Comprehensive and evidence-based, Structured Literacy (SL) approaches place a high value on explicit, systematic, and sequential instruction. This book brings together leading experts on key components of literacy to help K-6 teachers design and target SL interventions for particular student profiles. Chapters identify effective features of…

A key motivational tactic in undergraduate mathematics teaching is to launch topics with fundamental questions that originate from surprising or remarkable phenomena. Nonetheless, constructing a sequence of tasks that promotes students' own routes to resolving such questions is challenging. This note aims to address this challenge in two ways.…

Twenty years ago when the author was student teaching, he quickly learned what geometry teachers and researchers (e.g., Senk 1985) have long known: High school geometry students struggle with proof. Throughout his career, he has tried to create instructional materials to make proof more accessible to his students. From field-testing materials with…

Teaching the acoustic properties of materials is a good way to teach physics concepts, extending them into the technological arena related to materials science. This article describes an innovative approach for teaching sound and acoustics in combination with sound insulating materials in secondary school (15-16-year-old students). Concerning the…

This report summarizes recommendations from NCTM, NRC, CCSSM, NMAP, and IES to guide early numeracy instruction for elementary age students in general and special education classroom settings. We highlight common threads among general and special education research recommendations and provide a numeracy intervention curriculum model connecting…

In an activity sequence that took place over several days, the class learned about sound and how people hear sounds. Following each activity, students engaged in whole-group sharing sessions and individual journal-writing sessions that were designed to help them see the patterns that emerged from their explorations. The activities were carefully…

A variety of excellent method books aim to help student musicians develop skills in music reading and instrumental technique, but sometimes the best approach is not simply to move ahead line by line through the book. Rather, teachers will find it beneficial to consider apposite strategies to be used before, during, and after rehearsing a line so…

The premise underlying this article is that identifying and using the "five practices model" can make discussions of cognitively challenging tasks more manageable for teachers. By giving teachers a roadmap that they can follow before and during whole-class discussions, these practices have the potential for helping teachers more effectively…

Traditional education, employing lectures or telecommunicative instruction methods, has been very effective in providing topical facts. However, the development of student skills and thinking ability require higher levels of instruction and more opportunity to practice and apply acquired knowledge. As students progress through a particular…

If you are interested in using sequential art forms such as comic books in your EFL classroom, this article is full of helpful advice. Reading sequential art is beneficial because students can work with authentic texts with real language and graphic support. Students can also apply research and cultural knowledge to the creation of their own…

Presents a developmental approach to teaching programing at all educational levels which stresses concepts rather than syntax; provides motivation, relevant examples, and activities; proceeds from concrete to pictorial to abstract according to age and experience of learners; and utilizes increasingly complex activities building upon and extending…

The whole clock method of time instruction is useful for children with mild to severe developmental disabilities. It presents time telling in a sequential manner that helps students generalize about and see the continuity of time. They learn to tell hours, then each five-minute interval sequentially around the clock face. (VW)

The study compared two methods of teaching an initial place value skill: a concrete, semiconcrete, abstract teaching sequence and an abstract-only presentation. Learning-disabled elementary and middle school students (N=24) using the concrete to abstract teaching sequence performed significantly better on three posttests than students taught the…

The Suzuki talent education method, which combines sequential learning with continual review, is described. The method can be used in developing high levels of musical awareness, technical skill, and artistry in extremely young performers from very different backgrounds. How teachers of choral music might use it is discussed. (RM)

Structuring the algebra course to provide a link between a student's existing knowledge and the new topic being presented is discussed. Developing relationships among topics is suggested through examples describing a mathematical problem and effective teaching approaches. Stress is placed on teachers reflecting on mistakes pupils are likely to…