Foundation Year children are often excited about learning to read. Some 5- to 6-year-olds with well-developed literacy skills begin to read chapter books. Like older children and adults, they cannot read the whole book in one sitting. The learning experience described in the article provides an example of how the properties of materials…

Primary practitioners are tasked with the simultaneously exciting and daunting task of delivering a breadth of curriculum subjects to primary-age children. This makes the choice of profession a varied and engaging vocation in which no day is the same as the one before. When looking ahead at science medium-term planning, it may seem like a…

This column includes activities inspired by children's literature. This month's issue shows that allowing students to use both photographs and information presented through technology helps them begin to construct an understanding of landforms and bodies of water and use models to describe these concepts. This months trade books are: (1) "Our…

This teaching tip details one teacher's implementation of student-led book talks in her primary-grade classroom. The author describes a simple gradual-release method that she has successfully used with her students in order to get them talking about the books that they are reading independently. She found that when used in the readers' workshop…

This article outlines an integrated STEAM project based on "The One and Only Ivan" by Katherine Applegate (2012). Elementary students focused on real-world, authentic problems presented in this 2013 Newbery Award-winning novel. The novel deals with difficult issues such as the humane treatment of animals, and has a powerful message of…

Nancy White Carlstrom's children's book, "Northern Lullaby," conjures through poetry the beauty of the Alaskan landscape in the evening. The book provides an opportunity for music teachers to help their students transform text and visual images to music. The author describes connections for reading comprehension in the general music…

Vocabulary instruction is a critical component of early language and literacy programs. Vocabulary skills in the early elementary school years are strong predictors of later reading achievement and there is a correlation between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension. Children who have limited vocabulary in kindergarten are at high risk of…

Providing practical guidance and resources, this book helps teachers harness the power of children's literature for developing ELLs' literacy skills and language proficiency. The authors show how carefully selected fiction, nonfiction, and poetry can support students' learning across the curriculum. Criteria and guiding questions are presented for…

The daily challenge of providing comprehensible instruction to English language learners (ELLs) can be daunting. This article discusses how teachers of ELL students may address this challenge and enrich the social studies curriculum for all. The authors begin with an account of a classroom activity that illustrates what can be done by a classroom…

Points out aspects of counting books that may impede learning, notes general and specific criteria for evaluating counting books, and offers an annotated bibliography illustrating the application of criteria. (RH)

Maintains that children's thinking skills can be developed and improved through discussions of children's literature. Provides suggestions of how teachers can help students to develop their thinking through questioning techniques and children's literature. Also presents various teaching strategies involving learning activities that allow students…

The Florida Library Youth Program is an extension of the Florida Summer Library Program and has emerged in response to a need to provide programs for school-age children at times other than the traditional summer vacation. The theme, "Rhythm and Books--Feel the Beat!," focuses on music and rhythms that abound around children in the…

This book suggests ways that children's books can create frames of reference about the related topics of war and peace. It suggests ways that books can be used to start a dialogue between adults and children, to facilitate communication about a subject that causes much anxiety in children. Rather than bibliotherapy, however, the object of this…

The importance of reading in the lives of children demands that teachers, librarians, and parents give careful attention to the selection of books from which children may make their choices. The purpose of this bibliography is to acquaint adults and children with the wide range of interesting subjects and readable styles of literature which are…