Explains the use of learning-hierarchy analysis in inferring hierarchical structures in expert performance, gives an example of a modified learning-hierarchy analysis of expert performance in teacher planning, and recommends that advice-strategies be derived from hierarchical analyses of expertise to provide instructional guidance to novices. (29…

Outlines the components of a Montessori lesson plan. Includes discussion of the activity's purpose, prior experience, needed materials, points of interest, presentation, control of error, and variations or extensions of the activity. (KB)

Explains the use of instant lessons to quickly create an instructional module. Highlights include content for each type of knowledge needed; what makes a lesson complete; how to develop lesson elements, including motivation; and how to effectively combine lesson elements. (LRW)

Presents a pathfinder to help elementary school teachers connect to the Internet. Includes basics of the Internet; links to other helpful Web sites; lesson plans ready to use in the classroom; sites with resources for teachers to create their own lesson plans; North Carolina resources; and print resources. (LRW)

Describes a writing assignment based on a teacher-created scenario in which students discover a box (when visiting their grandmother's sister) containing a number of strange items including a written proposal for marriage. (TB)

This activity explores two types of plastic molding and allows students to make their own plastic bottles. (MKR)

Curriculum mapping, a procedure for reconstructing what has been taught, should not replace teachers' daily lesson plans. For instructional supervision purposes, however, systematically reviewing teachers' curriculum maps might replace monitoring of lesson plans. The procedure can help departments of education ascertain whether basic skill…

Provides a lesson plan for solving a standard optimization problem using the TI-92 calculator. Screenshots from the calculator are included. (MM)

Provides a collection of calculator-based lessons developed by teachers for use in their daily mathematics lessons. Features whole class teacher-led activities, small group activities, and games. Provides teaching suggestions for the activities and general information about teaching with calculators. Includes a reference to a fuller online…

Social studies is about preparing our children to be active participants in the social, economic and political worlds of adults in the future. It is also about making children aware that they can influence the choices that people around them make and that their current decisions have consequences too. Their responsiveness to issues that are…

The new school year is, first and foremost, an opportunity for a new start. If you're among the fortunate ones who had a vacation and time to reflect this summer, you've surely considered ways to be more effective in the classroom and make life easier at home this year. There are many ideas and activities that fit the bill, but there's one that…

When one of the author's education students showed her third-grade students some peanuts her uncle had grown, she immediately recognized the teachable moment. Students immediately bombarded her with questions: Where do peanuts come from? Who cleans them? How are they used besides eating? Are all nuts alike? Do nuts grow on trees? All three…

Along with the awesome responsibility to teach science content and inquiry comes a responsibility to nurture an understanding of the nature of science. Just what is nature of science? As simple as this statement sounds, the term in and of itself is not readily agreed upon in scientific communities. For K-12 and science education communities,…

Practice posters, with pictures and captions, are useful for controlled practice of vocabulary and structures in an EFL context. The author has found many advantages of using posters with beginners in a high school setting. Student led review gets students active, increases autonomy and improves confidence. The use of small groups is effective…