Elementary-level teacher Redford dispels the idea that instructional time should not be spent teaching content material because content is now Googleable. As research shows, background knowledge significantly influences basic comprehension, even in very young students; students need a core of background knowledge to decipher texts and understand…

Textbooks do not only offer information on specific topics and delineate competence development but provide insights into a society's socio-cultural norms and values by means of representations. In particular, this refers to the diversity with which classrooms, groups of friends and families are depicted in textbooks. The contribution at hand…

In this article we discuss the differences between close reading in the primary grades and upper elementary grades. We focus on text selection, initial reading. repeated reading, annotation, text-based discussions, and responding to texts.

The aim of this study to explore primary school teachers' views towards critical reading skills and their perceptions of competence. The participants are 25 teacher candidates who are fourth year students studying in the Department of Primary School Education at the Education Faculty of Adiyaman University. Adopting a qualitative data approach,…

As teachers and leaders move forward in implementing the Common Core State Standards within classrooms across 46 states, it is essential to consider the question of what knowledge is included in the English Language Arts Standards, and what knowledge is not present. The authors of the Common Core delineate an increasingly complex body of knowledge…

Teachers can engage students in historical thinking by intentionally structuring close reading tasks. This article provides a practical and theoretical examination of the learning and teaching during a 30-minute social studies class in which students studied colonization by reading a primary source text from the Jamestown Colony. Students used…

In two experiments, we examined fourth and fifth graders' comprehension of the source of information in texts presenting controversial issues. In Experiment 1, participants read short texts in which two people presented different arguments regarding an issue. Participants identified who said what and evaluated each source's knowledge of the issue.…

The United States is a society that is simultaneously consumed and repulsed by the body; a society where obsession over a constructed "obesity" epidemic runs alongside obsession over thinness; a society where advertisers manipulate digital images of bodies to present two-dimensional versions of ideal male and female physiques, and plastic surgeons…

Using the framework of multicultural education, this article presents an analysis of multicultural picture books that depict the features of assimilation ideology. The findings suggest that assimilationist ideas are presented through the main characters' identities in the resolution of the story and through the portrayal of a glorified dominant…

Many teachers want to incorporate critical literacy into their instruction but are unsure of where to start. In this article, the authors pair Jones's (2006) three tenets of critical literacy (deconstruction, reconstruction, and social action) with books that highlight multiple perspectives. By combining this critical literacy framework with…

THE FINAL REPORT OF A STUDY CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE (1) WHETHER CRITICAL READING SKILLS CAN BE TAUGHT TO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN WHILE MAINTAINING PROGRESS IN OTHER BASIC READING SKILLS, (2) WHETHER THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CRITICAL READING ABILITY AND SUCH CHARACTERISTICS AS GENERAL READING ABILITY, INTELLIGENCE, AND PERSONALITY FACTORS,…

Contradictions and discrepancies in various encyclopedias are used to point out that one should not believe everything they read.

IN ORDER TO TEACH READING AS A THINKING PROCESS, TEACHERS SHOULD BELIEVE THAT CHILDREN CAN THINK AND CAN BE TAUGHT TO READ CRITICALLY, EVEN AT A VERY YOUNG AGE. THREE ASPECTS OF THE READING-THINKING PROCESS INCLUDE DECLARATION OF PURPOSES, REASONING, AND JUDGMENT. THE NATURE OF THE PURPOSES DETERMINES WHAT IS TO BE READ AND HOW IT IS TO BE READ.…

Describes how the works of Dr. Seuss--particularly "On Beyond Zebra"--provide an ideal medium to engage children in critical reading, discussion, and reflection. (MM)

In the author's experience, a significant source of reading difficulty for many beginning and struggling readers are misconceptions about print concepts so basic teachers assume their students are aware of them. Many children fail to grasp implicit principles of print such as the following: the reader cannot make up the words, the order of letters…