Schools implementing Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) are often confronted with concerns from a variety of educational stakeholders about school climate, teaching behavioral expectations, the role of reinforcement, and labeling students. Administrators should be prepared to respond to these concerns with theoretical and…

Laura Dannon, an educator with experience as teacher, assistant principal, and principal, enjoys her profession. Faculty camaraderie and student/teacher busyness at her school have led her to think all is well. A sudden outburst by a new teacher causes her to reflect on what is really happening. What has changed? Have media criticism, movements…

Teaching for economic justice can be challenging for upper elementary and middle school teachers. Many teachers may feel uncomfortable with the subject matter and thus avoid addressing sensitive social issues related to economic/financial inequities. This article describes how selected songs and works of visual art, expressions of social protest…

In this lesson, grade 6-8 students analyze a variety of poets and their poetry by reading and listening to their work. Students then use information gathered from Internet resources to select a favorite poet and perform one of their poems for the class. During the four 30-minute and five 20-minute sessions, students will: analyze a variety of…

Identifies some of the erroneous and misleading statements discovered in the three-volume middle and junior high school integrated science text, SCIENCE Interactions. (ZWH)

Intended for teachers, language arts supervisors, curriculum designers, and others interested in the teaching of English in elementary and middle schools, this book proposes a way of unifying the language arts in a program that makes literature the center of language studies. The first chapter includes a discussion of the central role that…

Based on cowboy poetry and songs, this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that Old West cowboys produced a category of literature, people still write cowboy poetry, and cowboy poetry or songs have certain characteristics. The main activity in the lesson involves students in analyzing a classic of cowboy literature…

Based on William Golding's novel "Lord of the Flies," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that, on a literal level, the novel deals with what happens to a group of boys stranded on an island; and that on a symbolic level, it investigates what happens to civilized people when the structures of civilization…

Describes the creation of a traveling art museum to expose elementary and middle school children to contemporary art. Maintains that this is a sound way to build school and community support for art education in general. (KM)

The art lessons presented in this teaching guide are concept-centered and integrate the four disciplines of art: art production, art history, art criticism, and aesthetics. Individual units are organized by the elements of art (line, value, texture, color, shape, form, and space) and the principles of design (balance, emphasis, contrast, variety,…

Elementary educators can teach middle and upper level students to be book critics beginning with picture books, thus encouraging poor and reluctant readers and providing all students with practice in reading, writing, and critical thinking. The article provides suggestions for objectives of student critiques, e.g., bulletin board displays for the…

Developed by classroom teachers during the development phase of Minnesota's Graduation Standards, this performance package is made up of locally designed assignments that, taken together, show whether a student has learned and can apply the knowledge and skills related to comprehending, interpreting, and evaluating information in fictional…

This guide is intended to aid local elementary and middle schools in Idaho as they improve and expand art instruction for their students. This model is built around discipline-based art education and allows students to experience art aesthetics, art history, art criticism, and art production. This is a sample and is not considered to be…

Studies literature produced from 1920 to 1940 appropriate for children between 9 and 12 years of age. Critiques the values that are transmitted during this period. Maintains that, although children's literature should be integrated into the social studies curriculum, this should be done in a critical way. Includes a bibliography of books reviewed.…

The strategies in this book, geared for students from grades 4-8, are designed to bring literature to life for students, and to encourage students to become lifelong readers. The first section of the book presents four "'Into' Activities" that are designed to get students excited and curious about what they are about to read and to build students'…