The computer is not just a teaching tool, but a teaching medium. Purchase of appropriate software to achieve worthwhile instructional goals is essential. There are several software titles for elementary school educators to consider seriously in mathematics, science, social studies, and language arts. Included is a sampler of effective elementary…

Describes three seasonal fund-raising projects that can be linked with the curriculum and require only a few parent volunteers. The projects are profitable without requiring large amounts of effort. They include selling holiday cards, conducting read-a-thons, and participating in save-the-rainforest group sales. Tips for holding successful fund…

Describes three computer spelling programs that take the emphasis off memorization and instead provide innovative ideas for helping students remember their spelling words. One program organizes spelling words starting with the most frequently used words. The second provides multiple levels of instruction simultaneously. The third uses…

The implementation of peer coaching at an elementary school is described. Pairs of teachers worked together through initial discussions, classroom observations, and coaching meetings to refine specific areas of their teaching. The initial training in preparation for peer coaching is described, along with advantages and disadvantages of this…

Discusses how to help students learn to manage anger, highlighting four critical concepts of anger management (anger cues, anger triggers, anger reducers, and communications skills) and explaining how to teach students to consider the different aspects of anger, use anger positively, examine anger triggers, cool down, and handle frustration. (SM)

One way to give students a firsthand feel for other cultures is to turn them into sleuths who investigate authentic artifacts from various cultures. This article explains how one teacher borrows artifacts from a local museum, then creates a mystery to solve that provides hands-on learning. Suggests ideas to use instead of artifacts. (SM)

This article outlines the steps in an art activity on the elements of landscapes and touches on the topic of perspective. In the activity students create three-dimensional secret gardens of their own out of construction paper. The activity is based on Claude Monet's painting and his garden in Giverny (Normandy, France). (SM)

A first-year teacher recounts her action research project to address the misbehaviors occurring in her third-grade classroom. She reports on identification of four target behaviors and implementation of research-based intervention techniques such as eye contact, physical proximity, and "withitness," (constant awareness of the classroom). Analysis…

This K-6 social studies activity teaches students about the flag's origin while reviewing literacy skills. Students perform a poem entitled "The Flag We Love," which, in rhyming verse, explains the history and symbolism of the flag. Over eight days, students prepare for the performance, and on the ninth day, they perform a choral reading…

Today and in the future, critical toolmaking advances will need to be made in the area of circuit design, construction, and implementation. Traditional school curriculum has sidestepped the area of tool design, especially at the elementary level. This publication addresses a calling for a new curriculum direction, based not only on the study of…

In workshops for inservice teachers, volunteers learn concepts through the activities they will later use in their classrooms. In follow-up sessions the success of activities with young children is discussed. The activity described here involves attribute blocks. (SD)

A fourth grade teacher in an accredited parochial school implemented and evaluated a 10-week practicum intervention designed to improve nine elementary school teachers' understanding of terminology related to thinking skills and to increase their integration of thinking skills processes into the curriculum. Thinking skills addressed were…

The results of a survey which sought to determine the science education research needs of elementary teachers are discussed in this report. The survey was intended to provide science education researchers with information on what research areas might be of greatest interest to elementary teachers. The sample consisted of 553 elementary teachers in…

This study attempted to assess whether a teacher inservice program would effect a change in teacher attitude and in the amount of time reading was taught in social studies and science content areas. A total of 22 teachers representing kindergarten through fifth-grade levels voluntarily participated in five inservice sessions; 22 teachers in a…

Teachers, principals, and other educational leaders in the United States were asked what is being done, what works, and what can be used to build a successful parent-teacher team. Here are the results--hundreds of workable ideas organized into a four-part process that combines the best from schools across America. (Author/RK)