Explores commonalities and differences between the Reggio Emilia approach and the developmentally appropriate approach. Points to differences in eight areas: (1) scheduling; (2) grouping children for activities; (3) planning; (4) teacher attitudes; (5) products of work and play; (7) parent conferences; and (8) continuity. (BGC)

Argues that music is a universal language and is important to integrate in the Montessori classroom through teacher education, child-directed activities, and learning individual tones, followed by recognition of patterns and musical sentences. Provides a historical timeline and analysis of musical development. Discusses merits of a music…

Considers the process through which a group of teachers enrolled in an art education course established friendships with selected works of art by regarding them as metaphors for their lives. Teachers connected with the art works through religious references, family bonds, formal contexts, and ties to nature. (MJP)

Considers the act of walking as a metaphor for reflection and self-discovery. Examines the use of postcards as art objects and discusses how they can be integrated into learning activities using the walking/self-discovery metaphor. Connects these activities to a process-oriented curriculum. (MJP)

A case study approach can help preservice teachers develop effective strategies for handling situations that arise as they teach diverse students in public schools. This article presents teaching hints for the case study approach, offering a sample scenario for a seventh-grade middle school physical education class. (SM)

Describes an interdisciplinary high school course that used contemporary films to illustrate overarching themes in the U.S. experience. Themes included individualism/social responsibility, isolation/internationalism, and liberal/conservative. Emphasis was on conceptual rather than historic relationships (e.g. "Norma Rae" illustrated…

Recommends using Chinua Achebe's novel of the 19th-century conflict between African tribal culture and English colonists in a world history class. Achebe's rich narrative, written in a graceful prose, is easily accessible to high school students. The novel replaces simplistic and abstract concepts with those more complex and concrete. (MJP)

Provides instructional materials, tasks, and activities to supplement a unit on map reading. Presents a two-page color topographical map of Arthur's Pass (New Zealand). Includes learning activities covering reading grid references, estimating distances, cross-sections, and sketch mapping. Briefly discusses and illustrates digital terrain models.…

Reiterates the criticism that the Maitland Graves Design Judgment Test is inadequate in measuring aesthetic judgment as defined by Graves, especially in a cross-cultural setting. United States students consistently scored highest. Nonetheless, all students responded favorably to three factors: symmetry, three-dimensionality, and complex design.…

This research applied evolving conceptions of learning to examine how to represent and evaluate students' and experts' cognitive structures. High school history students completed several tasks. Direct comparisons of the quality of student maps with expert maps showed that experts' concept maps could be used to score students' concept maps…

Describes an English-language reading course for science and engineering students at a Mexican university. The course used science and cyberpunk fiction to address moral and ethical issues concerning technological advancement. Synthesizes students' commentaries and includes lists of reading materials, films, and discussion questions. (MJP)

Describes a university curriculum integration project for education and noneducation majors that pairs a preservice course in educational foundations with a general education course in sociology. The courses include discipline-specific objectives but are taught using collaborative pedagogy. The centerpiece is an integrative, field-based research…

Profiles a third-/fourth-grade thematic unit developed to introduce students to contemporary global society and its economic and environmental interdependence. The unit simulates a trip to foreign countries and integrates mathematics, music, art, and language. Various assignments are included in the student's portfolio. (MJP)

Provides a research-based description of the distinguishing qualities of excellent classroom reading teachers. Discusses what excellent reading teachers know about reading development, how they assess student progress, what kinds of reading materials they use in their classrooms, how they organize classrooms for instruction, and how they interact…

Examined the teaching behaviors of 37 Mexican American mothers using an everyday task and a school-related task. Findings indicated that for the everyday tasks, mothers relied on various verbal utterances to guide their children to task completion, whereas for school-related tasks, they relied on nonverbal instructional behaviors. (TJQ)