Describes a job-embedded staff development program that has provided training and ongoing support in implementing cooperative learning and other teaching strategies in one Iowa school district. Job embedded means that leaders teach others and view their role as staff developers as important. (SM)

Draft and revised computer-written narratives were produced by 34 fourth graders in individual writing and revising, individual writing and revising with a peer, or paired writing and revising conditions. Results show that children, especially when working with a peer, can carry out revisions even without explicit training. (SLD)

Describes a project to develop and conduct an assessment that was congruent with the hands-on, process-oriented science education used in an Illinois school district. The approach used observations, group-teacher interactions, group performance, and data gathering and interpretation. The major components of the program are summarized. (PR)

Describes a project begun in 1988 at the University of North Carolina in which graduate students in library science acted as information intermediaries for students in environmental science. Planning, instructional objectives, materials, methods, costs, and project evaluation are discussed. Changes in the program for 1989 and 1990, as well as…

Explains how teachers can introduce cooperative learning, suggesting they (1) discuss cooperative behavior with students; (2) initiate small, basic, cooperative groups and activities; (3) facilitate cooperation; (4) add variety and expand the activities. Essential elements include positive interdependence, individual accountability, personal…

Presents a collection of fall and Halloween activities for elementary students, including pumpkin poetry, batty bulletin boards (graphing), vegetable variety art, old time radio mysteries, paper doll Halloween safety, career dress-up day, imaginative Halloween writing, and matching animals with foods they eat. A student page offers a Dracula…

Reports the results of research conducted to evaluate the combined effect of cooperative learning and computer-assisted language learning/interactive videodisc (CALL/IVD) (i.e., individuals alone, monads, versus pairs of learners, dyads, studying at CALL/IVD workstations) and its relative impact on achievement in beginning Spanish. (28 references)…

Recommends giving students responsibility for maintaining a daily record of the class activities using a class log to record the year's events. States that students gain writing experience and learn responsibility. Explains the methodology and includes a sample entry. Suggested entries include homework assignments, summaries of class lessons, and…

Provides methods for cooperative, student investigation of weather data similar to methods currently used by atmospheric scientists. Utilizes spreadsheets to focus on the analysis and interpretation of wind frequency data for a small town in Oregon. (JJK)

Elementary computer teacher describes a summer program in which fifth graders cooperatively created a computer-based city planning unit. Students strengthened math, writing, technology, and problem-solving skills as they organized and used a bank, purchased property, proposed and designed buildings, and assembled the futuristic city using a…

Describes the California Assessment Program's (CAP) group performance assessment task. Provides a sample task field test in world history, including written and culminating exercises. Suggests that such assessment exercises are popular with students and provide the teacher with an amalgam of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. (DK)

Describes a social studies unit for use in U.S. history courses or a class in contemporary social problems. Explores child labor in U.S. history and today. Includes questions, research, and discussion for small groups of students. Suggests that the unit helps students' view themselves as part of the learning process. (DK)

Describes a lesson which uses collaborative revision strategies to help teach cohesion to second-language speakers of English in business communication classes. (SR)

Presents group activities for learning geographic terminology. Includes (1) learning basic terminology and definitions; (2) evaluating and selecting by consensus; (3) creating models to illustrate terms; (4) challenging classmates to identify terms; (5) grouping models into categories; and (6) explaining the meaning of terms in writing. Discusses…

At the American Association of School Administrators' 124th annual meeting in February 1992, participating superintendents pursued improving public schooling design to achieve the results that communities are increasingly demanding. After detailing obstacles to success, speakers laid out workable solutions involving total quality management,…