This study explores how English Language Arts (ELA) teachers' experiences with grief shape their approach to teaching tragic texts that explore themes of loss and tragedy. By analyzing teachers' narratives, we examine how their emotional responses to personal losses influence their pedagogical practices when dealing with tragic literature.…

ELA Guidebooks is an English language arts curriculum for core instruction. Made by teachers for teachers, the ELA Guidebooks units ensure all students can read, understand, and express their understanding of complex, grade-level texts, ensuring their readiness for college or a career. Each text collection has a shared idea and contains authentic…

Middle school is a place where many students are first introduced to more complex novels. Novel instruction in middle school English language arts classrooms is potentially influenced by the elementary focus on reading strategies and/or the secondary focus on literary analysis. Using a qualitative methodological approach, six middle school…

This study reports practices implemented in over 2,000 minutes by 16 middle school special education and general education co-teaching pairs in English language arts classes. We report the extent to which teachers integrated literacy activities that support reading comprehension, the co-teaching models used, and the frequency with which each…

The Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study (BTES) provides valuable information on how time is spent in elementary classrooms. Some of the major topics are: the average minutes per day which students spend engaged in reading and math activities, student engagement rates in different settings (that is, teacher-led settings versus seatwork) and…

Addressing the unique needs of children of all ages and abilities, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is gaining momentum in schools and preschools around the nation and the globe. This article explores Universal Design for Learning and its promising applications to a variety of reading and language arts experiences in the Early Childhood…

The purpose of this study is to determine the strategies used by pre-school teachers in order to raise curiosity in children. Based on this aim, sample is composed of 52 pre-school teachers working in kindergartens affiliated to Ministry of National Education. Study data were collected via qualitative research methods. Research data were gathered…

This publication helps educators create differentiated reading instruction experiences for their students by showing the relationship between two distinct resources: Student Center Activities (SCAs) and the Common Core State Standards (CCSSs). Reading specialists, reading coaches, and teachers will find this document useful in lesson planning, as…

Learn how to increase rigor so that all students can reach higher levels of learning! With this new edition of a teacher-tested best seller, you get practical ideas for increasing text complexity, providing scaffolding during reading instruction, creating open-ended projects, and much more. The enhanced second edition provides important…

Suggestions for using puppets in the classroom are the focus of this how-to-do-it piece by a participant in a Title I elementary school project. Although originally designed as a language arts unit on reading and vocabulary development, the activities described could be adapted for other teaching objectives. Seven aspects of the puppetry project…

Suggestions for enriching reading programs are divided into six categories in this booklet. Part 1, describing syllable work, recommends using syllable strips (rather than ordinary jigsaw puzzles), word groups, and student teams to work with unscrambling syllables. Part 2 suggests an activity for working with double consonant words, for example,…

In response to a challenge to integrate media activities into literacy lessons, teachers from elementary and middle grade classrooms initiated action research projects to determine the effectiveness of their efforts. Three projects are discussed in detail. Data collection and analysis were of a mixed design. Each action research project used media…

Offers suggestions for using children's literature in the classroom throughout the year. Includes suggestions for reading in the content areas of mathematics, art, music, and the language arts. (FL)

The 101 activities using the newspaper for teaching reading listed in this document range from such simple tasks as having children write captions for photos from the newspaper to the more advanced and complicated assignments of learning the use of propaganda devices or the five kinds of news stories. In addition, definitions for newspaper terms…

Argues that the value of humor in a reading/language arts program may not be understood completely and may often be overlooked. Suggests that the use of humor is supportable by many learning theories and that it has probable affective and cognitive benefits. (FL)