In an urban elementary school serving predominantly White and Latinx students, the second-grade teachers created an assignment that asked students to share how their families migrated to the United States. The mother of a Black student met with the teacher to discuss her discomfort with the assignment given that their family descended from…

Among different transitions that happen in a young person's life, transition to adulthood can be one of the most challenging. The new post-school environment requires increased self-determination, including self-awareness, self-advocacy, self-management, and other important skills that help one function as an independent adult. Because it takes…

This article describes a classroom activity developed by two teacher educators to support pre-service teachers in integrating culturally responsive teaching practices with reading methods instruction. The activity tasks pre-service teachers to select culturally authentic children's texts and design read-alouds that engage elementary students in…

As an instructional framework, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can guide science teachers to purposefully apply evidence-based instructional practices to increase engagement and learning of students with disabilities (Israel, Ribuffo, and Smith 2014; Marino et al. 2014; Ok et al. 2016). This article describes how to use the Universal Design…

Local teachers have been working with their colleagues and math coach for years on ensuring that oral discourse during their mathematics classes has them acting as a facilitator and allowing students themselves to make sense of the mathematics. Specifically, their discussions are aimed at having students reason mathematically because discourse and…

How do teachers identify the potential for greater depth writing and encourage children to meet their full potential? This book was created by people who are not only passionate about primary education, but who are also leading experts in their own particular areas. They have made use of their wide experience to offer practical guidance on greater…

This case examines a rural teaching principal in a small K-12 school in a prairie province. The case examines the work intensification of Mrs. Hayes, whose school has been affected by reductions in student enrolment, staffing, and administrative time. Overwhelmed by myriad responsibilities, the principal feels inadequate as both a teacher and a…

In Australia, the Federal Government and the Australian Academy of Science have developed a programme entitled "Primary Connections" (primaryconnections.org. au), aimed at supporting the teaching of science in the primary sector. The programme makes strong and explicit links between science and literacy through the use of word walls,…

This practical resource emphasizes the special contribution that visual art, drama, music, and dance can make to student literacy and understanding of content-area reading assignments. Focusing on those areas where students tend to struggle, this book helps K-5 teachers provide an age-appropriate curriculum that is accessible to an increasingly…

Teachers strive to design instruction that actively engages all students, but a few "back-benchers" often seem to be left out, due to academic struggles, English language skills, personal disinterest, or other factors. Teachers seek to help these students develop into "active and engaged participants" in their classrooms in…

Supporting upper elementary students' higher level (i.e., analytic) thinking about texts in writing is a challenge for many teachers, in large part because what it means to analyze text is not well defined and because this skill is a relatively new expectation in elementary grades. In this article, the authors clarify the goal of three common…

Research shows that cognitively demanding text-based writing assignments increase students' reading comprehension skills and analytic writing competencies. In this article, we describe the steps that upper-elementary grade teachers can take to develop cognitively demanding assignments that build these higher-level literacy skills and put students…

Children entering kindergarten and grade 1 vary greatly in their emergent literacy skills. Because preschool teachers can help set the foundation of literacy skills related to school readiness, one way to address those gaps is to build teachers' capacity to apply evidence-based strategies in their language and literacy instruction.…

An early foundation in writing offers students a valuable tool for learning, communication, and self-expression. Authored by a panel of experts, the "Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective Writers" practice guide presents four recommendations educators can use to help elementary students strengthen their writing skills. The…

Instructional tips help educators carry out recommendations contained in IES Educator's Practice Guides. The tips, based on a practice guide authored by Steve Graham, Alisha Bollinger, Carol Booth Olson, Catherine D'Aoust, Charles MacArthur, Deborah McCutchen, and Natalie Olinghouse, translate these recommendations into actionable approaches that…