Can You Build It? is an engaging Improve It! task that asks children to construct 3D shapes based on 2D depictions. Students' initial 3D creations often need revision, and as they build and re-build, they develop spatial relationships. This task was implemented in a first-grade class, connected to composing 3D geometric shapes to address the…

This article provides six fundamental steps for using a task analysis to teach emergent literacy skills to young learners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Compared to general education peers, students with ASD score lower on reading measures and often have difficulty acquiring literacy skills via the instruction methods used in typical…

This guided inquiry launched a year-long study centered on social justice issues and people who have championed change in our communities and nation. The article, offers resources and activities that highlight Patsy Mink's congressional achievements and experiences, and push young students to think about the institution of Congress with a gendered…

By providing sustained, embedded professional development over the course of a school year--as well as involving teachers in creating high-quality assessment tasks, implementing the assessments with students, and tying assessment directly to instruction--the authors increased the value that their teaching community places on mathematical…

Although the Curriculum Principle in "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics" states, "A school mathematics curriculum is a strong determinant of what students have an opportunity to learn and what they do learn," this article seeks to help teachers enhance tasks found in commonly used textbooks to create additional opportunities for…

As young children make sense of mathematics, they begin to see with new eyes. What once was uncertain may now be determined. Objects become countable; fingers become tools; and numbers become more than just names. Educators revel in such developments--which mark significant progress toward more sophisticated understanding of number--and work…