Assessments are powerful tools for informing teachers and students about where student thinking stands with relation to a learning goal. Yet, few studies provide qualitative analyses of assessment practice across a unit. This study uses a framework of nine dimensions of effective assessment practice in science classrooms to compare more and less…

One of the best ways to make sure the spirit of accountability is reflected in your teaching practice is to make sure everything you do in the classroom relates to a specific learning outcome. ASCD best-selling authors Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey explain exactly how to do that and take you through all the steps of making sure every lesson plan has…

This book demonstrates how teachers can use action research as an integral component of teaching and learning. The text uses examples and lesson plans to demonstrate how student research processes can be incorporated into classroom lessons that are linked to standards. Key features of this book are: (1) Guides teachers through systematic steps of…

With a unique focus on grades 4 and 5, this book explains how to design and implement a research-based reading program that helps all students build major literacy skills (word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension). The expert authors present ready-to-use activities, strategies, and lesson plans, along with detailed guidance for…

This article proposes a new role-playing exercise for public law courses: a mock-trial simulation using the European inquisitorial system of trial procedure. By exposing students to an alternative method of conducting a trial, numerous pedagogical benefits can be obtained, including stimulating critical thinking regarding the potential…

Designed to introduce teachers to cooperative learning techniques in the language arts, this book presents 24 activity units--12 on outer space (including the exploration of space and its many adventures), and 12 on "inner space" (the mind, the emotions, and the brain). After an introduction and overview, the first section of the book…

Designed for preschoolers identified as talented by the Bringing Out Head Start Talents (BOHST) project, the small-group lessons contained in this manual focus on nine areas of talent programming and are presented in color-coded sections: creative, intellectual, leadership, art, music, reading, math, science, and psychomotor talent development.…

Presenting diagnostic teaching units for grade 7 science and Science 14, this handbook is intended to be used along with the companion handbook 1, "Evaluating Students' Learning and Communication Processes: Integrating Diagnostic Evaluation and Instruction." The student activities of the diagnostic teaching units in the handbook have…

This paper presents a proposal for an oral history project of schools and education in Elmira, New York from 1900 to 1996, as well as lesson plans, models and samples, expected outcomes, intercurricular connections, and application to learning standards. The proposal addresses process goals, expected outcomes, student assessment, identification of…

This handbook draws from Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences theory and explains it through a teacher- and student-friendly acronym: SMILIES (Strategy, Musical, Intrapersonal, Linguistic, Interpersonal, Exercise and Environmental, and Spatial). The handbook helps teachers explore innovative techniques to teaching reading and writing. According…

Presenting the diagnostic teaching units for grades 7, 8, and 9 social studies, this handbook is intended to be used along with the companion handbook 1, "Evaluating Students' Learning and Communication Processes: Integrating Diagnostic Evaluation and Instruction." The student activities of the diagnostic teaching units in the handbook…

This book is for both elementary school teachers and students. Suggestions are provided for the teacher on ways to organize time, space, and materials with the emphasis on individualized instruction for the pupils. Materials for the students include activities and small questionnaires structured to reveal to the teacher each child's attitudes,…

Presenting a diagnostic teaching unit for grade 7 language arts, this handbook is intended to be used along with the companion handbook 1, "Evaluating Students' Learning and Communication Processes: Integrating Diagnostic Evaluation and Instruction." The student activities of the diagnostic teaching units in the handbook have been…

This unit seeks to teach Shakespeare's "Hamlet" in a way that the students will have a full understanding of the play. The unit's introduction is designed to get the students acquainted with Shakespeare's language, to motivate them to read the play, and to make them feel confident about approaching the play. Lessons in the unit are fun,…

At last, a truly helpful, practical guide for K-4 teachers who want to ensure that their approach to teaching young English language learners is based on research and grounded in proven classroom practices. The authors of ASCD's best-selling book "Research-Based Methods of Reading Instruction, Grades K-3" explain how you can help the English…