I continue here the long-standing discussion on the familiar topic of whether subconscious language acquisition is more powerful than conscious language learning, with a focus on vocabulary, adding recent studies as well as older ones I missed in previous publications on this topic (e.g. Krashen, 2004).

This bestselling book provides indispensable tools and strategies for explicit, systematic phonics instruction in K-3. Teachers learn effective ways to build students' decoding skills by teaching letter-sound relationships, blending, word building, multisyllabic decoding, fluency, and more. The volume is packed with engaging classroom activities,…

Disability-related legislation offers two different support systems for youth with disabilities: one of entitlement to services and one of eligibility for resources. This article offers guidance for individuals with disabilities, and the families and service providers who support them, as they prepare to navigate the transition between support…

The Teaching Science as Inquiry (TSI) philosophy is based on the belief that science should be taught and learned as it is practiced within the discipline of science education. TSI pedagogy uses a defined theoretical framework to counter the many vague misconceptions about inquiry. This framework a) acknowledges the multiple stages through which…

Typically developing children make choices daily. As they transition throughout school, they learn to evaluate the outcomes of their choices. However, elementary-age children with disabilities often experience difficulties in developing choice-making skills. Some of the barriers that impede the development of these skills include poor…

Young children learn new vocabulary with great agility and speed, but their learning is dependent on the range of words they are exposed to. Teachers can naturally facilitate children's vocabulary learning using a variety of strategies, including making conversation and posing thoughtful questions. But there is also an important role for direct…

Knowledge about the nature of science has been advocated as an important component of science because it provides a framework on which the students can incorporate content knowledge. However, little empirical evidence has been provided that links nature of science knowledge with content knowledge. The purpose of this mixed method study was to…

The availability of teaching units on the nature of science (NOS) can reinforce classroom instruction in the subject, taking into account the related deficiencies in textbook material and teacher training. We give a sequence of teaching units in which the teaching of Newton's gravitational theory is used as a basis for reflecting on the…

Research was reviewed on small-group instruction for learners with disabilities. The review was conducted for articles published between 1990 and 2010 on the application of small-group direct instruction to teach discrete skills using prompting procedures. A total of 47 articles with 197 participants and 687 replications of effects was located.…

With the increased emphasis on standardized testing from state and federal mandates, the need for reading remediation has intensified. Programs directed toward increasing student test scores have been put in place nationwide with mixed results. These initiatives include response to intervention (RTI), direct instruction, and individualized…

Considerable research evidence supports the provision of explicit instruction for students at risk for reading difficulties; however, one of the most widely implemented approaches to early reading instruction is Guided Reading (GR; Fountas & Pinnel, 1996), which deemphasizes explicit instruction and practice of reading skills in favor of…

The purpose of this study was to conduct a content analysis of the types and occurrences of explicit instructional moves recommended for teaching five essentials of effective reading instruction in grades 1, 3, and 5 core reading program teachers' editions in five widely marketed core reading programs. Guided practice was the most frequently…

Student misbehavior in the classroom is often reported as an area of concern for teachers. Having to focus on classroom management rather than content results in a loss of important instructional time, which can have a deleterious impact on student academic achievement. The purpose of the study was to examine whether a character education program…

This research study compared learning of 6-9th grade deaf students under two modes of educational delivery--interpreted vs. direct instruction using science lessons. Nineteen deaf students participated in the study in which they were taught six science lessons in American Sign Language. In one condition, the lessons were taught by a hearing…

Several studies found that direct instruction and task structuring can effectively promote children's ability to design unconfounded experiments. The present study examined whether the impact of these interventions extends to other scientific reasoning skills by comparing the inquiry activities of 55 fifth-graders randomly assigned to one of…