The use of peers has long been beneficial to students: especially useful are cross-age projects, where students in the elementary and secondary grades engage in a common unit featuring projects separate to each grade and whole group activities. Cross-age projects are workable with careful planning in advance among teacher and administrators.…

The interdisciplinary approach to education applies methods and language from more than one discipline to examine a central theme, issue, problem, topic, or experience, and is utilized in order to enhance the ability of students to acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of various disciplines. This guide to developing interddisciplinary…

Diverse philosophies are in evidence in teaching writing. Approaches used in teaching writing should assist students to achieve optimally as well as provide for individual differences, help them attain meaning and understanding of subject matter written, develop students' interest in communicating written content, establish purpose and reasons for…

Developed in the belief that the regular inclusion of literature in the elementary school curriculum can lead to a dynamic interaction and integration in the language arts, this booklet provides an annotated bibliography of children's literature with teaching suggestions. The activities are arranged so that they can be modified from one book to…

Ideas and suggestions are presented on how to develop student thinking skills in the performing arts. Performing arts include music, dance and movement, drama and theater. The examples of arts focusing on performance given in this monograph are intended to be merely representative, and teachers are encouraged to apply the concepts to their own…

Aimed at teachers interested in implementing student journals in their classrooms, this guide offers subjects students can write about and ideas for how to use journal writing as a classroom activity, and justifies writing across curriculum lines. The first section of the guide, entitled Mirrors, suggests that students can benefit from writing in…

Integrated learning systems (ILS) are comprehensive packages of computer based instruction that includes hardware, courseware, and an instructional management system. This paper describes and evaluates the ILS being used by Yupiit school district (Alaska). The basic program consists of a K-12 reading, writing, and math system made by Jostens…

A response to the educator's confusion over how to teach critical thinking skills through writing, the writing process model described in this paper underlines the close ties among cognitive, language, and writing skills. Guiding writing assignments in all content areas, the model involves students in reflection and discussion as they move from…

Arguing that computers can help college students make connections between reading and rhetorical theory and research by providing them with opportunities to read reflectively and rhetorically, this paper describes an ideal computer assisted reading component of a composition program. Following a brief introduction, the first section of the paper…

To determine whether a comprehensive, cooperative learning approach can be used effectively in elementary reading and writing instruction, a study evaluated the Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) program. Experimental subjects, 11 third- and fourth-grade CIRC classes, worked in heterogeneous learning teams for all reading,…

This publication for technology teachers is developed around a series of questions commonly raised about the integrated approach to teaching technology. Responses have been provided by eight experienced teachers. An introduction explains the integrated approach and provides a schematic drawing showing the principal phases of the program plus the…

This ERIC Digest examines some of the trends and issues in academic information systems design and describes the policies of several universities that are taking creative advantage of these systems as educational tools. The current emphasis on microcomputers in campus information networks instead of terminals connected to a mainframe computer is…

Perspectives on developing an environmental ideology by approaching environmental issues holistically are offered in this paper. The role of music and art in environmental education is viewed as being critical in fostering a deep sense of appreciation and stewardship towards the environment. Suggestions are presented for teaching art and music…

International development education in the English classroom might consist of the critical analysis of print-media coverage of events in the Third World and the reading of fiction written by Third World authors. An integration of both activities requires a theoretical framework that would affirm the usefulness of the discipline's pursuits in…

In establishing a framework for observing and interpreting the interplay among students accumulating knowledge, their intellectual growth, and their ability to express ideas in writing, it is useful to consider the major stage theories and analyze their place in student writing. In general, cognitive stage models describe logical and psychological…