This facilitator's guide is designed to assist professional learning communities (PLCs) in applying evidence-based strategies to help K-8 English learners acquire the language and literacy skills needed to succeed academically. Through this collaborative learning experience, educators will expand their knowledge base as they read, discuss, share,…

These handouts, which are meant to accompany the facilitator's guide, are designed to assist professional learning communities (PLCs) in applying evidence-based strategies to help K-8 English learners acquire the language and literacy skills needed to succeed academically. The facilitator's guide uses a five-step process for collaborative…

An intensive five-day all-day humanities course on 18th century thought and culture for eighth graders that involved 11 different departments is described. The course helped students recognize that what they were taught in one class could reinforce and illuminate what they were learning in another course. (RM)

Encourages the use of cooperative learning in an eighth grade classroom. Provides copies of four worksheets for classroom teaching. Suggests that cooperative learning groups help establish relationships and improve social skills. Describes group structure; how it maintains and assigns specific roles; and how it promotes independence and…

In this project, eighth grade students are exposed to black history, literature, music, and art to enhance the understanding of diversity and to establish an atmosphere of tolerance for diversity. Students are asked to choose a personality or significant historical event to research and present to the class. They focus on issues such as prejudice,…

A computer program written in BASIC designed to simulate the activities of businesses in a marketplace where several car companies compete is provided. The educational uses of this program in an eighth-grade consumer economics class are highlighted. (MP)

Suggestions for teaching eighth-grade students to write 20 different types of poetry are presented in this unit from the Greenfield Express Management System (GEMS) program, a California Demonstration Program in Reading. A project overview form from the California Centers for Educational Improvement (CCEI) describes the GEMS program and lists…

Designed for eighth grade health classes, the guide serves to present early adolescents with information about drugs, relations between the sexes, difficulties and problems which are likely to arise in these areas, and probable consequences of various courses of action. The specific topics addressed in the unit are: (1) decision making; (2) family…

This booklet contains 15 lessons to infuse the study of law and citizenship education into an eighth grade social studies curriculum. The lessons are designed to encourage inquiry among the students and to use community resource people, particularly attorneys. Through these lessons, teachers can build support for democratic values, while students…

This educational program on drugs and alcohol provides a "No-Use" message to students. The curriculum maintains that alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs are unhealthy and harmful, and that society's laws and values are to be respected. The lessons build students' resistance to influences that encourage drug abuse and they promote safe, healthy,…

The Sex Equity Project for Lake County (Florida) Schools was undertaken to reduce sex bias and stereotyping among students and to encourage exploration of nontraditional occupations. The 1986-87 project focused on middle and high school students by assembling and distributing brochures and by making classroom presentations to eighth-grade…

Two individualized writing programs, useful for mainstreaming learning disabled students into the English classroom were field tested among 100 seventh and eighth grade students in four school districts. The document reports on the results of "Mission WRITE," the design of "Touchstone WRITE," and the strategies used in teaching…

This album addresses how civic education should be taught in Romanian schools. Civic education, like any other form of education, must be gradual and adapted to the specifics of the respective age. The album can be used by any person involved in developing future citizens. The document includes drawings and texts made by students who were apart of…

Instructional materials for helping eighth-grade students to expand their driving-related vocabulary and to become familiar with the driving laws and knowledge needed to pass the California driver's examination are presented in this unit from the Greenfield Express Management System (GEMS) program, a California Demonstration Program in Reading. A…

This manual provides suggestions and materials for teaching about Japan. Designed as a supplement to typical textbook treatments, the lessons provide a range of readings, visuals, and activities to enrich and deepen student learning about Japan. Organized around topics dealing with history, geography, government, economics, and culture, the…