The nine issues CALLIOPE ^® publishes yearly are in chronological order.

• The September issues focus on an early historic site or civilization.
• The October issues usually concentrate on some aspect of early Chinese history.
• The following issues travel to the Mediterranean world and the civilizations of Greece, Rome, and the Middle East.
• Topics in Far Eastern and Central and South American history help to broaden the reader's understanding of the interrelationships between periods in history and among the various civilizations intermingling on the world stage.
• One issue per year is centered on a world religion ""- its development, beliefs, and how it is practiced today.
• The May issue generally covers a theme dating to the 1500s or 1600s.

This format allows you, the teacher, to use each issue of CALLIOPE ^® as a complement to your world history text or as the prime classroom material for a subject. As the years pass, you may group CALLIOPE issues involving the same area of the world and use them as a unit.

The following are a few suggestions that will help you incorporate CALLIOPE ^® into your lesson plans:

1. Choose a world history topic in your curriculum and gather together one or more CALLIOPE ^® issues that focus on the theme. If available, also include any additional resources listed in the "Off the Shelf" section of each issue of CALLIOPE.
   1. Review with the class the historical events leading to the theme covered by the CALLIOPE ^® issue. Use a world map to locate the specific area related to the theme. Ask students what they already know about this area or time period, or if any of their parents or ancestors emigrated from this area. Ask students if they have heard anything on the news or read anything recently that is related to the topic.
   2. Read the first article in CALLIOPE ^® to the class - this sets the stage for all the material to follow and also acts as a basis for class discussion and interaction.
   3. Divide the students into groups and assign each group one of the main articles (assign each sidebar to an article). Give students time to read the article and discuss among themselves (and take notes) the content and its relationship to the main theme. Work with all the groups to guide them in this task.
   4. Let each group choose a spokesperson and present an overview of the article (and any sidebars) to the rest of the class. Finish with a class discussion or an essay assignment that asks the students to summarize what they learned about the topic.
   
   
2. Contact someone in the community who is knowledgeable about the topic or has lived in the area discussed. Invite this individual to come and talk with the class. Have the students prepare questions to ask this guest.
   
   
3. If possible, arrange for a museum visit or a trip to a historical society that will broaden the topic, as well as help students understand that history is everywhere and that past events definitely affect present-day events.
   
   
4. Bring books to class that give some information about the period that followed the theme of the issue. Let the students research the books for an overview of the consequences of the event or person they just finished studying, or read excerpts from these books on this subject. Then discuss with the class how important the person or event they just studied was in relation to the events that followed.
   
   
5. Hold a discussion about people and events today as they relate to the theme. Let students (in groups or individually) choose a person or event and have them tell or write how, in their opinion, this person or event affected history - whether it be the history of a family, a friendship, a city, a country - whatever they choose. You might suggest that students look for newspaper articles that relate to the topic of the issue.
   
   
6. Using the time line in the issue, ask students to research events around the globe that occurred at about the same time. Ask students how the CALLIOPE topic compares in the context of these world events.
   
   
7. Call or visit the local library for videos that complement the topic of the issue and show them in class. Afterward, hold a class discussion about how well the video presented the theme, what new information it contained, what parts they disliked, and what they would have added to give a more complete view of the topic.
   
   
8. Of special interest to the English/Language Arts teacher: Spend some time reviewing new words encountered in the issue. Devote some class time to the "Fun with Words" section. Write each word or expression on the blackboard. Read the explanation to the class and then have each student "draw" the story of the word/expression. Or, you can assign each word and expression to a group, give the group the explanation, and then have each group prepare a skit that visually describes the word/expression. To complete this lesson, have the students write a sentence for each word and expression.
   
   
9. Review the activities in the issue. Depending on the nature of each activity (each issue generally has two activities), complete the activity as a classroom venture or as individual classroom projects.