This paper presents the results and experiences of one school within a unique university/K-12 school district partnership that approached school reform through a framework of peace education. Faced with the challenge of improving academic achievement in a district with a history of five years...

This paper examines how a beginning teacher in Virginia and a beginning teacher in Florida make sense of the high-stakes tests in their state. By examining beginning teachers in two states where the tests are so very different, we gain important insight into whether there are similarities and...

In spite of required state curriculum objectives, American history textbooks often become the de facto curriculum defining history. Self-imposed censorship by textbook publishers defines how individuals, groups, and events are portrayed. A 2004 Thomas B. Fordham Institute report concluded that...

On February 11, 1979, the monarchy rule in Iran was replaced by an Islamic theocracy, and the new government revised textbooks to promote a new identity based on Shia Islam and the Iranian nationalism. Because textbooks are used throughout the world to create national identities and are of...

This lesson plan can be used with elementary students to discuss the geographical concept of place. It uses a trade book, Going Home , to foster students’ consideration of their individual development and identity and its relationship to place.

Rachel Carson was a notable woman who studied the environment and cared for the planet Earth. Her life was highlighted by several significant events that unfolded to future events culminating with her writing the landmark book Silent Spring . In this NCSS notable trade book lesson plan format,...

It’s Back to School We Go! First Day Stories From Around the World by Ellen Jackson, is a fiction book, using short, first-person narratives to compare the first day of school for 11 children from different countries. The lesson plan, designed for grade levels 3-5, asks students to compare and...

The following lesson is an example of how to begin a unit of study on cultural universals through the accessibility of quality literature. Be My Neighbor (2004) by Maya Ajmera and John Ivanko is an NCSS Notable Book (2005) that attempts to bring the world closer to readers’ homes and lives...

This learning cycle lesson plan uses hands-on and minds-on experiences to assist fourth or fifth graders in developing the important concept of scale. The lesson focuses on enabling students to define scale as a ratio so that one square represents more squares, e.g. 1:5. It also works to enable...

Student-created pictures are commonly used to assess students’ remembrances of experiences they are unable to verbalize. Artists, too, frequently select events as the subject of their works and in so doing, use their talents to express remembrances and opinions. While works of art supplement...