The article examines options in social skills training for students with mild disabilities. Described are behavioral interventions and five packaged curricula. Among eight guidelines for evaluating a package are efficacy of approach, cost, and concern for generalization. Teachers are encouraged to teach social skills both directly and incidentally…

This article considers mathematics textbooks, materials, and manipulatives, which are commonly a part of mathematics instruction. Strengths and weaknesses of these instructional tools when teaching students with learning disabilities in mathematics are reviewed. Evaluation scales are presented for selection of textbooks, materials, and…

In this book, the author suggests that to truly learn, students should be puzzled about new knowledge. Question-finding, the unique strategy described in the book, fosters this learning by leading adolescent students to probe the multiple meanings of text and ask challenging, open-ended questions. Focus units illustrate how teachers can use…

The Kinder Lernen Deutsch (Children Learn German) project, begun in 1987, is designed to promote German as a second language in grades K-8. The project is premised on the idea that the German program will contribute to the total development of the child and the child's personality. Included in this guide are a selection of recommended core…

Designed for publishers and producers, this document initiates the annual subject area(s) adoption of basic instructional materials for California schools, kindergarten through eighth grade. The document presents an overview of the total instructional materials adoption-distribution process, specific instructions relating to initial submissions…

The instructional materials used in K-12 science classes provide the basis for what students can learn and what teachers should teach. The process used to select those materials is critical to providing students and teachers with a solid foundation for achievement and successful teaching. This report is addressed to school districts, school…

Students struggling with mathematics may benefit from early interventions aimed at improving their mathematics ability and ultimately preventing subsequent failure. This guide provides eight specific recommendations intended to help teachers, principals, and school administrators use Response to Intervention (RtI) to identify students who need…

To determine whether revisions incorporating features of a Time-Life style would improve students' recall of text, a writer and an editor revised two expository passages from a high school history textbook. They added action verbs, created a sense of drama, made explicit transitions, provided background information, and inserted "nuggets"--vivid…

The portfolio contains five guides to aid in choosing toys and other resources on toys and toy lending for health care settings. The first guide is about why toys help, reasons, a model, and some ways toys can be used. The second guide covers criteria for choosing toys. The third, not included, is a chart of selected toys as they can be used to…

It is important that the concept of entrepreneurship be infused into business and distributive education instructional programs. The authors discuss why there is a special need for this type of program, the idea of small business, what an entrepreneur is, the concept of profit, and the availability of instructional materials. (CT)

The Learning Activity Packets (LAPs) contained in this manual are designed to assist the beginning user in understanding DOS (Disk Operating System). LAPs will not work with any version below DOS Version 3.0 and do not address the enhanced features of versions 4.0 or higher. These elementary activities cover only the DOS commands necessary to…

Describes three criteria for evaluating educational software; classification of software types, the presence or absence of process skills, and educational practices. This article provides background for a software evaluation form to appear in a subsequent issue. (CW)

Lists 16 questions to address when pondering the purchase of educational materials. Addressed are issues of educational potential, health and safety to children, age flexibility, potential for skill development, structural integrity, and adequate customer service. (SD)

This ERIC curriculum package is intended to help people use the ERIC database, and may be used in a workshop setting under the guidance of a trainer or independently by individuals who want to learn about the ERIC system and how they can search the database and use its contents and services. The package consists of the following parts: (1) a…

Over the past decade, vocational and technical education teachers were encouraged to use commercially produced task lists to develop their curriculum materials. Unfortunately, however, many commercially developed task lists distributed by private companies, state departments of education, universities, and many other agencies may, to some extent,…