At the risk of re-recreating of the wheel, (and with apologies to the other members for not being in the original loop), I want to re-examine the "American Day Schools" partof the heading.
There is a difference in teaching this subject (and Jewish sublects in general) in the American day school vs. the Israeli system. But what rings true in all of these is the need to integrate curricula across the disciplines. I have been very successful in recruiting fellow middle school teachers in Social Studies, History Literature, Math & Computer Studies to "team teach" Talmud with me. Using current events as an arena in which halakhic issues are played out also proved to be an effective tool. It meant hopping from sugyah to sugyah (& masechta to masechta), but I think that this is what Torah sheb'al peh was meant to do. The kids, moreover, walked away with a better understanding of the Talmud's range & depth and (more importantly) the issues discussed and the people in volved in the discussions.
