A study investigated how literature-based reading/language arts materials were being used in two "exemplary" third/fourth grade combination classes, the influence of teacher epistemology on classroom instruction, and whether teachers were enacting the whole language emphasis mandated by the state. One of the two participating teachers…

This book shows elementary school teachers how to help students become confident readers and writers who can use skills they acquire throughout their lives, from a constructivist orientation. It is intended as a main text for an introductory course on elementary-school reading instruction, typically taken by undergraduates in their second or third…

The 13 essays in this book examine the theory of constructivism in relation to teaching and learning. The first section provides an account of the epistemological, psychological, and sociocultural research that serves as the theoretical basis of constructivism, and includes the following chapters: "Introduction: Aspects of Constructivism" (Ernst…