This article proposes teaching strategies and an instructional format to make traditional secondary physical education classes more fitness oriented. Suggestions address the preclass activity, fitness lectures, skill development, integration game activities, playing of traditional games, fitness activities, and closure activities. Sample week…

The planning process is essential when implementing a Big6 Skills instruction program. First, identify what actually occurs in the classroom and school; next, analyze the data and create plans. A completed Skills by Unit Matrix (sample included) can be used both as a planning tool and as documentation of what took place. (Author/AEF)

Each designer contributing to this special issue was asked to prepare an introductory lesson on the physics of motion aimed at eighth to eleventh graders. This article presents a brief description of how a detailed physics content was researched, edited, and refined by subject-matter experts, and then ultimately presented to the instructional…

This instructional design sought to create an easily graspable application of physics principles. It took an engineering slant on the content, asking students to investigate physics by attempting to increase the productivity of a "Splam-canning" plant. Design strategies are outlined for six science principles and eight product utilization…

Summarizes a discussion by the authors of this special issue that took place after the five instructional designers created lesson plans for the same design task. Highlights include the specified content's convergent effect on the designs; design philosophies; things that surprised the designers; and their favorable responses. (AEF)

Presents a lesson on the scale of the solar system that focuses on measurement, exponential notation, proportionality, and ratios. (Contains 17 references.) (Author/ASK)

Argues that the concentration on aims as a central tenet of classroom observation for teacher development is tied to Newtonian discourses that--despite the rival claims of the "new" science of chaos and complexity--still dominate the world of English language teaching. Outlines the main ideas behind these theories and relates them to second…

Introduces a program that brings inquiry-based, hands-on activities to middle school science students through the participation of volunteer college students. Explains fall and spring activities for 5th and 6th grade students. (Contains 16 references.) (YDS)

Discusses "Information Literacy Standards" for school library media specialists that were included in the 1998 edition of "Information Power" and presents a lesson plan for middle school students on global warming that focuses on the standard addressing perspective, or point of view, and incorporates an information process…

Describes how the use of an area model manipulative can help students learn fractions and related concepts. Uses several illustrated examples. (MM)

This article explains a practical strategy for dealing with social emotional problems in the inclusive classroom environment. The potential need for bibliotherapy is introduced by discussing how role boundaries of teachers are changing and how teachers may take on a range of roles in their classrooms. An example of a social emotional scenario…

Japanese (N = 25) and U.S. fifth- to eighth-grade teachers (N = 36) participated in pre- and post-lesson interviews to assess what they thought about when constructing mathematics lessons. To understand the details of this thinking and how it might support classroom instruction, we structured interviews around a specific lesson teachers taught in…

When played in their standard form, striking/fielding games are often a favorite among elementary students; yet they allow for only limited participation, which is contradictory to quality physical education. This article presents a sequence of lessons leading to Batter's Choice, a modified striking/fielding game, designed to maximize the…

In this paper, the author offers lesson plan ideas that are designed to guide teachers of art and science to encourage their students to see connections between art images and physics principles. The four works of art discussed are examples that can be linked visually and conceptually to physics properties in mathematics, space, energy, and light.…

The best place for students to begin to understand complex environmental relationships is in their own back yards. Doing investigations of ants allows students to establish a baseline survey of ant fauna, test the importance of ants in nutrient cycling and soil structure maintenance, and increase their understanding of the environment and their…