Digital curricula can constrain teachers with ready-made instructional materials. The authors used Mathematics Teaching Practices (MTPs) to modify a digital curriculum to engage students in more thoughtful and meaningful lessons. In this article, the authors visit one of their third-grade classrooms, in which they used the prescriptive digital…

This lesson focuses specifically on teaching concepts of speed and its impact on energy, as well as providing a basic introduction to potential and kinetic energy to fourth-grade students. "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") 4-PS3-1 states that students should be able "to use evidence to construct an explanation…

A highly distinctive and structured approach to teacher development, Lesson Study emerged in Japan but has since been adopted much more widely and now sees growing interest in the UK. Tony McConnell, Davinia Daley, Rebecca Levy, Lisa Waddell and Richard Waddington describe the process by which their school first investigated and then adopted…

The use of digital technologies as teaching and learning materials supports and enhances science learning, encouraging students to develop valuable inquiry skills and knowledge. In response, this paper seeks to explore digital inquiry-based learning as a useful aid for teaching the elementary school science curriculum on plants in Malaysia. There…

Innovative teaching means the teacher is the creator, but unfortunately it does not necessarily mean the same for the students. Innovation is not just "doing" something new; it is "thinking" of new ways to improve a product, a method, or an idea. How can educators teach students to become better innovators themselves? This…

This article is prepared as part of a "Practice Teaching in Science" course of a teacher education program aiming for developing prospective science teachers' teaching through inquiry-based instruction involving practices of science and active learning strategies. During the semester, student teachers are required to prepare four…

Vocabulary is the basis for all content area learning, including physical education. This article presents several easily implemented vocabulary strategies that support content learning within the cognitive domain of physical education by reinforcing conceptual understanding and relationships. These strategies include: concept circles,…

Having knowledge about typical eye anatomy can help students find words for explaining their impairment in their own way and for saying what it is like to feel different from one's sighted peers. Talking about one's visual impairment is an essential skill in personal and school or work settings (Guerette, Lewis, & Mattingly, 2011; Sacks,…

Appreciating that a significant amount of assessment-related literature has focused on the 'what' of assessment (i.e. what to assess), 'the systematic use of assessment to improve learning remains the exception rather than the rule' [Wiliam, D. (2018). Assessment for learning: Meeting the challenge of implementation. "Assessment in Education:…

This article explores how Ms. Ford, a first-grade teacher, integrated literary tools to engage students in higher-level thinking and meaning making. Through the use of teacher talk, eliciting responses, asking for clarity, and expanding on student responses, she utilized discourse to support students in making meaning. Ms. Ford's first-grade…

In this article, veteran educator Otis Kriegel provides eight questions that teachers can ask themselves as they create or tweak lesson plans. With practical, straightforward advice, Kriegel suggests that teachers be mindful of who their audience is, how much students already know, and what materials they'll need. He also urges teachers to…

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2016), the number of public school students in the United States who were English learners (ELs) was estimated at 4.5 million. However, in 2005, the national standardized testing scores (Fry 2007) show that about 51 percent of eighth-grade EL students were behind other students in reading…

Teachers have found that engaging students in justification can help students deepen and retain mathematical knowledge, gain a greater sense of ownership over the material, and improve communication and representation skills (Staples, Bartlo, and Thanheiser 2012). Student engagement in a justification activity can also lead to more equitable…

The social and educational status of black male youth in the United States has been receiving increasing attention. In February 2014, President Barack Obama announced a new national initiative--My Brother's Keeper--for helping black boys and male youth or, to speak more generally, boys and young men of color, to "stay on track; providing the…

Student diversity is a major topic in education today. Diversity will not be going away any time soon. Even over thirty years ago, educators were beginning to discuss the subject of diversity and multiculturalism. In fact, during the 1970s and 1980s, the word, "diversity" was seldom used at all. The term "multiculturalism" was…