Teaching reading and vocabulary to Mexican American children in the United States of America today requires an acknowledgment of historical social injustice that continues to affect many communities in South Texas. This article debriefs some vocabulary teaching strategies--such as mnemonics and game play under the learning centers…

Remixing traditional and new teaching techniques via literacy centers can restructure middle grades language arts classrooms to promote student movement, autonomy, and creativity. Literacy centers provide a set of individual, developmentally appropriate learning activities that can be updated daily to match current objectives, but do not need to…

In an afterschool space, desks are grouped in fours. In the center of each group is a seemingly random assortment of materials, including uncooked spaghetti, spiced gumdrops, and a small cardboard square. After a brief introduction to the activity, a staff member posts the challenge on the wall: Using only these materials and working together as a…

This paper presents findings from a qualitative UK study exploring the social practices of schoolchildren visiting an interactive science discovery centre. It is promoted as a place for "learning through doing", but the multi-modal, ethnographic methods adopted suggest that children were primarily engaged in (1) sensory pleasure-taking…

This article describes a hands-on science curriculum used to teach kindergarten students about decomposition at the Riverdale Country School in the Bronx, New York. The goal was to get students to spend more time in the natural world and to have the opportunity to literally "get their hands dirty." This was premised on the idea that the…

His name is Brett Schmidt, and he is a college student with Autism. His greatest challenge of having autism is communication. When he first applied to Briarcliffe College, he was given an e-mail address to the Campus Portal. He had to train himself to look at the portal frequently for communication and information. On the start of the semester, he…

For this project I worked with twelve of my fourth grade students from a local school in the southwestern part of Stokes County, North Carolina on increasing their vocabulary skills through the development and implementation of seven vocabulary strategies. During the Literature Review I came across the following seven strategies: Prediction;…

Many learning center administrators understand the need to evaluate the effectiveness of their tutoring programs, but they do not have much free time to design and conduct meaningful research. This article presents a method of evaluation that can be used to determine whether students were able to demonstrate understanding after a tutoring…

Differentiation is one way to make the success of all students in mathematics a reality. However, many teachers continue to wonder how to make differentiation work in everyday classroom instruction, practice, and assessment. One approach that allows educators to deliver differentiated practice and assessment opportunities to effectively reach all…

Every step in a student's life is important for future success. Schools are building stronger frameworks of curricula, instruction and assessments to prepare students to move from one learning environment to another with maximum results as they journey toward adulthood. This issue of "High Schools That Work" contains examples of "best practices"…

Ninth grade students who previously resisted teacher-originated activity cycle through various learning stations that represent categories of alternative literacy. They are presented with familiar colloquial forms of expression, and presented with challenge cards designed to foster engagement and thoughtful consideration. They will provide…

The study explores factors that enhance or inhibit the language adjustment of international students in the U.S. Using social network influence model, the study examines the effects of language resources, language norm, and technology use on international students' self-confidence in overall English skills and four subskills, namely, listening,…

The most pressing challenge in early childhood education today is to find a way to meet the standards within a developmentally appropriate approach. In this book, two active early childhood educators provide teachers with resources to bring content alive and document it in every-day, action-based pre-K and Kindergarten classrooms. The book…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect an afterschool program had on middle school at-risk students' standardized test scores and behavior. The study examined students who participated in the 21st Century Community Learning Center afterschool program at two similar schools in a county in Northwest Georgia. Data were compiled for the…

More children are receiving care outside of their home under the age of six (Childstats.gov, 2007). The quality of these programs has a direct impact on student's readiness for school (Burchinal, Roberts, Nabors, & Bryant, 1996). Social readiness is the foundation for school readiness and academic achievement (Blair, 2002; Brigman, Lane, Lane,…