The incidence of child obesity in the United States is increasing at an alarming rate. This article provides information about nutrition, obesity, and related health conditions and suggests some classroom activities to raise awareness about these issues and empower students to live healthier, more active lives. A list of recommended health-related…

Picturebooks tell stories in both words and pictures. Interacting with the printed word, the technical elements of illustration--color, line, shape and composition--work to establish and enhance the story. Sometimes simply by adding description of characters and setting, and, at times, by challenging the veracity of the text with ironic or…

Young children's capabilities continue to be revealed through brain and other scientific research. These advances in knowledge have led to the implementation of more progressive learning experiences in preschool programs. More in-depth explorations accommodate young children's intellect and they help children develop life skills as competent…

This study examines the formative evaluation practices of 13 experienced elementary school teachers in Quebec, Canada at the level of teacher-student interaction. The qualitative study is based on both semi-structured and stimulated recall interviews as well as videotapes of classroom activities. The participating teachers were found to be using…

In this article, the authors demonstrate how they modified a well-known game to use it as an educational simulation to help students understand difficult material, specifically critical theory. The goals for the simulation focus on improving the comprehension levels of critical theory for students in a course on the Sociology of Deviance, although…

The instructional potential of video technology in the classroom is promising, especially in light of the 21st Century Learning Framework (Siegle, 2009). Studies show positive gains in student outcomes as a result of the integration of video technology in instruction. This article explores potential uses of YouTube as an instructional aid in…

The major focus of this ethnographic study is devoted to exploring the confluence of global and local referents of science education in the context of an urban chemistry laboratory classroom taught by a first-generation Filipino-American male teacher. This study investigates encounters between the teacher and four second-generation immigrant…

Does using a computer game improve students' motivation to learn classroom material? The current study examined students' motivation to learn history concepts while playing a commercial, off-the-shelf computer game, Civilization III. The study examined the effect of using conceptual scaffolds to accompany game play. Students from three ninth-grade…

"Why would a deer print be in the city?" wondered a student. She had noticed the track near a grocery store that morning with her mother. She was familiar with deer and had noticed their prints on a trip to a local museum; however, she had never seen a deer in the city before this experience. As she retold the story to her classmates, her question…

Intimate or romantic relationships for young people today play an integral role in their health and quality of life. Between the ages of 11 and 13 students become more interested in the opposite sex and as a result they begin to develop more intimate relationships. Around this age students are learning to deal with these feelings of attraction and…

Parents may be familiar with music education from their own experiences, but curricula and teaching processes have changed since their youth. Informances are informal opportunities for music educators to describe the curriculum; demonstrate classroom activities, rehearsal procedures, and assessment techniques; and encourage the "audience" to…

This paper investigates learners' perceptions of their speaking abilities, of their contributions to oral class activities (whole class and small group discussions) as well as their attitudes towards these activities, and how such perceptions and attitudes influenced the learners' willingness to communicate in the L2. The study employed a range of…

Frequent five-minute visits focused on specific "look-fors" can give principals valuable information about what's working--or not working--in their schools. A program of brief but frequent classroom walkthroughs has become an increasingly popular strategy in recent years for informally supervising teachers and observing classroom activities. But…

The authors introduced polar science in a fourth-grade classroom by means of 3 hands-on activities that addressed (1) the melting of glaciers and ice, (2) the differences between the North and the South Pole, and (3) the geography and landforms of Antarctica. An assessment 4 months after the original activity showed that students remembered the…

Collaborative Strategic Reading is an innovative new approach to teaching reading that weaves together two instructional programs: cooperative learning and reading comprehension strategy instruction. In small groups, students work through the four main steps-Preview, "Click and Clunk," Get the Gist, and Wrap Up-helping each other improve…