand interactions between professional and business environments; and employing case studies to help students practice oral and problem-solving skills. Advocates consistency in…

Reviews criticism of elementary social studies textbooks, focusing on how the written text, the pictures, and graphics often seem unrelated. Asserts that the inclusion and use of literature selections in K-3 social studies textbooks is a newly emerging strategy. (CFR)

Suggests ways for teachers to lay the foundations for open-ended garden-inspired projects with children from day care to the primary grades. Focuses on the indoor gardening center, but its ideas and activities may be adapted to the outdoor environment. (BB)

This article shares procedures that were used to establish coaching partnerships across disciplines in an early childhood setting for children at risk. The procedures were effective in facilitating collaboration among personnel that resulted in an increase in effective teacher behaviors and a decrease in ineffective teacher behaviors. (JDD)

Described is a way that elemental mathematics can be applied to explain an astronomical phenomenon. The fact that the extreme of sunrise and sunset do not occur on the shortest or longest days of the year is analyzed using graphs and elementary calculus. (KR)

Presents lessons on the geography of the desert designed to teach that different subjects are interrelated and dependant on each other. Explains that the goal was to help students understand that geography is a way of looking at the world not just a study of maps. Includes activities in reading, mathematics, art, and science. (DK)

Proposes sharing mathematics-related newspaper stories as a classroom method to illustrate the importance and relevance of mathematics in the students' lives. Provides examples of appropriate stories and ways they can be used in the classroom. (18 references) (MDH)

Asserts that education cannot be limited to the confines of a textbook but must be a true window to the world. Argues that this can be achieved through curriculum and thematic teaching. Provides suggestions for designing and teaching integrated, thematic units. (CFR)