Music education in the United States aims to be for every child, yet many students become less interested in school music as they mature. Although previous research reveals activities that upper-elementary students may prefer, much of this research may not represent 21st-century students, the instruments and activities that have enhanced curricula…

For students to develop adequate conceptual understanding about fractions, they require experiences that afford them opportunities to think flexibly about multiple interpretations of fractions. This article presents a sequence of lessons designed to offer such experiences for students in Years 3 and Year 4. The lessons adopt a challenging tasks…

The activity presented in this article is an engaging engineering challenge that has been conducted with third- through fifth-grade students in school classrooms and during after-school programs. This article describes the hands-on activity as appropriate for fifth graders that supports the "Next Generation Science Standards." This…

Design thinking--a human-centered approach to problem solving--is a process by which K-12 teachers engage students in solving relevant issues that occur in their schools. In this article, the authors describe a project in which fourth-graders used design thinking to solve an unexpected issue related to a much-anticipated class project. The project…

This article models the integration of social studies and language arts commonly used in elementary classrooms by using a text that incorporates straightforward social studies content in the context of the daily experiences of a Chinese family in the U.S. The authors illustrate how to use the award-winning novel, Front Desk by Kelly Yang, with…

Problem-based learning (PBL) instruction tasks students with solving a real-world, relevant problem and provides a motivating context for learning science content. It also affords a natural opportunity for students to intentionally engage in a variety of engineering practices and components of engineering design if the problem scenario…

Reinhart's (2000) article "Never Say Anything a Kid Can Say!" shared the lessons he learned as he journeyed from a teacher-centered model of instruction to one that puts students at the center of the teaching and learning process. Within his narrative, he itemized the strategies he used and learned from, balanced recommendations with…

This article illustrates how two fourth-grade bilingual teachers transformed their writing instruction for bi/multilingual learners by integrating a functional approach to language and literacy teaching and learning. The authors use a systemic functional linguistics genre pedagogy to explore and elucidate the teachers' innovative instructional…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the largest continuing and nationally representative assessment of what students in public and private schools know and can do in various subjects. First administered in 1969, NAEP collects and reports information on student trends and performance and compares the achievement of students in…

In grade 3, students are expected to be able to represent a fraction on a number line by first identifying the interval from 0 to 1 as the unit and by partitioning the unit as needed on the basis of the denominator. This task extends these grade 3 fraction goals stated in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (NGA Center and CCSSO 2010)…

Over the past 25 years, research and practical experience have supported investments in strategies to encourage all students to behave according to agreed-upon expectations. In collaboration with expert panelists, the What Works Clearinghouse™ (WWC) distilled that research into practical recommendations for elementary educators. The…

Students succeed in school environments that support them in demonstrating prosocial and positive behavior. Student behaviors that disrupt or distract from classroom instruction can result in fewer learning opportunities for students and decreased likelihood of academic success. Behavioral interventions can help students engage in positive…

In this article, the author shares the Menu Writing project, designed to promote a meaningful, real-world connection to mathematics with the lives of students. The rationale for developing this project was two-fold: (1) to connect school mathematics to students' lived experiences to encourage and sustain students' interest, motivation, and…

Effective teachers understand the importance of asking the right kind of questions to facilitate the learning of all their students. By learning what questions to ask and when, teachers can engage their students in instruction that aligns to the vision of the "Next Generation Science Standards" (Benedict-Chambers et al. 2017; NGSS Lead…

Teaching ethics in elementary science may seem abstract or simply another topic to add to an already rigorous curriculum. However, it is an integral part of science and engineering instruction and a natural extension of what elementary educators do every day. Teachers help students develop ethical practices or "habits of mind" when they:…