This document is comprised of weekly newsletters for family child care providers for the year 2000. Each theme-based four-page newsletter contains: (1) creative activities for use with mixed-age groups of 2- to 5-year-olds; (2) ideas on guiding behavior, organization tips, and a Monthly Planning Calendar; (3) special sections for infants and…

Experiential learning is a client-focused, supported approach to individual, group, or organizational development, which engages the young or adult learner, using the elements of action, reflection, and transfer. This book explores the theory and practice of experiential learning as the basis for designing and delivering effective learning…

This book focuses on building community through the sharing of history and traditions that students have inherited. Two eighth-grade teachers collaborated with others in their Oregon school to collect teaching strategies for this book. The teachers worked to build curriculum that integrated social studies with language arts and other subject…

An English teacher at a rural high school discusses how she taught a literature class by having students stage a mock trial involving the characters Beowulf and Grendel. As a result, students gained knowledge not only about the literature but also about the legal system. Includes guidelines for using role-playing activities in the classroom. (LP)

These activities explore classification and logical reasoning by providing students with opportunities to generate multiple answers and engage in multiple classifications of the same item. No solutions are suggested so that students will look to themselves as the mathematical authorities. Sample items for classification include birthday months,…

Design of student-centered instruction for telecourses must take into consideration the variables that contribute to meaningful and motivated student learning: clarity; connections; teacher immediacy behaviors; and active learning. Unlike much conventional instruction, telecourse teaching isn an intensive and demanding team process requiring…

Discusses the concept of cooperative learning and its application to library and information skills. Topics include Bloom's Taxonomy of Instructional Objectives; interpersonal skills; circles of learning; meaningful-use tasks, including decision making and problem solving; and suggestions for cooperative activities for library information…

Describes reform efforts in science education at Northern Arizona University that emphasize active, inquiry-based learning in introductory biology classes. Recommends the use of a number of strategies to involve large classes in thinking about and doing science. Contains 20 references. (DDR)

Discusses the increasing adoption of the learning community ideal among community colleges, describing the leaders and organizations who have contributed to this movement. Reviews five indicators of a learning community: effective learning, professional development plans for every employee, constant reevaluation of missions and values,…

Presents classroom science activities to illustrate concepts of inertia, linear momentum, and friction. Students or teachers conduct races down a slope, using cans containing soups varying in mass, mass distribution, and viscosity. Students predict outcomes, compare speeds, and identify variables affecting the results. (KDFB)

Professional development schools serve both novice and experienced teachers' needs by combining teacher education with professional development and school-restructuring efforts. Such schools are creating new opportunities for learning by teaching, doing, and collaborating. This article describes the University of Southern Maine's one-year,…

Recounts how Foxfire grew from a high school magazine to a national program that helps others to teach in a student-centered way. The Foxfire approach has proven successful regardless of age and grade level, across the curriculum, and in the most traditional school settings. Describes various workshops, courses, and programs that Foxfire has…

Discusses how the John Paul II Cultural Center is an example of how Catholic educators have begun taking advantage of new teaching resources to help students understand their personal faith. Center contains hands-on and interactive journey to learning about Catholicism and the faiths of other people. (MZ)

Describes student historical research and student classroom presentation of the results of that research. Feedback from the student surveys verifies that active-learning mathematics history can motivate students to learn mathematics. (Author/DDR)

The service-learning movement is widespread in European international schools. The most comprehensive initiative presented at two recent European Council of Independent Schools conferences was the Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) course that students must pass to graduate from International Baccalaureate schools. Exemplary programs in England…