Describes a thematic, interdisciplinary, middle-school curriculum that integrates visual and language arts. Curriculum embodies three principles: (1) visual and verbal responses depend on meaningful interaction among the artist (writer), the art object (text), the viewer (reader), and the environment (context); (2) visual and verbal thinking are…

This article discusses steps in incorporating computer technology into activity-based thematic units in a preschool classroom for children with and without disabilities. The discussion focuses on teaching young children to learn together, choosing appropriate software, and selecting activities to generalize computer learning. (JDD)

Describes the use of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" as a thematic device that leads to classroom activities in reading, writing, music, art, and other areas of the curriculum. The project culminates in a play written and created by the entire class. (TM)

This paper uses the topic of rain forests to demonstrate how a meaningful and relevant Science, Technology, and Society program can be designed for intermediate-level students. Students create and immerse themselves in a tropical rain forest, explore the forest ecosystem and peoples, and consider solutions to the problem of deforestation. (JDD)

Presents a teacher's reflections on the need to know about, and talk with parents and other teachers about, the benefits of using a child development-based, whole language, thematic approach to teaching in the primary grades. (BB)

Uses a teacher's thematic unit on endangered species to share how technology can help to make meaningful connections across the curriculum. Shows how the unit includes science, social studies, mathematics, art, language arts, and music. (SR)

Recommends that teachers present the years 1000 to 1750 as the "Traditional Europe" period, rather than as a combination of several periods. Identifies shared religious, intellectual, and artistic traditions; landed aristocracy; a peasant economic base; and an urban mercantile class as the era's distinctive characteristics. (DK)

Discusses the use of interdisciplinary units in education by highlighting methodological considerations, specific benefits, and possible approaches to interdisciplinary instruction. Indicates that interdisciplinary approaches achieve coherence, avoid fragmented learning, order information, reduce background information requirements, connect…

Reviews 57 children's books, combining realistic fiction, nonfiction, poetry, literary folklore, and folklore from people and places around the world, that reveal the cultural wonders of the world. Offers suggestions on how to group these books within thematic units. (MG)

Describes four global areas (children's literature, thematic approach, language experience, and interactive computer software programs) in which meaningful context is used to increase poor readers' sight and expanding reading vocabularies. Describes teaching procedures for each of the areas that help poor readers choose the types of context that…

Describes how students in a sixth-grade class connected reading and writing in the context of a project on traditional stories and new transformations of those old tales. Includes a 20-item annotated bibliography of transformations of traditional stories. (SR)

Through development of new mission statement and work of cross-disciplinary committees, Ohio high school adopted Coalition of Essential Schools principles while fashioning interdisciplinary Global Connections program. Aim was to maintain academic integrity and empower tenth graders to take an active role in shaping their world. Instructional goals…

By coupling the creative synergy of a school's staff with some field-tested planning strategies, any advisory program can be improved and focused on students' concerns. This article describes a middle school's efforts to link thematic units for learning with advisement opportunities. Step-by-step lesson plans for exploring stereotypical…

Representing English, history, geography, science, graphic arts, intermediate special education, physical and health education, and environmental studies, six Ontario (Canada) teachers cooperating on an integrated curriculum project found that their "separate" subject areas came together naturally in a theme approach to teaching. Success…

Discusses the new, expanded role of elementary English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers, focusing on content-based language instruction in elementary ESL and examining the challenges of content-based language instruction for elementary ESL (e.g., scarcity of good materials, and limited class time). Two sidebars describe how to develop thematic…