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Roosters to Robots
Lesson Plans from Writers around the World
As more countries converge towards market-oriented economies, the need for
economic education has become increasingly apparent to elementary and secondary
teachers in those nations. Publications of the National Council on Economic
Education (NCEE) have been well received by educators from a wide range of
countries. The active-learning approach, emphasized by the NCEE network of
state councils and centers for economic education, holds strong appeal for
many educators.
Economic education that uses active learning has expanded from the United
States to emerging economies in the former Soviet Union, eastern and central
Europe, and the Baltic states. Educational materials created for schools in
the United States, however, are not always appropriate for use in other countries
because of language, economic, and cultural differences. Although economic
educators in those countries have written textbooks, a need for relevant active-learning
lesson plans was recognized.
In 1996, we had the pleasure to participate in the development of a NCEE
publication to help teachers write better lessons, Connecting the Pieces:
Building a Better Economics Lesson. The publication shows potential writers
how to identify the economics appropriate for K-12 students; integrate economics
into other subject matter; include thinking skills, active-learning instructional
models, and assessment into a lesson; format lessons; and conduct pilot tests.
Grants from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), U.S.
Department of Education, for the IEEP provided the funding for Connecting
the Pieces as well as annual Training of Writers programs. As the faculty
of this innovative program, we have had the privilege of working with many
creative teachers from the United States and countries of the former Soviet
Union, eastern and central Europe, and the Baltic states, who aspired to become
better writers of economics lessons.
This publication includes six lesson plans developed by participants in
the international Training of Writers program provided by EconomicsInternational
through the OERI grants. International groups developed some lessons during
the training seminars; individual writers developed other lessons after the
seminars. Two lessons each are provided at the elementary, middle, and high
school grade levels.
We hope that you and your fellow teachers will find these lesson plans useful
and rewarding.
- Sarapage McCorkle
- University of Missouri-St. Louis
- Bonnie T. Meszaros
- University of Delaware
- Mary C. Suiter
- University of Missouri-St. Louis
Foreword
It is a great pleasure for me to introduce Roosters to Robots. This publication
contains six lessons for elementary, middle, and high school classrooms developed
by writers from Belarus, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, and
the United States. The authors of these lessons were participants in the Training
of Writers program developed and conducted by the National Council on Economic
Education, as part of the International Education Exchange Program (IEEP).
The Writers program, conducted annually since 1996, is designed to develop
a pool of writers from both the U.S. and the emerging market democracies.
Through intensive writing exercises, expert guidance, feedback from peers,
and follow-up work by e-mail, teachers improve their skills in developing
instructional materials.
The development of this publication was made possible through a grant to
the National Council from the United States Department of Education, Office
of Educational Research and Improvement under PR Grant #R304A970001-99. NCEE
extends its appreciation to the Department of Education for its support of
the IEEP.
NCEE is also grateful that the United States Congress had the foresight
to realize the need for economic education in the emerging market economies
and the vision to see how an international education exchange program such
as the IEEP could benefit U.S. students and teachers.
Special thanks are extended to the editors, Sarapage McCorkle and Mary Suiter,
Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Education, University of Missouri-St.
Louis, and Bonnie Meszaros, Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship,
University of Delaware, for conceptualizing this publication and their perseverance
and dedication in bringing it to press.
Patricia K. Elder
Vice President, EconomicsInternational and Government Relations
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