"Wonder moments” are moments of understanding that stay with us a life's time. They are meaningful, poignant experiences which still make us come alive when we recall them today. You can't manufacture them in the classroom, but you can create an environment where moments of wonder can occur, when students truly understand." - Walter McKenzie

Inspired curriculum integration in seven classroom tested units Across the curriculum using MI, technology, authentic tasks, music, poetry, the arts and the Web! McKenzie, Walter. Standards-based Lessons for Tech-Savvy Students: A Multiple Intelligences Approach. Worthington, Ohio: Linworth, 2004. ISBN 1-58683-125-9.

Read a review of the book by Mary Hauge from the October 2004 issue of Library Media Connection!

"The Information Age is upon us and with it comes new demands on educators. Today's students will work in a world where information is the coin of the realm and those who know how to work with it effectively will be the most successful. They will have to collaborate, think flexibly, create solutions to existing problems and create new ways of delivering information to consumers. The classroom will need to reflect these demands so that students can develop these skills through practical, meaningful experiences. How can educators find the time and resources to meet these new demands?

Building Bridges offers a unit model which is built to accommodate and integrate our evolving understanding about learning at the dawn of the Information Age. Allowing for all of the different student orientations to learning, Building Bridges empowers teachers by integrating state and national standards through a wealth of rich, real world, authentic tasks. Technology provides opportunities to extend these learning experiences across all the domains of learning within the classroom and to worlds beyond the traditional scope of the classroom. The result is a myriad of opportunities for wonder moments – those incredible learning experiences we keep with us for a life's time.

Herein you will find not only a working model for instruction, but a conceptual framework that addresses all of the needs of the Information Age classroom. Within this framework, seven units are presented which offer the context for engaging, motivating and rewarding learning in the classroom. It is my sincere hope that these examples will serve as a springboard for your own new unit development; units that will build bridges for students regardless of their orientation to learning."

-Walter McKenzie