The Multiple Activities Curriculum, developed by the Stanford University Center for Educational Research, broadens the scope of classroom experiences and thinking skills required, so that students weak in the traditional academic skills of reading and language have more chance to participate in class and to feel worthwhile. (Author/SJL)

Discusses a whole-language approach to teaching guided reading to deaf students. Each morning, a written letter, using vocabulary and syntax in accordance with students' reading ability, previews the day's events. With teacher guidance, students explore their reading skills in groups to encourage application of reading strategies in a natural…

Examined group and individual factors that facilitate changes in cooperation and learning outcomes in trained and untrained work groups of elementary school-age children (N=192). Results indicate observable differences between student interactions in the two conditions. Trained students were more cooperative and helpful to each other, compared to…

Discusses art lessons where students created a three-dimensional rendering of Claude Monet's gardens using the Impressionist style. Focused on teaching students about art history, Impressionistic art, and installation of art. Addresses the goals of the lesson and the process of creating the art. (CMK)

Explains how students created artwork as a therapeutic outlet after the attack on the World Trade Center (New York) on September 11th, 2001. Describes a project that focused on patriotism in which students created murals with quotes from national hymns. (CMK)

Examines how students construct shared understanding by exploring what interactive and discursive tools students use in their collaboration. Presents observations made during a series of innovative mathematics lessons in an eighth grade Dutch primary school classroom. (CMK)

Describes a school's successful experiences with testing and evaluating the collaborative effort of a parental involvement program. (Author/KHR)

Describes two group projects in sixth grade classrooms in Appalachia. The purpose of the projects was to encourage the students to become interested in community problems and actively work on solutions. Both projects were multifaceted learning experiences that helped to develop responsible attitudes and leadership abilities. (JD)

Presents a Project WET water education activity. Students demonstrate how everyone contributes to the pollution of a river as it flows through a watershed and recognize that everyone's "contribution" can be reduced. Student distinguish between point- and nonpoint-source pollution. (LZ)

Presents a program for elementary teachers to learn how to use hand tools and household appliances to teach the principles of physics. The lesson helps teachers become familiar with simple hand tools, combat the apprehension of mechanical devices, and develop an interest in tools and technology. Session involves disassembling appliances to…

Presents tips on how to create a positive, friendly classroom community from day one. Ideas include beginning the year with getting-to-know-you activities; identifying and positively involving students with potential behavior problems; offering opportunities for students to assist one another with activities; working together toward a goal; and…

Presents two activities to use with groups of fathers as part of a comprehensive parent education program. The activities are designed to get fathers to become increasingly aware of the importance of their playing, listening, and being actively involved with their elementary age children. (Contains 17 references and 2 appendixes.) (GCP)

Examined the effectiveness of 6th and 7th graders' cooperative learning groups, recording student work sessions and conducting student interviews and self-evaluations. When working cooperatively, students required some unstructured time to organize themselves and learn to work together toward a mutual goal. Students liked this type of learning…

Maintains that geography field work is enjoyable for students and provides them with real-world experiences. Describes an activity where students visit a supermarket in order to gather data for a graph and a shopping center to investigate the store layout and shopping traffic. Provides pre-visit preparation guidelines and post-visit activities.…

Examined effects of workgroup size and structure during collaborative work on complex tasks. Found that dyads produced greater collaboration for low-achievers, whereas small groups generated more cognitive conflict among other students. Productivity did not differ as a function of background structure. Findings posed implications for optimizing…