Developing content knowledge in teachers presents a constant challenge for teacher educators. This article introduces a teaching and assessment tool called a "content map," which allows teacher educators, teachers, and coaches to conceptualize the scope, sequence, and relational characteristics of the content being taught. Content maps…

Exploring controversial and difficult events and issues with young children can be challenging. The Civil Rights Movement is an abstract, perhaps remote, issue for young children today. However, it is an important part of our country's history and a theme worthy of study. This article suggests ways to use photographs to explore this mature subject…

In practice, in the classroom, teachers are still faced with the issue of what to say to children if they believe that evolution conflicts with their own or other people's religious faith. When asked how they plan to respond, most teacher trainees and teachers respond that they will be a neutral chair and try to give children a balanced view.…

This article introduces a new course in the Virginia Community College System English Curriculum, "English 114: Scientific Writing." The article briefly reviews the concept of "science rhetoric," then discusses the intended audience and purpose of the course, and explains the basic goals of the course in relation to the…

Five years ago, Diana Hess was teaching a graduate seminar called "Democratic Education." The purpose of the seminar was to critically analyze two seemingly simple, but actually very complex, questions: What is democracy? What is democratic education? Both are contested concepts, and the seminar was designed to help students understand…

Conversations about race can be confusing, contentious, and frightening, particularly for White people. Even just asking questions about race can be scary, because we are afraid of what our questions might reveal about our ignorance or bias. "Raising Race Questions" invites teachers to use inquiry as a way to develop sustained engagement…

A survey of faculty teaching the chemical reaction engineering course or sequence during the 2009-2010 academic year at chemical engineering programs in the United States and Canada reveals change in terms of content, timing, and approaches to teaching. The report consists of two parts: first, a statistical and demographic characterization of the…

The history of science illustrates some exciting--and sometimes controversial--moments. Unfortunately, textbooks tend to focus on results in a scientific discipline and only occasionally showcase an interesting historical vignette, telling the story behind those results. Although required studies may leave teachers little classroom time for…

Far more than just recreation, baseball offers social, cultural, and political insights into history. For teachers, the goals of this article are threefold. First, this narrative is designed to provide the introductory content knowledge needed to develop a colorful lecture, structure a spirited discussion, or create a student project on the topic.…

The authors of this article examine several controversial U.S. monuments and offer teachers a rationale, resources, and suggested activities for incorporating these historical monuments into classroom instruction. The authors discuss why controversial issues should be discussed in the social studies classroom through the critical examination of…

In the DISCUSS (Dialogic Inquiry for Socioscientific and Conceptual Understanding in School Science) research project, a Socioscientific Issues (SSI)-based curriculum is developed and implemented in sixth-grade science classrooms with predominantly English language learners (ELLs) in Houston, Texas. A four-week space unit is designed in…

Schools throughout the United States provide instruction on democracy, voting, and major institutions of government, but often excluded from the curriculum is a central reality of our political system: the role of money in elections. This article provides background information and pedagogical strategies to help teachers foster productive…

This article represents background material that can be used e along with the "United States v. Windsor" case to teach Constitutional Law (particularly federalism, due process, and equal protection) and the legal debate surrounding same-sex marriage in America. Professors may assign it as background reading before or after a…

Readers of the draft new English primary science curriculum (DfE, 2012) might be concerned to see that there is much more detail on the Earth science content than previously in the United Kingdom. In this article, Chris King, a professor of Earth Science Education at Keele University and Director of the Earth Science Education Unit (ESEU),…

DelliCarpini and Alonso's book "Content-Based Instruction" explores different approaches to teaching content-based instruction (CBI) in the English language classroom. They provide a comprehensive overview of how to teach CBI in an easy-to-follow guide that language teachers will find very practical for their own contexts. Topics…