The focus of the article is on the ideal of using dialogue to promote contact between school and home. The aim was to explore this ideal by taking into account both an observed interaction session and how the participants perceive this interaction. The study draws on data from observation of a meeting about a pupil with special needs and his…

This article reports the results of a one-year longitudinal study examining a teaching intervention designed to enhance students' learning of critical thinking in Hong Kong. Seventy participating students (age 16-18) learned how to make reasoned arguments through a series of collaborative activities, including critical-thinking modelling tasks and…

Because of the "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS"), all of Emily Miller, Hedi Baxter Lauffer, and Paula Messina's students needed to learn the practice of scientific argumentation within the context of sense-making about core ideas in science. The goal, to meet the "NGSS," enabled them to simultaneously…

This case study explored how students disaffected with their school experience were scaffolded during their participation in a middle-school mathematics classroom. Of particular interest were the level of student engagement in discussion about the mathematics being presented by the teacher and the approach to doing mathematics being displayed by…

Previous research within the field of argumentation has established that argumentation plays an important role in a variety of professions. Written argumentation has been extensively explored and investigated to examine its various aspects, including argument structures and schemes, argumentative strength, the role of audience, the evaluation of…

When it comes to academic work, students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often have the required knowledge but struggle to get their thoughts down in writing. This is a practical guide to teaching and improving writing skills in students with ASD to meet academic writing standards and prepare for the increased expectations of higher education.…

Although the Common Core and C3 Framework highlight literacy and inquiry as central goals for social studies, they do not offer guidelines, assessments, or curriculum resources. This practical guide presents six research-tested historical investigations along with all corresponding teaching materials and tools that have improved the historical…

Although the Common Core state standards' goal of ensuring that every student leaves high school prepared to meet the demands of college and career is laudable, it's daunting for teachers who serve English language learners. The authors, educators at a private bilingual school in Mexico, describe how they used short excerpts of longer works giving…

This article describes a special third-grade classroom unit based on the reality show "Survivor." The goal of this engaging and interactive unit was to teach students about physical and behavioral adaptations that help animals survive in various desert biomes. The activity combines research, argument, and puppet play over one week of…

A qualitative exploratory study was conducted to reveal students' argumentation skills in the context of the topic of evolution. Transcripts from problem-centred interviews on secondary students' beliefs about evolutionary processes of adaptation were analysed using a content analysis approach. For this purpose two categorical systems were…

We studied the performance in three genres of Chinese written composition (narration, exposition, and argumentation) of 158 grade 4, 5, and 6 poor Chinese text comprehenders compared with 156 good Chinese text comprehenders. We examined text comprehension and written composition relationship. Verbal working memory (verbal span working memory and…

Recent curriculum recommendation call for mathematical argumentation to play a significantly greater role in U. S. mathematics instruction at all grade levels, including the elementary grades. To better understand how preservice elementary teachers (PTs) enrolled in a one-semester course emphasizing mathematical argumentation might become better…

While tolerance is the supposed standard of the first-year composition classroom, the writing patterns and argumentation skills of self-identified Christian students often frustrate teachers and create classroom dissonance and interpersonal divergence. This work looks at what apologetic and devotional texts these students are reading before they…

Recent policy initiatives indicate that students should develop expertise in constructing viable arguments, engage in meaningful mathematical tasks, and strategically use appropriate tools, including technology. However, little research has been conducted that specifically examines the interplay between these three activities. The purpose of this…

This study investigated how the scientific competencies advocated by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) could be improved by using online argumentation. An online argumentation system served as an aid for argumentation instruction and activities among students during the experiment. Seventy-one 10th grade high school…