This highly regarded work brings together prominent authorities on vocabulary teaching and learning to provide a comprehensive yet concise guide to effective instruction. The book showcases practical ways to teach specific vocabulary words and word-learning strategies and create engaging, word-rich classrooms. Instructional activities and games…

Describes a storytelling project in the midst of a language arts unit on folk tales in a sixth-grade class, how the classroom teacher and the media specialist worked together, how the students' storytelling was assessed, and students' enthusiastic response. (SR)

Describes how Michigan's English Language Arts Assessment (ELA) takes parts of the old fifth-grade writing assessment and fourth-grade reading tests, adds new elements, and wraps everything around a theme. Presents a seven-step activity to help prepare fourth graders for the ELA. Concludes that the overall impact on scores is not known. (SG)

Looks at the educational philosophy and goals of integrated thematic instruction (ITI) as used in the daily activity of a fifth-grade classroom. Shows how ITI employs research on how the human brain learns to provide students with a learning environment and an integrated curriculum that provides each student with multiple conduits of formative…

Presents a six day activity unit for upper elementary grades to develop an understanding of the value of knowing geography and to teach the five geography themes and their meaning. Completion of the unit will enable students to apply all five themes in describing a place geographically. Includes a test for student evaluation. (LS)

This digest is intended to help and inform those teachers who are contemplating using children's literature to teach reading, and provides a brief review of material in the ERIC database on literature-based reading instruction. The digest includes sections on recent research, basic resources, assessing literature based reading, diverse methods…

Developed by classroom teachers during the development phase of Minnesota's Graduation Standards, this performance package is made up of locally designed assignments that, taken together, show whether a student has learned and can apply the knowledge and skills related to speaking to an audience or interact with a group. It begins with reference…

Developed by classroom teachers during the development phase of Minnesota's Graduation Standards, this performance package is made up of locally designed assignments that, taken together, show whether a student has learned and can apply the knowledge and skills related to creating, interpreting, and evaluating a variety of artistic expressions. It…

Developed by classroom teachers during the development phase of Minnesota's Graduation Standards, this performance package is made up of locally designed assignments that, taken together, show whether a student has learned and can apply the knowledge and skills related to writing short stories and letters for a variety of academic and technical…

Developed by classroom teachers during the development phase of Minnesota's Graduation Standards, this performance package is made up of locally designed assignments that, taken together, show whether a student has learned and can apply the knowledge and skills related to answering questions using information gathered through direct observations,…

This guide is intended to help teachers plan, design, and implement science activities for students learning English as a Second Language (ESL) in grades 4-8, in mainstream science classes, ESL classes, bilingual education programs, and also to help others serving this population. Steps for designing science experiments that integrate language and…

This unit of study explains how students, using picture books whose stories simplify various language arts themes and concepts, will apply and extend themes and concepts to grade level tasks. The unit adds that, along with the appropriate grade level mastery of the language arts Sunshine State Standards, an added benefit will be that students will…

Discusses the development of a project-based approach to history instruction as a result of student dissatisfaction with a more traditional curriculum. Maintains that interested and motivated students take more responsibility for their learning. Presents project descriptions and provides recommendations for implementing the approach. (CFR)

Describes an integrated curriculum approach to world history using a "medieval" newspaper as a primary student project. Presents technical requirements, a newspaper outline, and recommendations for research and writing. Includes recommendations for student evaluation and teacher resources. (CFR)

Discusses future changes in instruction, particularly in grades five through nine. Highlights include technology-induced changes; changes in the authority structure, including teachers as managers of information; multidimensional learning environments; rate of learning, including time on task; curriculum knowledge of teachers; thinking skills and…