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Offers a writing workshop for grade school students. Way to introduce children to text structures; Ways to organize words; Examples of transitions.

Presents tips on helping students write interesting storylines. Suggestions from author Pam Munoz Ryan; Activity on sentence sequencing; How writers can elaborate on the main events that make up a plot of the story.

Suggests several activities to help elementary students create the settings and plots of their own stories. How to help the students recognize the importance of setting in stories; Exercises to help students focus on images; How to explore the contribution of time element in the students' writings.

Discusses the techniques that can help young writers in getting the attention of readers. Advice on building first paragraphs.

Presents ideas and classroom activities for motivating primary students' reading and writing skills. Setting up a publication center in the classroom; How to provide an audience for children's writings; Tips on how to introduce children to the idea of reading poetry aloud.

Discusses ways on how to help children become critical readers and engaging writers in considering the author's point of view. Questions that will motivate children to think about the author's point of view; Activities to pique the ability of the child; Books where one can find the other perspective of common fairy tales; Use of story skits.

Gives advice to teachers on how to help students become better readers and writers. Distinction between fact and opinion; Illustrative examples; Purpose of posters.

Provides information on some strategies and materials that can be used to teach students about cause and effect relationships. Strategies for struggling readers; Overview of the book `On My Honor,' by Marion Dane Bauer; Tips on focusing on historical fiction.

Deals with several reading and writing activities for students to enhance their inferencing skills. Reading and role playing; Ways to help students make inferences; Creating mini-mystery stories.

Presents ideas and student activities that focus on learning sequencing skills. Story ladders; Strategies to help students focus on story sequence; Comic cut-ups; Timelines to help students understand sequence in nonfiction books; Sequencing station using bulletin boards.

Suggests several children's books and activities to boost prediction skills in children. List of books that boost skills; Activity to make students give their opinions; Strategies for struggling readers; Mapping activity.

Urges teachers to create an Arctic Club for their students for the purpose of teaching about the ecology and the interelatedness of the planet. Teacher Diana Paradise as the first to create such a club; International Arctic Project (IAP); Creation of colorful for-members badges and club letterhead; Publishing a club newsletter; Ideal projects for the club. INSETS: Trekking along with the International Arctic Project.;Win a badge-a-minit machine!..

Presents tips for elementary school teachers on getting started with classroom technology. Familiarization with the computer; First projects; Making the most of one's computer; Troubleshooting; Expanding the computer unit.

Provides information on the benefits of lost-cost technology tools used by teachers. Multimedia encyclopedia; Modems; Computer-to-tv connector; CD-ROM. INSETS: Win! Your own electronic encyclopedia.;Win! A modem and a subscription to scholastic network!..

Presents stories on how teachers and their students won grants. Life-size dinosaur painting; Doll-making project; Pail Pals program; Grant sources; Contact information. INSETS: How to write winning grants.;Win this grant!..

Features the Learning Adventure, an online field trip available through the Classroom Prodigy network used by Susan Jenning's geography class. Activities for students; Features which the teacher can use to connect the curriculum; Product information.

Features art teacher Harvey Goldstein's Filmart course which teaches film art and animation to students at the Highmeadows Common Campus in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Project in art history; Creation of an instructional film about animation; Tools used; Tips for incorporating animation in class projects. INSETS: Exploring animation the low-tech way.;Animation answers (animation and slide-show software).;Multimedia meets multidisciplinary learning..

Features selected books on family life. `Octopus Hug,' by Laurence Pringle; `Zinnia and Dot,' by Lisa Campbell Ernst; `Tom,' by Tomie dePaola; More.

Narrates how three teachers derived benefits in using computers for instruction. Geography teacher Kristine Lynes of Oyster River Elementary School in Durham, New Hampshire; Second-grade teacher Teri Grant of Willow Elementary School in Pekin, Illinois; Trisha Whitney of The Drinking Gourd Elementary School in Eugene, Oregon.

Reports on Lingelbach Metropolitan Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a Chapter 1 School Wide Projects school. Partnership between the school and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; Giving children the chance to develop cognitive and creative skills while working in concrete ways. INSETS: About artists (books on art and artists).;Teachers' tips (thematic approaches for students' needs).;Teaching with the arts (organizations supporting art)..

Examines how first grade teacher Jim Henry, Lomond Elementary School, Shaker Heights, Ohio, has developed a spelling program that works well in his whole language classroom. His teaching background; Method he uses; Type of words he uses. INSET: Exploring words in the whole language classroom..

Presents ideas for guiding the young authors in one's classroom in their creative expression. Use of Janet Wong's poems to inspire students to write creatively; Techniques for making books children will treasure; Creating handmade paper; Guide to getting published.

Presents activities that allow grade school teachers to help their students explore story plots and guide them in building their own compelling plots. Introducing plot with `Amistad Rising'; Mini-lesson; Three-step storyboards; Using a poster to teach plot.

Discusses the science fiction genre for student readers and writers.

Presents several ideas from teachers on helping students share their works. Way to give students' writing a larger audience; Information on how children become literacy role models.

Presents information on several tips for teaching short story writing to school children. Information on the works of several United States authors; Tips for choosing the proper title of a story; How to create characters; Use of the five senses to describe the flow of the story.

Presents different approaches for an effective implementation of classroom learning centers. Suggestions for setting up; Tips in starting the center. INSETS: A four step plan for chaos-free rotation.;Design made easy.;Win this kit!.;Learning centers resources.

Features curriculum-based computer activities for summer. Title selections; Summer reading materials; Growth measurements; Reading opportunities; Summer calendars.

Presents instructions on how to simulate a meteorite crash in a classroom setting. Materials needed; Preparation; Procedures to be followed; Up-to-date variation of the 20 Questions game; Use of everyday materials to inspire students' inventiveness; Encouragement to develop ingenuity.

Presents some activities that are useful as alternative methods of teaching history to school children. Procedures and techniques of the activities; Benefits from the activities.

Suggests classroom activities for elementary students during the first weeks of school. Student interaction; Use of technology to encourage students to interact; Sample activities for primary grades.

Features computer software for elementary school activity during Earth Day celebrations. Puddles to Pondwater from NIAD Corp.; Congo Expedition from the Alliance for Environmental Education. INSET: More tools for planet protectors, by Sandra Oehring..

Features the search for jump-rope rhymes by Carol Schafer, a technology coordinator for the Teutopolis school district, Illinois and grade school students at the Teutopolis Elementary School. Collecting jingles spanning three generations; Posting for collaboration through the FrEdMail, a global telecommunications network; Project's evolution into a yearlong themed unit called `Windows to the World'. INSET: How FrEdMail works..

Narrates on how a teacher coped with mixed-ability grouping with the use of technology. Role of technology in giving children choices in developing individual strengths; Cooperation; Problem solving; Value of unique talents.

Explains how the Westridge Elementary School in Littleton, Colorado has been able to integrate math instruction throughout the curriculum. How the idea came about; Example; How parents were won over to this approach; The students' response; Recommendations for making team-teaching in math work.

Suggests to elementary teachers the use of posters to show students how authors use writing devices in their work. Activities to help students create their own literary work.

Describes how teachers can guide students in writing autobiographies. Significance of reading several autobiographies; Prewriting activities to prepare students in writing their autbiographies; Details of the editing and revising stage.

Presents infornmation on various electronic books which can be used in the classroom to educate children on technology. Background on `Madeline and the Magnificent Puppet Show,' `Smart Books,' and `How the Leopard Got His Spots.' INSET: Literature online: Web sites worth exploring..

Presents ideas for helping students improve their organizational habits. Using folders and holders; Storing books; Pencil holder; Recording class and homework assignments; Customized calendars; Sharing crayons. INSET: Top organization tips contest!..

Presents steps in creating a school own's directory. School directory for immediate information on students.

Discusses the use of multimedia in schools. Promise of multimedia; Nature of multimedia; Statistics on the number of CD-ROM drives in schools in the United States; Advantages of the use of multimedia to students and teachers. INSETS: What is multimedia?.;Making it happen..

Discusses how sixth-grade teacher Wayne Bacer integrates music into the curriculum with the help of the CD-ROM Microsoft Musical Instruments. Investigation of students' heritage; Use in studying levers and gears; Exploration of musical careers; Development of thinking skills by listening and analyzing hit songs.

Describes how three teachers helped parents continue the learning process within students at home. Backpack for parents; The TIPS (Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork) program developed by the Center on Families, Communities, Schools and Children's Learning at The Johns Hopkins University; How one school system lets a parent that does not live with his or her child keep up-to-date on the student's progress.

Offers advice to teachers on how to motivate uninterested students. Extension activities to strengthen abilities to describe feelings; How to turn kids who seem content to do the bare minimum into kids who crave learning; Improving students' attitudes.

Presents four strategically planned setups suggested by teachers for classroom seating arrangements that really work. Flexible and flowing setup for Jason Pecor's first-grade classroom; Donna Clovis' circle and a smile setup; Janette Kimery's approach for arranging an effective learning environment; Jeri Lynn Rea's cooperative classroom communities.

Presents steps on how to create a school or class-based Web site. Evaluation of other sites; Contents of site; Creation of site map; Construction of site; Set up of home page; Creation of additional pages; Use of art; Selection of background colors and patterns; Publication and publicity. INSET: Web site tools..

Presents an excerpt from Kevin Henkes' book `Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse' and invites grade level students to write endings on several story ideas.

Presents excerpts of endings from several children's books. `The Daydreamer,' by Ian McEwan; `This Quite Lady,' by Charlotte Zolotow; `Math Curse,' by Jon Scieszka.

Focuses on planning the seating arrangement in the classroom environment, while referencing to the strategies that four teachers used in their decision making. What to consider before making the final decision of seating; Reference to the interior decoration by Jason Pecor and Susan King at Orchard School, South Burlington, Vermont, Donna Clovis at Riverside Elementary in Princeton, New Jersey, Janette Kimery at Granbury Intermediate School in Granbury, Texas and others.