This teaching unit on using shadows in science instruction and other class activities explains how to set up and equip a "super private sleuthing box" where students can solve mysteries such as where to find shadows and how to shrink or enlarge them. Ideas for making silhouettes and shadow plays are also given. (PP)

Presents art projects to help elementary educators teach their students about seascapes, providing students with basic techniques for portraying texture and mood in art. After discussing seascapes and lines and showing some examples, teachers can help students create seascapes from construction paper alone or with construction paper and…

Ways to keep children's minds on school as summer approaches include: (1) saving exciting topics or student projects for the last weeks of school; (2) going outside for activities that take advantage of the weather; (3) building finish-up stations where pupils can complete last-minute work; and (4) helping children plan summer activities. (PP)

Recommended activities include: (1) etymology exercises for elementary school students; (2) a search for information about Alexander the Great; (3) monthly inspections of the school yard to observe environmental changes; and (4) an art history unit on Cro-Magnon cave drawings. An interdisciplinary unit on transportation is included. (PP)

Describes seven simple art projects which reinforce reading skills. Examples are: vowel finger puppets, a blend mobile, a shoebox-top racing game, and book illustration. (SJL)

A children's art project lets students create artistic portfolios in a Jackson Pollock style. The activity takes 60 minutes and requires posterboard, adhesive tape, spray paint, tempera paints, eyedroppers, newspapers, colored markers, and stencil letters. By inviting students to make their own portfolios, teachers are cultivating students'…

Teachers help children to experience art by challenging their fifth graders with the responsibility of an art project. (Author/RK)

Three elementary level publishing projects encourage students' writing skills. The first involves painting a poetry quilt. The second has students create stories through collage using the Image-Making within the Writing Process program. The third involves creating oral histories of older people and using computer software to conduct research. (SM)

This article outlines the steps in an art activity on the elements of landscapes and touches on the topic of perspective. In the activity students create three-dimensional secret gardens of their own out of construction paper. The activity is based on Claude Monet's painting and his garden in Giverny (Normandy, France). (SM)

Twenty-three classroom projects are suggested, involving use of: (1) poetry and other language arts skills; (2) basketball terminology; (3) Thanksgiving themes; (4) history and geography; and (5) bulletin board ideas. (PP)

It is possible to connect art and language arts using traditional Japanese art. After explaining the Japanese art forms of Haiku poetry and sumi-e painting, the article describes a project in which students write haiku on special paper then illustrate their poems with gung and shey strokes. (SM)

Mask-making with simple art materials can be used to reinforce elementary students' reading, writing, and interpersonal skills. The article describes a mask-making project that connected fourth graders with language, literature, and self-expression. (SM)

This special section presents Christmas and Hanukkah holiday activities and describes decorations and gifts that children can make. Other seasonal ideas include a Christmas luau dance, a magic Christmas tree, and Christmas and Hanukkah games and stories. (PP)

Provides a guide to a first-grade teacher's methods of teaching art appreciation. She began a weekly art appreciation study integrated across the curriculum that heightened students' awareness and critical-thinking skills and enhanced their creativity by allowing them to view and respond to art and then create their own. (SM)

"Teachers Express" (formerly titled "Bright Ideas") is a regular feature carried by the "Instructor" magazine and is designed for the in-a-hurry elementary classroom teacher who likes to stash a few good ideas away before an occasion demands one. These quick tips submitted by teachers are intended to spark interest,…