The authors focused on using antiques to learn how to teach elementary children about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in a historical context; they refer to the historical objects as "antique artifacts." By studying antiques, students get a real-world opportunity to learn how people in their local area and beyond…

In this article, the author, a poet and teaching artist, shares how he successfully brought slam poetry to College Hill Middle School in Texarkana, Arkansas. In 2001 he discovered slam poetry--a poetry-reading format in which poets compete in dramatic readings of their works--and went to Slam Nationals in Seattle on the Arkansas slam team. He…