Asserts that an Advanced Placement (AP) course in music theory offers student musicians opportunities to gain new insight into melody, harmony, and structure. Describes content and teaching methods used in an AP music theory program. Discusses necessary teacher characteristics and maintains that both students and teachers benefit from the course.…

Argues that student creative writing is stimulated by painting and other visual art. Describes a seven-step process in which students view painting and other visual arts and then write poetry. Includes suggested artworks and excerpts of poetry written by students. (CFR)

Describes a teacher's experiences and accomplishments teaching art expression to visually impaired children, whose ability to create art and delight in so doing demonstrate that they may have sight loss but are not impaired in imagination. Special techniques for helping these students are described. (SLD)

Asserts that teacher knowledge has become the focus of educational reform. Reviews research and professional literature on teacher knowledge. Concludes that the knowledge base of outstanding teachers is derived from divergent and complex sources and is buttressed by informed criticism on the part of the teachers. (CFR)

Argues that effective history instruction requires students to think about content rather than merely reproduce it. Contends that this can be achieved best through peer interaction based on student research papers that require students to state opinions or positions. Provides an assignment example and a evaluation handout. (CFR)

Asserts that celebration of holidays, long a significant aspect of elementary social studies, has been abandoned by many schools because of controversy. Argues that holidays serve important societal functions and are part of the public culture. Provides criteria for establishing school policies about holidays and their celebration. (CFR)

Focuses on the conceptual change processes of 17 fourth-grade students as they grapple with the abstract concept of human rights. Discusses limitations and successes in students' learning within the framework of conceptual change and motivation research. (CFR)

Identifies potential conflicts in cultures of instruction between language teachers and learners because of different expectations in how languages ought to be taught. The article discusses data from a study of Chinese language instruction at the University of Oregon, noting what teachers and students considered most and least important features.…

Discusses the linguistic and psychological barriers that exist for English-speaking students of Arabic. The article explains theoretical and practical issues in teaching Arabic as a foreign language and describes the implementation of four principles in the Foreign Service Institute approach. Suggests that this approach is transferrable to…

Describes an exercise to develop interest and understanding about nuclear energy in which students make presentations regarding a proposal to build a hypothetical nuclear power plant. Students spend two weeks researching the topic; give testimony before a "Senate Energy Committee"; and vote on the proposal. Background information is…

Describes an instructional activity in which fifth graders identified geographic and economic factors that caused a town to become a ghost town. Discusses instructional procedures and materials used in the activity. Includes extension activities, maps, and suggestions for adapting the activity to other geographic regions. (CFR)

Contends that current events can be used to develop thinking skills necessary for effective history learning. Describes using daily newspapers as a source of information for historical analysis. Asserts that social studies teachers must teach students how to use the media as a goal of citizenship education. (CFR)

Researchers studied elementary teachers and students from bilingual Spanish/English classrooms, examining successful literacy practices for incorporation into bilingual teacher education programs. The paper investigates the impact of talking about literacy, learning about the code and other skills, writing/reading and meaning making, the social…

Compared teaching senior secondary school biology students (n=147) with concept mapping alone; with concept mapping in conjunction with cooperative-learning groups; and with lecture/demonstration methods. Groups utilizing concept mapping with cooperative learning scored significantly higher other groups. (Contains 18 references.) (MDH)

Uses space explorations to integrate learning activities in science, language arts, math, social studies, art, foreign language, and physical education. (PR)