Celestin Freinet had a major influence on education in France. In 1917 he was critically injured during World War I and convalesced for two years. During World War II he was incarcerated by the Vichy government for his Communist tendencies, and, in the 1950s the French Communist Party harassed him for straying from their hard-line ideologies.…

Offers guidelines for teaching children how to read critically and how to judge the authenticity and accuracy of fictional biographies and diaries. (FL)

Presents an annotated bibliography of outstanding children's science trade books published in 1995 and intended primarily for kindergarten to eighth grade. Sections include biography, environment and ecology, fiction, life science, medicine and medical research, paleontology, and technology and engineering. (JRH)

Attempts once again to put to rest the infamous "I cannot tell a lie" episode involving George Washington and a downed cherry tree. Appends an editor's note that states that William Bennett's "The Children's Book of Virtues" which perpetuates this infamous piece of "fakelore." (RS)

Lists outstanding science trade books for children in the categories of Biography, Earth and Space Science, Integrated Science, Life Science, Physical Science, and Technology and Engineering. Explains the book selection process. (YDS)

This K-8 activity helps students visually highlight the lives of notable women using 3-D biography boxes. Students read a biography, create the boxes, fill in all six sides with pictures and information, place one item in the box that their subjects would treasure, and make class presentations. A sample box is provided. (SM)

Presents highlights of the life and work of scholar Jeanette Veatch, best known for her contributions in the field of reading, her challenge to basal readers, and her espousal of a literature-based, learner-centered approach called Individualized Reading. Covers her early years as an elementary teacher in Michigan, her graduate study, and her…

Pupils should participate in numerous forms and kinds of writing activities involving poetry and should hear, read, and write different forms and kinds of prose. Types of poetry that pupils can write include couplets, triplets, quatrains, limericks, free verse, haiku, and diamante. The ingredients that all types of poetry might have include…

Examined each book in 8 basal reading series (preprimers to sixth readers) to determine the variety of types of writing in these 1983 basals. Texts were examined for the number of selections representing narrative, poetry, plays, exposition, biography, hybrid writing types and for the number of pages devoted to each type of writing. (Author/NH)

This book adopts a questioning approach to studying history in which students become biographers who read, discuss, research, and write books about their subjects, providing their own original interpretations of the facts. By digging into the past and reflecting on what they have learned, students get involved in the process and are eager to do it…

The fifth in a series of innovators in the teaching of elementary school science, this essay outlines the contributions of Florence Billig (1890-1967). (CS)

Hank Levin's educational vision is to accelerate learning of disadvantaged children and bring at-risk students into academic mainstream by end of their elementary school years. Levin believes that, if educators exposed all children to richest experiences and also connected with children's own experiences, their culture, and their community,…

Describes a variety of children's books that can help elementary students explore the qualities that make good leaders. The books (fiction and biography) include stories about past Presidents, people who did inspiring deeds, people with admirable qualities, and children who ran for school office. (SM)

Presents descriptions of (1) the 1997 winner of the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children ("An Extraordinary Life: The Story of a Monarch Butterfly"); (2) the 5 Orbis Pictus Honor Books; and (3) 12 other outstanding nonfiction titles selected by the award committee, 6 dealing with history and biography and 6 dealing with the…