Designed for elementary school teachers, the document presents two short puppet plays about children who are different. The first story focuses on a young boy's concerns about being adopted. The second play is about a boy who is learning disabled. The plays, which require only two acting characters, are accompanied by two song lyrics and a list of…

This article compares four theories relating vocabulary knowledge to reading comprehension and applies these theories to vocabulary development instructional approaches for various types of students with problems in reading comprehension. The four theories are the instrumentalist hypothesis, the aptitude hypothesis, the access hypothesis, and the…

This article discusses the difficulties in meeting the needs of diverse student populations including those with learning and/or behavioral difficulties while meeting the demands of standards and accountability. It stresses the importance of matching the reading instructional program to the specific needs of the student and fine-tuning strategies…

Basic information for regular classroom teachers with students who are both gifted and learning disabled covers definition of this population; incidence; characteristics; and six teaching strategies, such as flexibility in how student demonstrates mastery of material, adapting for reading differences, and using attention-directing techniques. A…

Noting that the collective stories of special education have grown out of a tradition that, by its nature tends to perpetuate problems, this book examines such narratives and how they influence thinking and belief about intelligence and learning. It begins by examining how the current story of intelligence developed and illustrates some of the…

Maintains that children with disabilities increasingly are attending schools and classrooms they would attend if they did not have disabilities. Reports that educational research indicates little evidence that ability grouping improves academic achievement among these students. (CFR)