We report on an action research project aimed at developing oral communication in first-graders, using songs as a strategy for young learners to use and enjoy English. It was developed at a Colombian public school over three months. The teacher-researchers attempted to encourage students using simple and amusing songs to help them learn new…

When a college professor who teaches research methods to graduate education students was approached by a local public urban elementary school to help them teach research skills to 4th-graders, it was thought that the process would be simple--take what we did at the college level and differentiate it for the childhood classroom. This article will…

The best way for students to learn to read and to come to love reading is--surprise, surprise--by reading in quantity. Unfortunately, many of today's students read far too little. This lack of time spent reading is particularly unfortunate, as reading constitutes a bedrock skill, essential in all subject areas. Thus, we teachers need to devote…

As any contemporary teacher knows, credit and credibility are showered on those who engage in research-based practices. And not just any research. It must be tied to a study with a large enough number of participants; a clear intervention; control and experimental groups; results that can be scaled up and replicated... Wait! Is this the only kind…

The author combines a literature review with a theoretical analysis of the interface between teacher researchers and Institutional Review Boards in higher education. Maintaining that teacher researchers are "creators of knowledge" (Castle, 2006, p. 2), the article explores the lack of fit between insider research with an emic design and the…

Establishing a communication-rich classroom can be difficult. This article describes the process and findings of a practitioner action research study addressing the question of how teachers can interact with their students while they are working in groups to encourage and enhance student-to-student communication. Recommended research-based teacher…

Written for pre- and in-service educators, this "Third Edition" of Craig A. Mertler's "Action Research: Improving Schools and Empowering Educators" introduces the process of conducting one's own classroom- or school-based action research in conjunction with everyday instructional practices and activities. The text provides educators with the…

This paper reports on an innovative and action research project which focused on the use of the dictionary and the prior knowledge of Colombian high school students to improve their reading comprehension of short scientific texts. Data collection instruments included students' work gathered during two workshops, field notes, and a questionnaire.…

This article discusses the role of culture in language teaching and provides activities for introducing culture in the classroom, focusing on teaching context and methodology to integrate culture. The authors outline five activities that can be adapted to the language level and interests of students. Instructions for each activity include language…

"Understanding the Montessori Approach" is a much needed source of information for those wishing to extend and consolidate their understanding of the Montessori Approach and how it is used in the teaching and learning of young children. It will enable the reader to analyse the essential elements of this Approach to early childhood and and its…

This classroom narrative describes the transformation of one beginning English/language arts (ELA) teacher's perspective and practice as the teacher enacted multimodal inquiry activities that were the focus of both traditional and action research projects. Drawing on field notes, transcripts of classroom discourse, and student-produced artefacts,…

Curriculum top study (CTS) action research is a specific type of inquiry that combines curriculum topic study (Keeley 2005) with an examination of students' thinking using formative assessment probes (Keeley, Eberle, and Farrin 2005; Keeley, Eberle, and Tugel 2007; Keeley, Eberle, and Dorsey 2008; Keeley and Tugel 2009) and a variety of…

This action research report follows the journey of four elementary school teachers as they learn to define and ask "deeper" or meaningful mathematical questions in their teachings. It chronicles the way that teaching through problem solving and developing criteria for questioning increased the percentage of "deeper" questions…

To tackle the complexity of issues associated with homelessness, an interdisciplinary lens with direct input from service providers and community members is necessary. Within a community-university partnership between a larger inner-city multiservice shelter serving the homeless population, and faculties of social work and nursing in a Canadian…

Working with evidence is a fundamental part of scientific enquiry. Children should be taught to consider evidence and evaluate it. They should make simple comparisons, comparing what happened with what they expected to happen, and try to explain what happened through drawing on their knowledge and understanding. In this article, the author…