Packed with useful tools, this practitioner guide and course text helps educators assess and teach essential literacy skills and strategies at all grade levels (PreK-12). All six literacy modalities are addressed--listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing, and visually representing. Chapters on specific literacy processes integrate…

Educational practice does not, for the most part, rely on research findings. Instead, there's a preference for relying on our intuitions about what's best for learning. But relying on intuition may be a bad idea for teachers and learners alike. This accessible guide helps teachers to integrate effective, research-backed strategies for learning…

When designed properly, concept mapping activities can engage students in meaningful learning. In the process of creating concept maps, students relate new information to more general concepts already held, develop fuller understandings of those general concepts, and recognize new relationships between concepts. Students engage in these activities…

The use of the "keyword" method as a tool for improving memory in learning disabled students is explained. The keyword method consists of two stages: an acoustical link stage and a stage in which the student is provided with a picture of the keyword interacting with the appropriate response term. The method can be modified for use in…

A simple lesson on magnetism can foster childrens' natural enthusiasm for science and set the stage for discoveries that parallel those of famous scientists. (JD)

A teacher describes an incident involving his fifth-grade class and an angry elderly woman. He points out that the event became a learning experience in standing up for one's rights, tenacity, respect for others, compassion, and responsibility for the elderly. (JD)

A teacher offers six suggestions for giving students opportunities to exercise their commonsense thinking skills. This allows the teacher to ask rather than tell, listen rather than talk, and allows the children to provide for themselves. (MT)

Briefly examines the research regarding taking notes from text. Proposes a four-stage model for teaching note taking that combines insight from schema theory and metacognitive research, which indicates that sentence summaries, main-idea paraphrasing, and periodic information summaries are beneficial forms of note taking. (Author/AYC)

Science teachers expect students to use information contained in books. This makes text-based learning strategies important for student success at school and beyond. This paper explores the potential of science as a vehicle for the development of such skills, considers a range of learning strategies, and suggests ways of integrating them into…

Discusses two common student errors regarding fractions. Presents different solution strategies for finding a fraction. (ASK)

A discussion is presented of the value and benefits of using questions in the classroom that will develop the critical thinking abilities of students. Some of the benefits of employing questions in classroom teaching are related to the affective domain, being psychological in nature, some are evaluative in that they provide clues to the extent of…

Application of the direct instruction paradigm to reading comprehension skills involves providing a problem-solving strategy through demonstration and modeling, guiding strategy application, and creating opportunities for independent strategy application. Examples of the approach to teach sequential relationships and main idea-supporting…

Learning disabled students frequently have difficulty with spelling. A process that develops the student's thinking so that he is able to discover spelling rules for himself encourages him to remember and use them. Rules governing when to double final consonants or drop silent e's illustrate the process. (VW)

This article reports on how elementary school teachers teach strategies to help pupils learn and remember. Tips for using the research findings in the classroom are offered. (MT)

Reviews research on psychophysiological approaches to learning and memory, focusing on memory aids, levels of rehearsal, and visual mnemotechnics. Explains and illustrates the use of study mapping, a system of note taking and studying appropriate for developmental reading courses. (DMM)