The reading program described in this lesson plan supports students' exploration of multiple sources to create a timeline about the life of a person of their choosing and requires students to work together and to research and resolve potentially conflicting pieces of information about the life they research. During three 40-minute lessons,…

This book contains a set of 12 lessons for middle school students that demonstrate how mathematical processes and concepts may be applied to the study of economics and personal finance. Mathematics educators can find lessons connecting mathematics instruction to practical problems and issues that students encounter throughout their life. The…

The reading program described in this lesson plan outlines a "just for fun" book club that was a student-organized, student-driven reading experience that built community in the classroom and encouraged students to read independently, taking responsibility for their literacy learning. During 5 to 15 minute lessons every other day,…

The writing program described in this lesson plan asks students to look closely at their writing, marking speaking parts, and then to return to the beginning to find any places where the "characters clash." During the one 50-minute lesson, students will: explore paragraphing conventions for dialogue; examine their own writing closely…

The creative writing program described in this lesson exposes middle school student to wordless picture books and helps them to develop story lines orally and in writing. During the four 45-minute lessons, students will: explore various wordless picture books; develop oral story lines for wordless picture books; develop written story lines for…

This document intends to guide school principals through a process for improving the quality of math and science teaching in schools. The project is guided in part by national standards in mathematics and science which provide a vision for student learning that includes a mastery of the basic fundamentals of the subjects complemented by a…

The cable television channels A&E and the History Channel (and their Web sites) offer an array of creative ideas developed by teachers who understand teachers' busy schedules. This booklet provides supplementary content for A&E and History Channel programs along with correlation links to the national standards, grade level guidelines,…

The writing program described in this lesson plan guides students to plan an adventure story, write different endings to the story, and create web sites with the parts of the story hyperlinked to each other. During six to eight 50-minute lessons, students will: understand the structure of Choose Your Own Adventure stories; become familiar with the…

Ancient times comes to life when a student can hold in his/her hand or read about an artifact, such as a coin of the Greek or Roman era. Students are familiar with coins, and this commonality helps them understand the similarities and differences between their lives and times in ancient Greece or Rome. Many symbols on the ancient coins can be…

"Save Our History" is The History Channel's national campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. As part of the campaign, The History Channel produces a videotape, "America's Most Endangered," based on a list developed annually by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The videotape focuses…

Intended to make the issue of landmines pertinent and accessible to classroom teachers, this curriculum unit provides material to teach middle school students about the numbers and dangers of anti-personnel landmines placed around the world. By completing the unit, students demonstrate their achievement of several of the social studies standards…

Teachers of world history are placing less emphasis on Western culture and rote memorization in favor of more global, diverse, and creative content. This book is intended to serve as an example of some of the innovations that are occurring in today's classrooms and as encouragement for future exploration. The book presents new subject matter, new…

The writing and art program described in this lesson plan employs scientific observation, descriptive writing, sketching, reading, investigation, and poetry writing to train middle school students to use their senses and focus their attention. During the four 45-minute lessons, students will: make careful observations of natural objects; write…

Designed for preservice elementary and/or middle school teachers, this methods and resources volume compiles well-researched information on social studies education. It uses the standards recommended by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) as a foundation, thoroughly discussing the core disciplines and thematic strands. The book…

This book presents ideas to help middle and high school physical education (PE) teachers develop performance based assessments. The book: identifies problems in traditional PE and explains how using performance based assessment can improve student learning; notes that it is unnecessary to totally rewrite the PE program, offering guidelines for…