Historian William E. Leuchtenburg talks about past presidential elections and how the 2004 election fits or defies precedents.

Handheld computers offer advantages over full-sized, varied-functioning computers, but they also raise concerns. Here are some issues to consider before deciding that they are right for your school.

The Ramayana, the famous Hindu epic, is retold here in words and illustrations by "The Golden Eagles," Loretta Hopper's Grade 2 class from Ephesus Elementary in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

A primary curriculum based around life and environmental science draws on children's natural curiosity to teach reading, math, and more.

For students to be successful in the science curriculum, they must study science through "hands-on" experiences. I use their past experiences as well as present experiences that I help to create to teach the curriculum. Many children today have never climbed a tree, walked in the woods, or waded in a stream, and I think that is sad. When they have the opportunity to see and touch the natural world, they become excited about it, and I use that excitement to teach all areas of the kindergarten curriculum, not just science.

Formal debates and question-and-answer discussions are great, but these alternative discussion formats will liven up your classroom and get students really thinking.

By creating a PR campaign for a historical or literary figure, students can practice a wide range of thinking skills.

Putting historical or literary figures on trial makes a lively and challenging alternative to a class debate.

Creating monuments or memorials for historical and literary figures encourages students to think creatively and provides a lively structure for an in-class discussion.

Designing museum exhibits encourages students to think creatively and to use a wide range of thinking skills.

The talk show is a format with which students are already familiar, and it provides the structure for a great discussion.

This "Rethinking Reports" series of articles offers alternative research-based assignments such as a re-election editorial and a resume for an ex-president.

This "Rethinking Reports" series of articles offers alternative research-based assignments on folktales, animal adaptations, and biodiversity.

This "rethinking reports" series of articles provides alternative research assignments that challenge students to think critically about historical actors.

Each month during 2007, LEARN NC will feature an in-depth look at one aspect of the Library of Congress' American Memory with a special focus on North Carolina materials.

By writing a narrative about an animal rather than a traditional report, students can learn about literature, develop writing skills, and still fulfill science and research objectives.

Erin Espinoza's kindergarten classroom encourages children to learn on their own. A classroom profile.

Strategies such as flow charts can help you assess reading comprehension for English language learners, content-area learners, and all students.

Assessment, like instruction, needs to be geared toward various learning styles, and teachers can create rubrics for ongoing assessment that keep a formal daily record of what students are learning. Traditional styles of teaching focus almost exclusively on auditory presentation of material to students — in other words, lecturing. K–12 education is moving away from that traditional model towards methods of teaching that address children’s multiple intelligences and are appropriate to different types of learners, not only auditory learners. But although we’ve come a long way in how we teach students, we haven’t always made great strides in how we assess them. Most assessment still takes the form of quizzes, tests, and written homework, which work best for students who are the strongest verbal thinkers. Portfolios play only a small role, and even they only begin to address the various learning styles. If we’re going to teach in a way that addresses all learning styles, shouldn’t we also assess that way?

Suggestions for establishing homework assignments and policies.