Idiom comprehension and production reflect a child's language competence. Research suggests that there is a positive relationship between children's reading comprehension skills and their idiom understanding. This study examines whether adult verbal scaffolding, in conjunction with the deliberate use of iconic gestures, can facilitate young…

Text-learning strategies may help students to: (1) focus attention on key concepts; (2) organize information for storage and retrieval; and (3) integrate new information with existing, related knowledge. Since these strategies can provide learning contexts that stimulate attentional and organizational processes, their use with older adult students…

Focusing on the brain's natural functions, this article discusses specific teacher characteristics, teaching methods, and peripheral stimuli helping to activate appropriate learning behavior. Also identifies particular events and teacher behaviors that block learning and frustrate the brain's efforts to harmonize conflicts and admit new…

The adoption of developmental approaches could reinforce or aggravate certain inequities in schools. Three developmental practices embody potentially harmful inclinations: (1) the tendency to adopt the end state of a developmental theory (such as Kohlberg's) as an educational goal, thereby imposing a restrictive model of learning on culturally…

Examined the validity of Bruner's theory that any subject can be made appropriate for any child at any stage of development. This was not valid with the topic of the Civil War. However, with the topic of the Great Depression, the opposite results were found, and Bruner's theory partially confirmed. (Author/BEF)

Contends that resistance is not adequately problematized in the critical pedagogy literature. Asserts that clarification is necessary to point out the multiple resistances in classrooms and their implications rather than situating resistance only with students and only in relation to social inequality or critical pedagogy. (16 citations) (VWC)

The Personalized System of Instruction, known as the Keller Plan, is compared with the mastery learning approach. Learning concepts of both are discussed, as well as differences, difficulties, and effectiveness of each method. (SA)

Since the world has been transformed through technology and global competition, children of the twenty-first century need much higher literacy and mathematical skills than their grandparents. Yet, at the same time, children need time to play and time to develop at a natural pace. In this article, the author shares and explains "triangulated…

The literature of foreign language research is reviewed for its applications of the expressions "learner-centered instruction" and "communicative approach." It is proposed that the emphasis in these approaches is misplaced and produces resistance rather than willingness by the students. (MSE)

Four elements are essential for efficient, effective, and rewarding teaching of beginning reading. The first is the use of children's key vocabulary. Children are asked, in a prescribed fashion, what their very best word is of the moment. The teacher prints it in a prescribed fashion and uses it to help children acquire one-to-one correspondence…

As a reissue of a popular book written in the 1920's on the principles of language study, this work is included in a series of publications devoted to language and language learning. The methodology prescribed centers upon nine fundamental principles: (1) initial preparation, (2) habit forming, (3) accuracy, (4) gradation, (5) proportion, (6)…

This paper focuses on a lesson plan in fractional number concepts that illustrates how research and practice have been brought together through the use of integrated media. A teacher applied the findings from her master's thesis by collaborating with an instructor of elementary mathematics methods courses and an experienced teacher on a lesson…

The middle school and junior high school years are extremely important ones in the language, cognitive, and personal development of students. During this time, students should begin using longer sentences with more sophisticated embeddings and showing greater awareness of audience and organization in writing, speaking, listening, and reading. At…

Teachers and students will better understand the experience of learning if they become familiar with a general systems model of the relationship between a teacher and a learner (student). Concepts relevant to this model include learner background, readiness, initiative, and achievement; teacher knowledge, relationship to colleagues, cultural…