In this essay I pose questions to literacy teacher educators and classroom teachers to inspire them to review their epistemological beliefs about teaching, learning, and knowledge. I also provide some history of transdisciplinarity, and introduce readers to "Miss Smith", a composite of five middle school teachers who hold a transdisciplinary…

As heated as the controversy is and has been, most opponents of homework actually support at least a modest amount of "independent study," and the most ardent advocates are likely to emphasize moderation in the amount of homework and emphasis on the quality of independent assignments. In this article, the author focuses on this troublesome issue…

A smart marketing plan creates emotional attachment and loyalty in a school's prospective students, but how does a school go about creating this type of positive environment?. In this brief paper, the author describes a step-by-step approach that he created--the enrollment funnel. The enrollment funnel is a systematic method of moving…

In order for students to write like authors they need to read like writers. This requires direct instruction in attending to the writing craft through the use of quality adolescent literature and engagement in reading and writing. This article focuses on writing catchy introductions. The author offers the lesson objective and a teacher script…

This article describes an activity that one science teacher uses with her eighth grade class on the first day of school. Wanting to start the year off "right" (whatever that is), this teacher purposely plans to model the thinking behavior she expects from her students and to let them have some fun to settle those first-day jitters. She also wants…

Offers reasons why algebra should not be taught in the eighth grade, suggesting that this subject be replaced by a challenging, engaging alternative. Also suggests enriching the mathematics program to bring more students into mathematics classes. (JN)

A former eighth grade teacher recalls her experiences with a student who was extremely shy and afraid of oral presentations required by his English class. After she worked with him to strengthen self-confidence, he was able to speak, and he became more confident in other areas of his life. (SM)

In this paper, the author offers lesson plan ideas that are designed to guide teachers of art and science to encourage their students to see connections between art images and physics principles. The four works of art discussed are examples that can be linked visually and conceptually to physics properties in mathematics, space, energy, and light.…

A teacher tells how she withstood physical threats by a 16- year-old student and verbal abuse from his parents. Another teacher and a school principal present their views on how she handled the situation, suggesting that teachers not overreact, avoid power struggles, and react calmly to students' bids for attention. (SM)

A first-hand account of eighth grade students' experiences in learning to write, this monograph, written by students, provides teachers and students with a model for talking about the writing process. The comments in the monograph reflect the students' belief that people can learn to be good writers by writing frequently, sharing their writing and…

A multimedia reading program for seventh and eighth grade students is presented. Methodology for the seventh grade course consists of designating a particular type of literature for each month of the school year. Story assignments, book reports, and teaching units all revolve around this type of literature. Students read aloud from radio and…

A White reporter describes how she changed careers to teach poor Black and Hispanic New York City public intermediate students, focusing on her top math class. After one difficult year, she left teaching but hopes to return some day because she felt she made a difference for a few students. (SM)

Designed to supplement an 8th grade history course with the best updated research on the subject of slavery's origins, the lesson plan described in this paper has several objectives: (1) To augment the secondary textbooks, most of which either do not cover the beginnings of slavery, or cover it adequately; (2) To acquaint students with the…

Describes a project that involved an eighth-grade advanced English class in learning about banned books and censorship with the hope that students would learn enough about a highly controversial subject to be able to form intelligent options. (EL)

Ways in which social studies teachers can help students in grades 6, 7, and 8 improve their reading comprehension and understanding of social studies ideas and concepts are discussed, and sample reading comprehension activities are provided. First, teachers must choose a textbook with readability and concept levels appropriate for their students.…