An investigation of the links between academic performance, gender, and the cooperative attitudes of elementary students revealed that successful students reported less cooperative attitudes than unsuccessful students, and while third grade girls reported higher cooperative attitudes than boys, no gender differences were found in the fifth and…

Describes how performing Shel Silverstein's poems is an effective method to practice oral expression. Notes that although this activity was used in a fourth grade class, it could be adapted to any grade level. (MM)

Presents a Project WET water education activity. Students simulate the movement of water within the water cycle by role-playing a water molecule's movements. Students learn the states of water as it moves through the water cycle. (LZ)

Presents suggestions for developing a thematic teaching unit to help students overcome fear by learning about the courage of survivors in literature. The article recommends reading a story aloud, discussing courage and survival of the characters, and developing group-guided reading activities that involve individual or group projects. (SM)

Niza's nontraditional pedagogical principles are observed at work in a Portuguese classroom of three- to six-year olds. All learning is thought to follow the scientific method of discovery. Classes are heterogeneous, reflecting natural society. Schoolwork is organized, developed, and implemented by both teachers and students interacting…

Presents three group activities for elementary school students to help them identify and practice the skill of paraphrasing information to produce their own original reports. Explains recipes for reporting, extracting important words to write their own sentences, and drawing upon one's memory. (LRW)

Presents a lesson in which students explore important mathematical topics such as frequency distributions using the popular board game Scrabble. Offers an opportunity for students to work cooperatively in collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data. (ASK)

This booklet describes 18 children's activities which have been used successfully by children's librarians in southeastern Massachusetts. Ideas are presented for crafts workshops, contests, games and other activities, such as quilting, T-shirt printing, training for babysitters, pen pals, and photography. Performers and resource people listed…

Described is a teaching approach that applies principles of cooperative learning to an individualized program for learning mathematics in grades 3-6. The program, Team Assisted Individualization, has several important elements including student teams, a placement test, curriculum materials, the team-study method, team scores and team recognition,…

This book presents ways to use high quality children's literature to plan small group workshops in mathematics for K-2 instruction. Each of the six sets of workshops is built around storybooks children love and focuses on a specific aspect of numeracy: shapes, counting, seriation, addition, money, and measurement. Each set is designed for a…

This article describes a method for writing instruction in which small groups of students meet to read and evaluate each other's writing. A five-day schedule for this "writing family" activity is outlined. (SJL)

The author presents parachute play activities that teach not only physical skills and teamwork, but mathematics and science concepts as well. He also gives advice on selecting a parachute. (SJL)

Examines the levels of geometric reasoning commonly exhibited by primary school students, namely visualization, analysis, and informal deduction. Describes open-ended tasks that can be conducted in small groups or in a whole group setting. (KHR)

Discusses the merits of science learning centers as a tool for teachers to encourage positive interaction among students of different backgrounds and ability levels. Describes the success of science centers through work with children and preservice teachers. (Author/KHR)

Creating a class book can be an effective way to stimulate early elementary students' creativity and self-expression. The six steps are to: introduce the project; create the story; decide who does what; get it down on paper; put it all together; and share the experience. (SM)