The new common core standards for mathematics demand that students (and teachers!) exhibit deeper conceptual understanding. That's music to the ears of education professor John Tapper, who says teachers have overemphasized teaching procedures--and getting right answers. In his new book, "Solving for Why," he makes a powerful case for moving beyond…

Despite students' interest in informational text, it has played second fiddle in literacy instruction for years. Now, though, nonfiction is getting its turn in the spotlight. The Common Core State Standards require that students become thoughtful consumers of complex, informative texts--taking them beyond the realm of dry textbooks and…

Presented are vignettes about six special children and how they were helped by their teachers. The children's problems included physical handicaps, learning disabilities, and interpersonal/emotional difficulties. (SJL)

Everyday, people face situations that call for adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing, and at least half of the time, these calculations are accomplished without the use of pen, paper, or calculators. Because figuring "in your head" is such an important life skill, it should have a regular role in classroom math teaching. This article…

Presents suggestions for using math performance assessments in elementary classrooms to help students develop mathematical thinking skills. The article lists National Council of Teachers of Mathematics evaluation standards for mathematics assessment and describes a number of problem-solving activities for students. (SM)

Cynicism, disillusionment, loss of faith in our government! Author discussed these issues as they are related to your social studies program. (Editor/RK)

Graphing skills are growing in importance in our information society, presenting facts and concepts in newspapers, magazines, and on television. Graphs incorporated into teaching develop children's problem-solving skills. Ways to use graphs in the classroom are discussed, and examples are given. (MT)

Presents 21 ideas for helping children learn to do story problems in math. (SJL)

Teachers can help students become better problem solvers when they introduce several problem solving strategies. Activities for classroom use are offered. (DF)

Author suggests some new ways to help solve learning problems in the classroom. (GB)

Presents reasons for students' use of calculators in math class and techniques for encouraging their optimal use. Many educators suggest that calculators free students from concentration on computation and enable them to concentrate on problem solving. The article includes product information. (SM)

Presents a six-step problem-solving process which the author has used to present creative science investigations to fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. (Author/SJL)

This article discusses the favoritism among teachers. According to Adele Brodkin, a child psychologist, few teachers are above favoritism and this shows that teachers are just human. She advises teachers to acknowledge that they do have favorites and make sure not to treat favorites in any special way. In this article, the author presents…

How to use listening to responses as a diagnostic tool to discover children's reading and comprehension problems. (RB)