Gain a new perspective on the sharing of erroneous solutions in classroom discussions. Based on their research in grades four and six, the authors reveal how student-to-student correction of errors promotes mathematical reasoning and understanding. Tips for teachers include strategies for using students' errors to encourage reasoning during…

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is not limited to the men and women who have been exposed to the horrors of war through military service. Children who are exposed to traumatic and life-threatening events, such as school shootings, physical and sexual abuse, and community violence, also can suffer from PTSD. This article explores the causes,…

Leadership is everyone's responsibility-even first graders. The most important contribution that any educator can make in an era of unrelenting change is identifying and developing aspiring leaders. Elementary school teachers can embed leadership development opportunities into the classroom to foster leadership dispositions and skills…

This narrative considers how well equipped today's teacher education students and faculty are to meet the demands of the new Common Core State Standards. Data from the Teacher Education Accreditation Council's national evaluation of teacher education programs gives a mixed picture that, while mostly encouraging, also reveals that some…

Out-of-school, community demographic and family-level variables have an important influence on student achievement as measured by large-scale standardized tests. Studies described here demonstrated that about half of the test score is accounted for by variables outside the control of teachers and school administrators. The results from these…

Even though theme is cited in two of the 10 Common Core Standards for Reading Literature, little is written on how to teach it. Determining theme while reading a story is a critical element of reading literature, yet some children simply struggle. The instructional strategies presented here are designed to hone students' theme awareness and…

This article describes ways that e-books, a common form of technology, can be used to differentiate instruction, enhance literacy learning, and support Common Core State English Language Arts (ELA) Standards at the fifth-grade level. However, the strategies described can easily be adapted to suit a wide range of grade levels and instructional…

As each school year starts, teachers are faced with teaching and building relationships with students from diverse backgrounds. To effectively teach students, science teachers (and teachers in general) must develop an understanding of students' culture, background, and language. Knowing these factors, as well as students' learning needs,…

A major component of literacy is "vocabulary," or the words employed by a language or in a field of knowledge. Understanding novel words and concepts is important for young students as they are confronted with a great deal of new terminology in the passages they read, especially in content areas such as science. Science is a discipline that relies…

When the National Reading Panel ([NRP] 2000) released its report challenging school districts to re-inspect then realign literacy programs according to "best practices," a digital literacy explosion was occurring--forever reshaping the literacy experiences students were having outside of school. Teachers began infusing curricular standards with…

Educators have a shared responsibility to encourage youth to take positive action that can have an environmental impact both locally and globally. The North American Association for Environmental Education ([NAAEE] 2004) has stressed the importance of increasing environmental knowledge among teachers, by participating in in-service programs or…

In today's inclusive classrooms, teachers are challenged to incorporate a variety of instructional activities designed to support learning for all--including children who are English Language Learners (ELLs). In science lessons at the early childhood level, ELLs not only must learn science concepts, but also the vocabulary essential for mastering…

"Teacher, I can read!" exclaimed Saree, a fourth-quarter second grader who was placed in the lowest of reading groups at a southwest side elementary school in Chicago. This was her proud announcement after three weeks of intensive intervention with Ms. Gomez, a student teacher in her final semester at Chicago State University. "Ms. Gomez, this…

How should public education function within a diverse culture? Because the United States has a traditionally strong Christian heritage, many communities have in the past been comfortable absorbing the holidays and traditions of that heritage into public education. During the month of December, which is especially rich in religious ritual and…

Many children are in dire need of differentiated instruction to support their unique learning needs. Differentiated instruction seeks to maximize each student's growth by recognizing that students have different ways of learning, different interests, different ways of responding to instruction, and preferred ways of learning or expressing…