SCIENCE FICTION—OR FACT? Each day, for the first 100 days of the school year, retired teacher Catherine Herdemian from Wilmington, N.C., kept her elementary school students challenged by asking an intriguing science question for the class to discuss. Examples: Do crocodiles cry? (Yes, but not because they're sad; their tears help keep their eyes from drying out on land.) Which birds dye their feathers? (Flamingos: The color comes from the pink shrimp and algae they eat.) Do elephants jump? (Only the babies can; mature elephants weigh too much to support landing on all fours.)

NAME THAT TUNE Knowing she had a captive student audience passing by her reading room every day, retired teacher Babette Freed of Boynton Beach, Fla., decided to put her good room location to good use. She played tapes or CDs of classical, or other "beautiful music," before school started and at lunchtime, leaving the door ajar. Students would peek in and ask the name of the song, sometimes the composer. She would tell them the story of the opera or musical, even drawing King Arthur's roundtable on the board to help explain "Camelot," a student favorite. Beethoven's "Fifth Symphony" and "Madame Butterfly" were also popular, Freed says.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS To integrate basic computer and foreignh language skills middle school business teacher Lori L. Kay of Canandaigua, N.Y., has her students use the foreign language they are studying to write and format personal business letters, which they send to an embassy from a country in which the particulalr language is spoken. Students request free brochures, posters, fact sheets, etc. Writing the letters, Kay says, helps students connect learning to real-life applications.

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