Teachers and curriculum specialists are exposed to many ideas from educational leaders, but it is difficult to know which ones can be transformed into meaningful learning experiences in the classroom. "Concept-Based Instruction": (1) Helps educators translate the works of leading educational thinkers into concept-based units; (2) Draws…

"What is a fandom, and why do fandoms matter for school?" Fandoms are passionate communities dedicated to appreciating and engaging with texts of interest (movies, TV shows, books, bands, brands, sports teams, etc.) via personally and communally meaningful literacy practices. It is increasingly obvious that scripted literacy curricula…

This practical resource takes educators through a planning process--from selecting standards to designing learning activities--that weaves together language, literacy, and science in ways that are responsive to emergent bilinguals. Drawing on extensive and current research, the authors show how secondary educators can use students' own language…

The second edition of "Keys to Planning" builds upon the information shared about effective curriculum, unit, and lesson design by introducing current research and thinking related to curriculum design. The information presented in this second edition also captures insights and suggestions from classroom teachers who have attended…

The second edition of "Words and Actions" features an expanded framework, a variety of new unit, lesson, and activity examples from different languages and levels, and additional content on how social justice education fits within the context of contemporary approaches to language instruction. The revised text provides concrete examples…

Today's teachers need up-to-the-minute information to help their students make sense of the multimodal texts they encounter daily in and out of school. "Reading the Visual" is an essential introduction that focuses on what teachers should "know" about multimodal literacy and how to "teach" it. This engaging book…

By integrating the best of current research and practice in curriculum planning this book presents that comprehensive topic in a manageable form. Examples throughout are representative of different grade levels and subjects areas. It should be understood at the outset that the content offered for curriculum planning is not a rigid prescriptive…

This updated edition of the bestselling book on the brain's natural learning process brings new research results and applications in a power-packed teacher tool kit. Rita Smilkstein shows teachers how to create and deliver curricula that help students become the motivated, successful, and natural learners they were born to be. Updated features…

Regardless of your stage at implementing the design tools and using the improved template for Understanding by Design[R] (UbD), this companion to "The UbD Guide to Creating High-Quality Units" is essential for taking your work to a higher plane. This volume features a set of hands-on modules containing worksheets, models, and self-assessments that…

This three-part text is a curriculum book for beginners that emphasizes basic ideas and is geared toward the undergraduate student interested in the education of children ages 5-12. Selected alternative practices and programs are presented and anecdotal discussions are incorporated to illustrate concepts and vocabulary. Part 1, "The Educational…

Intended for use by teachers in preschool through intermediate grade classrooms, library media specialists, and other educators, this book presents 26 literature frameworks that involve students in reading and sharing literature in connection with thematic units. Each framework suggests books and literature-related materials to coincide with…

Intended for use by teachers in preschool through intermediate grade classrooms, library media specialists, and other educators, this book presents 26 literature frameworks that involve students in reading and sharing literature in connection with thematic units. Each framework suggests books and literature-related materials to coincide with…

This book provides a rationale for focal points for each grade level, prekindergarten-8. Focal points are important mathematical topics that represent major areas of content emphasis. Building on "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics," this publication is presented to begin a dialogue on what is important at particular levels…

This article lists some of the major ideas and topics of interest in transpersonal psychology and illustrates them with examples of transpersonal education applied to schools. Transpersonal psychology includes psychological aspects of such things as new world views, altered states of consciousness, an impulse toward higher states, self-realization…

In six sites across the United States teams of teachers began creating "portfolio cultures"--classrooms where growth towards high common standards and reflection was emphasized for both students and teachers. Working groups of teachers became involved in a 2-year process to develop curriculum. This book is a part of this series…