More research attention and implementation support are needed for mathematics intervention as student achievement in this area continues to fall below desirable levels. Incremental rehearsal is an intervention to help students build reading, vocabulary, and math fluency. Research supports the use of incremental rehearsal for improving math fact…

Vocabulary instruction is an important part of every classroom. Teachers and administrators continually seek effective instructional approaches to help students increase vocabulary knowledge. The purpose of this chapter is to describe how the author used daily vocabulary journal activities with a class of 2nd grade students. This chapter first…

The key underlying developmental concepts and skills requisite for early literacy learning appear to be easily achieved among most young English language learners (ELLs). These strengths, however, may merely mask the need for enhanced vocabulary development, the key variable in successful transitioning from early to academic literacy development…

Computers, laptops, interactive whiteboards, and iPads make regular appearances in our daily lessons, but are they being used to their fullest potential? In an effort to use technology with students in a meaningful way, the authors incorporated a free app and online graphing resource into a second-grade lesson on the characteristics of a lake…

Until recently, reading instruction for early grades has focused on fiction. However, the Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards both emphasize the reading of nonfiction texts to gain specific skill sets for analyzing information. Research has shown that gifted students and children with culturally/linguistically…

The goal of the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Practice Guide, "Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten through 3rd Grade," is to offer educators specific, evidence-based recommendations for teaching foundational reading skills to students in kindergarten through 3rd grade. The guide suggests…

The goal of the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Practice Guide, "Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten through 3rd Grade," is to offer educators specific, evidence-based recommendations for teaching foundational reading skills to students in kindergarten through 3rd grade. The guide suggests…

English-Spanish cognates are words that possess identical or nearly identical spellings and meanings in both English and Spanish as a result of being derived mainly from Latin and Greek. Of major importance is the fact that many of the more than 20,000 cognates in English are academic vocabulary words, terms essential for comprehending school…

Teachers often tend to discuss their English language learners (ELLs) in terms of "level." Writes the author, "But if I were to say to a teacher, 'You have four level 2s in your class,' how does that help us have a common understanding of the students' needs?" One approach that has great potential to increase students' language…

In this paper the authors briefly describe how features of the multilevel bi-factor model align with salient features of instruction. They then apply this framework to measure the extent to which teachers' instruction is supportive of vocabulary learning in second and third grade reading comprehension and vocabulary lessons. The results lend…

One of the challenges of teaching disciplinary vocabulary effectively is the paucity of available, classroom-friendly vocabulary assessments that can be used to gauge students' vocabulary growth and to inform vocabulary instruction. This article describes the intricacies of word knowledge that make assessment difficult. Three continua…

The author presents four approaches to shared reading that he used with first through third graders in a high-needs, urban elementary school with a large population of students from immigrant homes. Using sociocultural and cognitive constructivist principles, the author shows how these approaches built students' academic vocabulary and…

This article describes Everyday Mathematics, a new math education curriculum targeted to kindergarten, first grade, and second grade students in Holland. It will be introduced to third and fourth grades in 2008. The curriculum helps prepare pupils for standardized tests; allows for students to work at their own rate; involves parents in helping…

Vocabulary learning is central to reading ability and academic achievement. Vocabulary researchers and educators have viewed its essence as a process of associating the pronunciations and meanings of words in memory, and they have paid little attention to the contribution that spellings might make to vocabulary learning. We review theory and…

Includes an interview with second-grade teacher Patty Taverna and computer teacher Terry Hongell. Explains that their collaboration on social studies projects yielded some remarkable activities. Outlines the first such project--the "Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad" website. (PM)