Encourages readers to look at traditional translation activities in a positive and innovative light. A detailed lesson plan is offered, showing how back translation can be exploited with a monolingual class, whether or not the teacher speaks the students' mother tongue. (Author/VWL)

Shows how a common demonstration that consists of slowly heating sulfur powder in a test tube to illustrate sulfur's allotropic modifications can convince students of conclusions about the moon Io which they often find surprising. Describes the demonstration in full. (Author/MM)

Prospective secondary mathematics teachers lack images of "reformed" teaching that engage students in experimenting, analyzing, conjecturing, justifying, and making connections. The development and investigation of experiences fostering reform-oriented teaching are needed. This study investigated microteaching lesson study (MLS), an experience…

School to Career is part of a national initiative to help students make connections between the content, skills, and concepts they are learning in the classroom and careers in the real world. School-to-career practices add relevance to the elementary school curriculum and promote engagement in learning. A key feature of many school-to-career…

For several years, advocacy groups have recognized the need to strengthen financial education in the K-12 schools. Current statistics support their concerns. Financial illiteracy in the United States is astoundingly high. From 1992 to 2000, disposable personal income for Americans rose by 47 percent, but personal spending rose by 61 percent. In…

This article describes a second-grade teacher's attempt to differentiate spelling instruction according to student achievement levels. The article begins by reviewing developmental spelling theory, particularly the stages that relate to first- and second-grade reader/writers. Following is a detailed description of the classroom spelling program,…

This study examined the development of a mathematics teacher's proficiency in managing whole-class discussion in the context of an inquiry-based classroom. We analysed three lessons taught with the same class by a teacher-researcher. The first and second lessons were 10 months apart, the second and third lessons were 6 months apart. For each of…

This lesson helps participants examine their own attitudes and feelings about being faced with an unplanned pregnancy and understand the difficult choices involved when women need to make a decision about unplanned pregnancy. The lesson uses brainstorming, discussion, an examination of "case studies," and role-playing to help participants develop…

The term "sexual health" is often used in sexuality education without any concrete, operational definition, and students are left to ascertain the meaning for themselves. In the absence of a clear definition, students may adopt diverse or narrow understandings of this vague term, without learning the full scope of everything that sexual health…

If one were to search for classroom strategies for English Language Learners (ELLs), it would not take much time to find many different types of activities that are all useful with ELLs. Additionally, if one were to search for social studies strategies to use with native English speakers, he or she would have little difficulty in finding a variety…

Seventh grade students entering South East Junior High in Iowa City come from eight elementary feeder schools, as well as from schools around the world. Their information literacy skills and knowledge of reference sources vary, but since all seventh graders and new eighth graders are required to take one trimester of Visual Studies, all entering…

Information skills instruction is a fundamental and vital part of K-12 education in the 21st century. "The Handy 5", a proven effective model for planning, teaching, and assessing information skills instruction, was written to help library media specialists and teachers to collaborate more effectively in the teaching of information skills. This…

This publication is a curriculum designed to support the training by qualified instructors of K-12 school and district staff about the issues pertaining to the production of high-quality education data. It builds on the "Forum Guide to Building a Culture of Data Quality: A School & District Resource," published by the National Center…

In her previous books, "Literacy Work Stations and Practice with Purpose," Debbie Diller showed teachers how to productively occupy the "rest of the class" while meeting with small groups. Now Debbie turns her attention to the groups themselves and the teacher's role in small-group instruction. "Making the Most of Small Groups" grapples with…

Cell phone coverage areas arouse students' curiosity in a lesson that engages students with area as a measure that relates to, but is different from, linear measure. Each distinct set of activities (stations) blends concepts and skills to align with and transcend state standards. In reflecting on the lesson planning and implementation, we…