This article provides practitioners with a guide to (1) understand the developmental emergence of play skills in young children to inform developmentally appropriate instructional decisions (e.g., toy choices); (2) set up the play space to support social play; and (3) use key strategies from an evidence-based intervention for young children with…

Teachers, curriculum experts, and other educators work together using online tools developed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create high-quality, useful lessons and research-based instructional tools incorporating the Common Core State Standards.

The content decision-making process involved in developing Holocaust curricula is unusually complex and problematic. Educators must consider factors such as historical accuracy, selection of topics covered, potential teaching materials (such as textbooks and literary texts), and graphic materials (such as films and photographs) as they plan their…

Discusses the educational purpose of historical atlases and what teachers and students can expect to find in them. Describes two categories of atlas: (1) those containing text and pictures and (2) those with maps, titles, and brief introductory comments. Argues that the geographic circumstances of historical processes are important. Suggests that…

Presents brief annotations and evaluative comments on various instructional media. Discusses filmstrips, computer software, and other instructional materials. Includes materials about dinosaurs, Native Americans, Congress, and the Vietnam War. Describes new technological resources for education. Provides information on availability. (DK)

Analyzes existing materials for teaching the Talmud, pointing out that this material is uninteresting for most students. Describes an Israeli curriculum and instruction project at Masorti High School in Jerusalem which introduces Judaic studies from a positive, critical perspective. (KO)

Evaluates the accuracy and usefulness of "The World History Chart: A Chronology of World History According to R. H. Carling." Claims it presents a narrow, sacred interpretation of certain periods of world chronology representing the unorthodox view of one small religious group, the Mormons. (LS)

Steps to simplify and evaluate software selection are provided, with specific guidelines for selection criteria. Included are four sample evaluations of educational courseware. (MD)

Discusses the use of Samuel Butler's utopian novel, "Erewhon," in a social psychology class to demonstrate the universality of social psychological insights and to provide a literary dimension to the course. Reports that student evaluations indicated that "Erewhon" was successful in increasing the liberal arts value of the…

Gives detailed information on five types of job performance aids, three types of instruction sheets, and two types of modules. Presents a quality-control procedure for assessing the effectiveness and value of these instructional materials for training. (SK)

Presents an annotated list of nine selected resource materials from the ERIC Information System database that were designed by classroom teachers. Maintains that these provide effective alternatives to textbooks and other commercially produced materials. (CFR)

Discusses the Columbian Quincentenary statement of the National Council for the Social Studies. Recommends that key ideas and basic knowledge of the statement be used to evaluate instructional materials. Suggests questions developed from the ideas in the statement. Includes interconnectedness of world history and effect on Native Americans and…

The article examines options in social skills training for students with mild disabilities. Described are behavioral interventions and five packaged curricula. Among eight guidelines for evaluating a package are efficacy of approach, cost, and concern for generalization. Teachers are encouraged to teach social skills both directly and incidentally…

This article considers mathematics textbooks, materials, and manipulatives, which are commonly a part of mathematics instruction. Strengths and weaknesses of these instructional tools when teaching students with learning disabilities in mathematics are reviewed. Evaluation scales are presented for selection of textbooks, materials, and…

A resource specialist discusses materials that are useful with hearing impaired elementary students. Materials considered include attribute blocks, globes, pictures showing facial expressions, sequence cards, cuisenaire rods, and interesting books. Names and addresses of 13 publishers and distributors are provided. (CL)