Intended to increase reading motivation in students, this book features tales of ghosts and poltergeists. The tales range from the legendary to the contemporary. These accounts of ghost stories in the book provide subject matter for thoughtful interpretation and discussion, while challenging students in four critical reading categories: main idea,…

This book captures the power of young people's visual responses to literature. It recounts the experience of a teacher who encouraged her students to respond to their readings through sketched interpretations--and, like pieces of writing, the sketches became a vital part of the curriculum as vehicles for discussion and reflective tools for…

Describing a teacher's struggle to help her seventh-grade students reach their full potential, this book is about girls--their learning, their social dilemmas, and their dreams, hopes, and fears. The book reveals the obstacles the teacher faced and how her students collaborated with her to become curriculum builders as they explored issues such as…

In this unit, part of the Seeing and Thinking Mathematically in the Middle Grades series, students use mathematics to design and construct a model home from the ground up. Through the process of designing floor plans, constructing walls and roofs, and making cost estimates, students explore key concepts in geometry and measurement and engage in…

This book of instructional activities for grades seven through eight contains Delaware's State Content Standards for English Language Arts. The standards were developed in 1985 by a committee of teachers representing all grade levels. Used as a basis for curriculum planning in school districts throughout Delaware, the standards were designed to…

Intended to serve as a general model for the teaching of poetry writing, and written from the perspective of one individual teacher's thinking and experience, this guide, although originally written for teachers of seventh and eighth graders, is adaptable to other levels--elementary, high school, and college. Chapter 1, "Students and…

This document suggests ways of using children's literature to enrich the study of military history. The book is divided into six literature units that list and describe appropriate books, learning activities, and resources for teaching about specific wars. Studying historical periods through literature offers an invigorating, interesting way to…

This user's guide provides an overview of an approach to learning about different cultures that is based on an understanding of young adolescent development. It highlights three teaching methods that are considered of particular importance to the educational process: (1) the integration of materials in social studies and language arts classes; (2)…

This book is about learning and teaching with personal computers. It is aimed at teachers, student teachers, those responsible for pre-service and in-service teacher training, school administrators, and parents. The book is arranged in four sections. Part I includes two chapters providing a theoretical framework for learning and teaching with…

This book examines the realities of educational change from the perspective of reform-minded teachers, focusing on how the professional work of teachers mediates the translation of the new educational orthodoxy into sustained and enhanced levels of student learning. The book charts the perceptions and experiences of 29 teachers in grades 7 and 8…

This publication teaches parents and their grades 3-8 children how to create simple essays and multimedia presentations, all designed to produce more interesting and better quality school assignments. Each chapter presents several cogent ideas for turning a homework assignment into a creative computer project, as well as step-by-step instructions…