The authors' paths crossed seven years ago when they had recently adopted the P4C (Philosophy for Children) method as philosophy teachers. Their shared enthusiasm for P4C resulted in collaborative development and facilitation of different workshops. These programs were specifically tailored for children aged 7-10, particularly those residing in…

The topic 'Animals including humans' runs through the primary science National Curriculum in England (DfE, 2013). Ideally, topics such as inheritance will lead onto adaptation, natural selection and evolution across key stages 1 to 2 (ages 5-11). This article provides nine engaging activities to support the teaching of adaptation and improve…

Because acquisition of vocabulary has been shown to affect reading comprehension and verbal capacity, one initiative that has gained momentum in elementary schools is the promotion of sophisticated words across grade levels. Music teachers, like other educators, should provide a vocabulary-rich environment to encourage the use of academic language…

Scientists must interpret and produce visuals in their work. Scientists also use visual information to communicate their findings to the general public. Visual representations are used in science because of the abstract nature of scientific information as many concepts are unable to be seen with the naked eye. The current educational climate…

A commonly used method for supporting the writing of students with learning disabilities (LD), graphic organizers have been shown to effectively support instruction for students with LD in a variety of content areas (Dexter & Hughes, 2011). Students with LD often struggle with the process of developing their ideas into organized sentences; the…

Comprehensive school physical activity programs (CSPAPs) are designed to support children in getting 60 minutes of daily physical activity, as well as meet SHAPE America's goal of developing physically literate individuals who have the knowledge, skills and confidence to be physically active for a lifetime. The Activities for Daily…

Within this article, I attend to the slippages among sound, silence, noise, voice and ir/rationality to map out the ways in which white supremacist forces subtly moved with/in a primary classroom (NYC), through a host of bodies and sounds, to reinforce processes of affective assimilation -- or demands for first graders to 'feel white'.…

One way to heighten students' interest in the classroom is by personalising tasks. Through designing Robot Bioglyphs students are able to explore personalised data through a creative and engaging process. By understanding, producing and interpreting data, students are able to develop their statistical literacy, which is an essential skill in…

Thinking Maps is a language of eight visual patterns, each based on a fundamental thought process, designed by Dr. David N. Hyerle. The visual patterns are based on cognitive skills and applied in all content areas. Not only are they used in different combinations for depth and complexity, but are also used by all members in the school community.…

For learners who need sight-word practice, including young students and struggling readers, digital flash cards may promote automatic word recognition when used as a supplemental activity to regular reading instruction. A novel use of common presentation software efficiently supports this practice strategy.

Student aggression and violent behavior, especially among males, is pervasive and problematic in the classroom. When incorporated in the lesson design, promising practices (music, movement, and visual stimulation) are evidence-based strategies that may reduce male aggression in the classroom.

Microbes (by definition) are tiny living things that are only visible through a microscope and include bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protoctists (mainly single-celled life forms such as amoebae and algae). Although people are familiar with the effects of microbes, such as infectious disease and food spoilage, because of their lack of visibility,…

As teachers seek activities to assist students in understanding division as more than just the algorithm, they find many examples of division as fair sharing. However, teachers have few activities to engage students in a quotative (measurement) model of division. Efraim Fischbein and his colleagues (1985) defined two types of whole-number…

In the lesson on which this practical article is based, third grade students constructed a "lift-the-flap" page to explore food webs on the prairie. The moveable papercraft focused student attention on prairie animals' external structures and how the inferred functions of those structures could support further inferences about the…

Monitoring educational development in the early years of schooling is vital if practitioners, and policy makers, are to support students' learning, but the assessment of student achievement in developing countries can be a logistical headache. Maurice Walker reports on an innovative approach to assessment using tablets that is addressing that.