Children's play experiences have a profound impact on all areas of their growth, learning, and development. Play Today: A Guide for Families describes ideas and examples of quality play experiences that can be offered to preschool and school-age children by their families and caregivers. This guide puts a focus on play-based learning for children…

Now in a fully updated seventh edition, "The Teaching of Science in Primary Schools" provides essential information for students, trainee, and practising teachers about the why, what and how of teaching primary science. Paying particular attention to inquiry-based teaching and learning, the book recognises the challenges of teaching…

The experiences of children's play have a profound impact on all areas of their growth and development. Memories of play can be vivid and detailed. These memories often have a treasured place in our hearts and minds. Educators and parents have a special opportunity to ask themselves, "What kind of memories of play do I hope for the children…

Describes the learning spiral, which was designed as a framework for instructional planning. Grounded in constructivism, the learning spiral attempts to align learning experiences at school with learning experiences in life. The components of the learning spiral are engage, investigate, share, and assess. The learning spiral is recursive, and it…

This book identifies the teacher's role and provides guidance on the motivation of students, teaching strategies, questioning techniques, and the assessment of student learning for effective teaching. Chapters include: (1) "Why Science? What Science?"; (2) "Bringing Children and Science Together"; (3) "The Right Question at the Right Time" (Jos…

The second in a series of articles concerning the pros and cons of whether it is better to use questioning as part of the teaching device or not to question during discussion focuses on the most effective nonquestioning techniques. Alternatives to questioning are given. (JN)

This booklet synthesises the research on teacher professional learning and development that has been demonstrated to have a positive impact on valued student outcomes. Its findings relate to teachers who have received at least some initial teacher education and who are in the process of deepening their knowledge and refining their skills. The…

Students must have uninterrupted periods of time to process information, to reflect on what has been said, observed, or done, and to consider what their personal responses will be. After at least three seconds of uninterrupted silence, a significant number of positive outcomes occur for students and teachers. Students are more effective in…

Higher level questions can link evaluation directly to language related class activities. Utilizing higher level questions is a powerful pedagogical technique and serves many direct purposes in the class environment. One of the models most commonly taught to teachers is Hilda Taba's levels of questions. Taba's model delineates four related…

This book draws on classroom experience to provide models of instructionally sound, thoughtful, and thought-provoking history teaching for students from a wide variety of backgrounds. Most chapters begin with a classroom vignette showing a community of inquiry as students are actively engaged in their history education. Each vignette offers a…