The perception of what a teacher says s/he does in the classroom may or may not match the reality of their actual teaching practice. This case study considers one second-grade teacher's instructional methods and pedagogical decisions when teaching number sense and her perception of what informed her teaching practice. This teacher supported…

In today's educational environment, schools struggle to meet the academic needs of every student. Many schools are challenged by the use of a response-to-intervention framework in which too many students need strong interventions. This article details a data-driven, decision-making response-to-intervention reading team model in which teachers,…

This paper advocates the development of democratic practices and opportunities for decision-making at an early age. The paper cites numerous examples of how developmentally appropriate opportunities can be presented in the classroom. The paper outlines ideas for students to be more actively involved in making rules, leadership, classroom…

An experienced second grade teacher participated in three two-hour planning sessions in which she planned for the course of instruction for the school year in mathematics, science, and writing. The teacher "thought aloud" as she planned, and two researchers present took written notes. In general, her yearly planning was aimed at setting…

Depicts efforts by a second-grade teacher and her students to understand the complex issues of and interact within a community that they conceptualized, built, and lived in. The study examined how students gained civic competence and made informed decisions. The results show how students struggled to understand, cope with, and solve problems that…

Second and third grade students used the creative problem solving strategy developed by Sidney Parnes and Alex Osborn in their social studies classes. The second graders, finding few biographies written for students reading on a first or second grade level, interviewed community members, collected photographs of them, and wrote their biographies,…

Describes classroom projects in a second-grade classroom based on the Foxfire approach to instruction. Projects planned and implemented in the classroom by students included: (1) sub shop; (2) recycling; (3) Black cemetery; and (4) garden. Students engaged in brainstorming, creating webs, weekly planning, and writing about their activities. (KS)

The major purpose of this study was to assess the degree to which cognitive style, as indexed by the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT), is related to the way in which children respond to problems with social or interpersonal content. Fifty-two reflective and 64 impulsive first- and second-grade boys were presented with a number of stories in…

This teacher resource manual focuses on the Alberta, Canada social studies curriculum for grades one through three. The manual has five main sections. (1) "Introduction to the Program" discusses the program goals and objectives. The importance of problem solving and decision making skills are stressed, and strategies are discussed for…