This article models how to plan and facilitate implementing the same task in two sixth-grade classrooms with two different learning goals using the Five Practices structure.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if a statistically significant difference existed in student growth and proficiency scores between students receiving gamified math instruction compared to those receiving non-gamified math instruction in a suburban middle school in Tennessee. This investigation is based on the theoretical…

Adolescence is a critical time period when it comes to fostering lifelong interest and practices in reading, yet a decreasing number of middle school students are performing at Proficient and Advanced levels in reading. The purpose of this study was to examine whether providing middle school students with an increased level of choice in their…

This article introduces a range of ways to engage students in microscopy, from investigating water droplet lenses to using low-cost, highly adaptable instruments that can be extremely effective inside and outside the classroom.

The association or relationship between two variables, also known as covariation, has been identified as one of the fundamental statistical concepts. This article details a statistical investigation that was used to informally introduce Grade 6 students to this concept.

Neil Bates and Robert Bowry have chosen to tackle the issue of curriculum coherence by including local history, both as starting point for new students joining the school in Year 7 and as a golden thread running throughout their Key Stage 3 curriculum. In this article they explain the rationale for their plans, focusing not only on the powerful…

How can students achieve an understanding of multiplication that allows them to go beyond recall to explain their thinking? Author and mathematics education professor Juli Dixon introduces a program that teachers can seamlessly integrate into existing mathematics instruction. Learn six tactics to help you shift from an anxiety-producing,…

We present a Scratch task we designed and implemented for teaching and learning coordinates in a dynamic and engaging way. We use the 5Es framework to describe the students' interactions with the task and offer suggestions of how other teachers may adopt it to successfully implement Scratch tasks.

In this article, James presents the Extended Hundreds Chart, a task he used with Year 6 students to explore their thinking about and representations of negative numbers.

No two students in grades 4-8 are identical, and many struggle with literacy for different reasons. Using a teacher-friendly, hands-on approach, this eminently practical book walks educators through the nuts and bolts of literacy intervention in the middle grades. Highlights include "North Star" principles to orient instruction, an…

In this study, the effect of teaching based on the 5E instructional model on students' conceptual learning was investigated. The participants consisted of three inclusion students with mild mental disabilities who were studying in the sixth grade of a secondary school. A lesson plan based on the 5E teaching model was designed, focusing on the…

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…

Students need to be actively engaged to learn--intellectually curious, physically active, and emotionally involved in collaborative work that builds their capacity for empathy. What can teachers do to instill these elements in the classroom? "Active Learning: 40 Teaching Methods to Engage Students in Every Class and Every Subject" is the…

A Concept-Based Curriculum is designed to help students uncover important, transferable understandings about what it means to be a capable reader, writer, speaker, viewer, listener, and thinker. But, too often, a well-designed, conceptual curriculum does not translate into conceptual teaching. "Concept Based Literacy Lessons" helps…

In this article, the authors introduce ways to use disciplinary literacy (DL) instructional strategies to foster civic engagement and reasoning for middle-grade multilingual students. Four phases of DL strategies--"framing," "reading," "discussion," and "writing"--are illustrated with examples from an…