Intended for teachers of grades 4-8, this book is designed to challenge students to think critically about the books they are reading. Projects in the book incorporate creative writing skills and artistic and oral development. The book is designed so that teachers can choose the projects that best connect with their students' interests and…

This paper describes two studies conducted with high school students doing library research and writing research papers, with the objective of examining the effectiveness of this type of assignment. The students were all in grade 11, the first group in Canada, the second in the United States. Students were observed in the classroom before they…

This packet is composed of several resources for teachers interested in prairie ecology and restoration. "A Guide to Restoration from Site Analysis to Management" focuses on the Prairie/Oak Savanna communities of Wisconsin and takes teachers through the planning and design process for a restoration project on school grounds including…

The central research question in this study was whether structured active learning affects the abilities of science and engineering undergraduates to relate abstract concepts and realistic applications more than a relatively traditional instructional method. More specifically, the research was designed to determine whether differences in the…

The main purpose of this Master's degree field project was for fourth grade students to create a "good" visual presentation of a Civil War topic using Clarisworks slideshow. Students were in charge of determining what constituted a good project. The components of the slideshow included the following: (1) title page; (2) biography; and (3) Civil…

Portfolio design is integrated as an early project in the teacher education curriculum at the University of Idaho. The project provides students with a first experience in gathering and organizing data for the purpose of tracking professional growth and development. It also provides faculty with an authentic assessment tool. The portfolio causes…

In studying urban schools, researchers have identified several critical curriculum issues related to the miseducation and alienation of African American students. This paper looks at three such issues: the disconnection between the school curriculum and African American students' cultural backgrounds and environments (e.g., black dialect versus…

Many cooperative learning programs are merely exhibitions of the willingness to work with others. They apply teams of people to do work that could be accomplished just as well by individuals. Successful programs focus on collaborative learning that fosters working together to solve problems beyond the capacity of any individual. A cooperative…

The purpose of this research study was to determine whether a specific information problem-solving skills model was an effective metacognitive scaffold for students solving information-based problems. Specifically, 35 eighth grade students in two intact classes were asked to write newspaper articles that summarized the events surrounding the Selma…

This year-long assessment project grew out of a need to establish an authentic assessment program (intermediate and terminal, formative and summative) as students entered the secondary grades. The project provided a framework for skill lessons correlated to the state (New York) curriculum and the textbook, which continued throughout the year,…

The roots of international law are long and ancient. Archaeologists have unearthed treaties between two Mesopotamian rulers dating back to 3100 B.C. Of all the ancient peoples, the development of modern international law owes the most to the Romans. The 20th century saw two attempts to bring world order through the use of international…

This document contains five issues of "NewsWire," a newsletter created for the SouthEast and Islands Regional Technology in Education Consortium (SEIR-TEC). Topics addressed in these issues include: leadership and educational technology; technology program development; resources for teaching and learning with technology; U.S. Department…

This curriculum packet contains two lesson plans about cities and architecture intended for use with students in upper elementary grades and middle schools. The first lesson plan, "City People, City Stories" (Jan Ham), states that understanding architecture and cities must begin with an understanding of the people of the city. The children create…

This paper presents a review of the Virtual Factory Teaching (VFTS) project, a Web-based, multimedia collaborative learning network. The system allows students, working alone or in teams, to build factories, forecast demand for products, plan production, establish release rules for new work into the factory, and set scheduling rules for…

The Annenberg Rural Challenge represents a large national effort to transform rural schools and communities. Among its dominant themes are that students should come to know their local communities well, that communities should see schools and students as critical assets, and that communities and schools need to become more integrated. As part of a…