The purpose of this fifth in a series of resource units intended for use at the sixth grade level is to provide concepts on the internal migration of peoples from the Atlantic Seaboard and immigration of foreigners to the Northwest and New South. Students trace migration patterns, noting that culture and materials objects also move with the people…

The self-instructional program is designed to give students in grades 4-6 new insights into the concept of money. By using the programmed learning material the students become acquainted with the evolution of money through questioning techniques. Students explore the concepts of barter, token money, coins, paper money, and checks. The paper…

Eight papers which discuss the teaching of anthropology are presented in the February issue of this quarterly publication. The papers, organized into four sections, represent four major interests of anthropologists. In the first section, the teaching of anthropology as an activity is emphasized. Two authors present ideas on employing the processes…

This competency based workbook in social studies education provides information on developing teaching strategies and instructional materials. Designed for undergraduate students in social studies, student teachers, and methods instructors, it serves as a source of assignments for students, a guide in testing student competencies in social studies…

The link between instruction in middle school science and assessment in ninth grade science in a small rural midwestern school district was investigated. Science students, in middle school grades 6-8 (917) and their 13 science teachers responded to surveys used to characterize science learning opportunities in the middle school classes. Ninth…

This book explores alternative strategies in teaching and learning, offering an expose of how to interpret curriculum, prepare lessons, construct lesson plans, present lessons effectively, develop teacher-student relationships, and appraise lessons constructively before and after presentation. The book highlights the importance of pedagogical…

Describes several activities used to teach students from middle school age to college nonmajors about the nature of matter, atoms, molecules and the periodic table. Strategies integrate such approaches as hands-on activities, visualization, writing, demonstrations, role play, and guided inquiry. For example, the periodic table is viewed as a town…

Discusses collaborative planning for inquiry between teachers and library media specialists. Highlights include instructional media specialists; roles of teachers and library media specialists; curriculum development; learning resources; access over ownership; resource budgets; best practices for managing learning resource collections; and a…

This article is about one school district's effort to reform its elementary science curriculum through a program of professional development called Science, Parents, Activities and Literature (Science PALs). The differential exposure of the district's K-6 teachers to Science PALs and differences in how well teachers implemented Science PALs-type…

The National Science Education Standards encourage teachers to approach their teaching in a spirit of inquiry--assessing, reflecting on, and learning from their own practice. In this article, the authors draw from their own experiences as science teacher-researchers and present practical guidelines for science teachers who want to learn more about…

Mentoring is often assumed to be done by experienced teachers with new teachers in one-on-one settings and designed to help the mentee be successful with the tasks of teaching. In the context of preservice teacher education, mentoring usually takes place during field experiences, particularly student teaching when the mentor is the host classroom…

This article reports on a 3-year longitudinal case study of a school-based project designed to restructure and reculture the school's teaching and learning environment. Using a participatory action research framework, groups of teachers from the school worked together to develop a community of inquiry focusing on core teaching values, student…

The present study discusses the findings from a research that was conducted involving fourteen teachers in a primary school. In the study, the teachers' classroom practices of teaching and learning science were observed and analysed. The data gathering procedures included 23 classroom observations and analysed by means of qualitative data…

Recently developed Professional Development School standards underscore the importance of professional learning community, inquiry, shared decision-making and a focus on student learning. These standards closely mirror the goals of "Critical Friends Groups," a significant movement in education to improve student achievement through…

In this article the authors focus on how features of a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment can elicit and support domain-specific reasoning and more specifically historical reasoning. The CSCL environment enables students to collaborate on a historical inquiry task and in writing an argumentative essay. In order to support…