This article describes how one preschool teacher turned a luau celebrating moving on to elementary school as a springboard for a lesson on pollution. Over the course of one hour, this teacher introduced and provided a whole group lesson on pollution, and the responsibilities people share to protect the environment.

Designed for a broad audience, including educators, camp directors, afterschool coordinators, and preservice teachers, this investigation aims to help individuals experience mathematics in unconventional and exciting ways by engaging them in the physical activity of building geometric shapes using ropes. Through this engagement, the author…

An inexpensive and equipment free approach to teaching the technical aspects of DNA sequencing. The activity described requires an instructor with a familiarity of DNA sequencing technology but provides a straight forward method of teaching the technical aspects of sequencing in the absence of expensive sequencing equipment. The final sequence…

In this article, the authors endorse a model that uses themes as springboards for language improvement, accompanied by the added benefit of content learning, though to differing degrees depending on the instructional setting. The themes that teachers choose to integrate into their language classrooms may reflect serious issues (e.g., elections,…

Teachers of students with visual impairments share teaching ideas, including a high school student's quilting project (the quilt included raised Braille alphabet letters); development of a ball-tipped cane for travel on nonpaved surfaces, grocery shopping by students for a local food bank, and development of an in-school television news program.…

These two story-based lesson plans were designed to address the lack of motivation and interest by students in a sixth grade English class in Greece. The lessons appeal to young learners who want to be creative and imaginative by making learning entertaining. The animal stories are authentic texts, not graded readers, with helpful visuals. They…

Even with appropriate curriculum materials, teachers need to employ reflective springboards that cause learners to link Holocaust information and personal stories to the students' in-school and out-of-school realities and to issues in community life. The guide provides five activities that are intended to be used in any sequence and for any class.…

Asserts that there is an educational trend to include multicultural music in the curriculum. Questions how music teachers can integrate multicultural material. Provides suggestions including the use of culture studies, celebrations and holidays, song themes, and instrument types as springboards for teaching cultural pluralism. (CFR)

Maintains that geography teachers have a history of ignoring John Dewey's assertion that students' experiences are the best springboard to learning. Describes a set of lessons designed to serve as an introduction to a world geography course based on the concept that students begin with themselves. (CFR)

Using socks with colored bands, a teacher makes mitosis and meiosis fun and meaningful for students. Asserts that during extension activities students used the aforementioned exercise as a springboard to better understand the phases of the cell cycle of Allium root tips, whitefish blastula, and Lillium anthers. (ZWH)

Examines the use of a storyline approach to integrated learning and provides a detailed example. The "Mysterious Encounters--Earth" program based on a detective storyline includes an intensive environmental experience at a local park and provides the springboard and framework to help teachers integrate environmental learning into…

The Danish experience during the German occupation, presented through the experiences of the Rosen and Johansen families, provides the literary and historical background for the activities the author presents in this article. He designed the four activities for maximum student involvement, with each requiring students to respond to Lois Lowry's…

The authors discuss mass as one of the three fundamental measurements (the others being length and time), noting that estimation of mass is little taught and assessed in primary schools. This article briefly explores the reasons for this in terms of culture, practice, and the difficulty of assessing estimation of mass. An activity using the…

The purpose of this guide is to provide teachers with activities that integrate the lessons of geography throughout the broader curriculum, teaching students to appreciate how geography fundamentally shapes all lives. The five themes of geography (location, place, relationships among places, movement, and regions) are the basis for the hundreds of…

Teachers can take advantage of the appeal and power of Caldecott Award literature to extend and promote learning across the curriculum. This book demonstrates how to use award-winning books as springboards to language arts learning in the library and classroom, and the expansion of student awareness and appreciation of illustration techniques. For…