Starting from the premise that children learn better when their learning community respects their families and cultures, this thought-provoking resource shows what it means--and what it takes--to include today's diverse parents in their children's learning. Moving readers away from out-of-date practices that can potentially marginalize and devalue…

It is difficult for students who are just being introduced to major geographical concepts to understand how relatively free countries like India or Mali can have such high levels of human rights abuses as child brides, dowry deaths, and domestic violence. Textbooks explain it and video clips show examples, but it still seems surreal to teenagers…

Children living with uncertainty and insecurity often have difficulty focusing on learning. They might demonstrate disrespectful or defiant behaviors, act out, or act with aggression. As an educator, you may provide the only stability in their otherwise turbulent world. "Making It Better" explains trauma-­informed education, an approach…

Issues regarding sexuality are often little discussed in high schools serving students from religiously conservative backgrounds. Frequently, parents and school administrators are uncomfortable with, and reluctant to discuss the topic, and as a result students have inadequate opportunities to engage in discussions about sex and relationships. This…

Perhaps the most well known treatment modalities in the field of prevention and treatment of addiction are groups. Group settings serve to bring individuals with addictions together at one time in one place to work on relevant issues together. Groups may serve as a safe environment for learning new social and relationship skills, gaining…

Explores the principles and challenges of implementing a democratic classroom. Suggests real-life activities, offers educational guidelines, and outlines the role of facilitators. (JOW)

Research shows that stress in the crucial early years of a child's life can pose dramatic, lasting challenges to development, learning, and behavior. This is the practical book early childhood professionals need to recognize stress in young children--and intervene with proven relief strategies before pressures turn into big problems. Developed by…

Discusses what multicultural empowerment means and why it should play a major role in educating middle-school students; how elements of multicultural empowerment can be incorporated into middle-school social studies; and how drama pedagogy can be used to integrate middle-school multicultural education and social studies, outlining a progression of…

Shares examples of explicit teacher talk to demonstrate its influence on learners: encouraging positive reading behaviors, thinking metacognitively, and using meaning as well as sounding out words. Describes teacher talk that (1) promotes struggling readers' understandings and control in reading; and (2) that empowers novice teachers and thus…

This document is a guide for teachers to integrate civic values and service learning into their social studies classes. The curriculum includes 17 ready-to-use lessons that can be adapted to United States history, government, or civics classes. A vital part of the unit is a group project in which students identify a real political problem,…

Observations of open-ended activities in third- and fourth-grade classes identified six characteristics of such activities that can empower teachers and students. These include establishment of activity boundaries, importance of the teacher, risk-taking for teachers and students, negotiation of responsibilities, extended time frameworks, and…

This book was designed with activities for children in kindergarten through sixth grade. The activities are designed to increase student awareness about the environment and its protection. The book presents basic concepts and several perspectives on environmental issues. Each section contains numerous activities. Section titles include: (1)…

This facilitator's guide and participant packet were designed to teach women how the U.S. economic system works and were developed by a coalition of more than 40 national religious groups working toward economic justice for women. The facilitator's guide consists of a section explaining the coalition, a section on the development of the materials…

Employs Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, "The Nightingale," and the many lessons within it to help music educators design learning experiences that foster the development of musical expression. Conveys that without musical expression students' music will be mechanical, not unique and meaningful. (CMK)

The Empowering Learners Project, a collaborative effort of five United Way agencies in the St. Paul (Minnesota) area, produced this manual to outline some strategies for assisting English-as-a-Second-Language learners in becoming effective learners and critical thinkers. Ideas in the manual came from project agencies and research in critical…