In using wordless picture books, teachers enhance the reading experience while fostering, nurturing, and broadening students' reading and writing skills. Wordless picture books are accessible to "all" students. They encourage and require readers to slow down as they inhabit and comprehend the story told through art, symbolism, and…

The "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS) encourages educators to help kindergarteners formalize a big idea in physics: A push or pull can cause an object to begin moving, speed up, slow down, stop, or change the direction it is going (NGSS Lead States 2013). In this article, the authors share an exciting, classroom-tested…

Teachers' focus on student thinking--and moving beyond superficial "right or wrong" analysis--is essential to effective teaching (Grossman and McDonald 2008; NCTM 2000; Son and Sinclair 2010). Interpreting and evaluating student thinking and providing high-quality feedback are seen as high-leverage practices and are "likely to lead…

Writing lesson plans is often considered busywork, but it can be a useful path for discovering what is important about artmaking and teaching. This book shows teachers how to slow down, breathe, and linger over the process of unit and lesson plan writing to uncover how much this process can support them professionally, creatively, and personally.…

In the buzzing activity of the mathematics classroom, teaching in a way that effectively responds to and furthers students' thinking can be quite challenging. Given that teachers' instructional decisions will directly influence students' learning, it is extremely important to develop the sorts of practices that lead to productive in-the-moment…

Cooking is a common experience in preschool classrooms, where teachers provide hands-on opportunities with ingredients in the process of following standard recipes. What sets this story apart is the way that the teacher supports the children in designing their own cookie recipe in an authentic way, using experimentation and manipulation of cookies…

In contemporary contexts, young people are accustomed to life story; indeed, their lives are saturated with constructions of their stories and those of others, whether created by themselves or their "friends" on social networks. Multimedia outlets convey often detailed stories of more-famous others, whether celebrities or those experiencing…

Teaching in a democracy is challenging and filled with dilemmas that have no easy answers. For example, how do educators meet their responsibilities of teaching civic norms and dispositions while remaining nonpartisan? "Democratic Discord in Schools" features eight normative cases of complex dilemmas drawn from real events designed to…

Describes the construction of a demonstration apparatus to illustrate the law of strings by using the light from a television screen to slow down the apparent motion of the waves of a string. (MDH)

This article describes a learning activity in which preschool children learn cooperative skills and metacognitive strategies as they master sharing strategies guided by leaves on a "sharing tree." Leaf colors (red, yellow, green) cue the child to stop, slow down and think about sharing and playing with others, and go ahead with a sharing activity.…

When watching a small child with a toy car, it is seen that interest in motion comes early. Children often suggest speed through sounds such as "RRRrrrRRRooooommMMMmmmm" as the toy car is made to speed up, slow down, or accelerate through a turn. Older children start to consider force and motion studies in more detail, and experiences in school…

The use of protocols--oral verbalizations of the problem solving process--in a critical thinking and problem solving class offers a number of advantages to students and teachers alike. Protocols help students (1) learn to read problems carefully; (2) focus on the important characteristics of specific problems; (3) slow down their problem-solving…

Passive-aggressive behavior in an emotionally disturbed child affects the child's progress and affects peer interactions in classroom settings. Passive-aggressive personalities are typically helpless, dependent, impulsive, overly anxious, poorly oriented to reality, and procrastinating. The characteristics of passive-aggressive children need to be…

This paper helps mainstream teachers and administrators demystify English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) education, providing techniques to help immigrant students make sense of English and their new culture. Ten chapters examine the following: (1) "We're Moving to Where?" (how it feels to move to a totally alien environment); (2) "The Essence and…

This guide provides a summary of the information and suggestions covered on an audiotape designed to help students prepare for and take tests. First, introductory material presents a rationale for the development of the testing skills materials and a discussion of their use at Lane Community College. Next, the objectives of the tape are specified…