Mantle of the Expert is a form of inquiry learning developed by Dorothy Heathcote that includes drama for learning--so it's active, embodied, imaginative, and aesthetic. It's agentic in that it positions learners as responsible, competent co-constructors of meaning and allows them powers to influence, make decisions, and grapple with complex…

The use of online platform to conduct teaching and learning activities has becoming a new norm for teachers and students during this COVID-19 outbreak. In this commentary, we share our experiences of using online conferencing platform to promote active and interactive learning among students. We also suggest approaches that teachers can use to…

This article presents a protocol for utilizing conferring strategies for reading conferences with English Language Learners (ELLs) as a means to support their reading comprehension skills and develop content area vocabulary in middle level education. The Conferring with English Language Learners (CELL) Protocol emphasizes ELLs' conversational…

In this fully revised and expanded third edition of the bestselling "Reciprocal Teaching at Work," Lori D. Oczkus provides both tried-and-true and fresh solutions for teaching reading comprehension. Reciprocal teaching is a scaffolded discussion technique that builds on the Fab Four strategies that good readers use to understand text:…

The ability to read independently is essential for success in high school, college, and most careers. Students with disabilities must be able to comprehend literally and inferentially to meet the demands of the general education curriculum and navigate the complex political, social, and economic environment of the 21st century (King- Sears &…

Reciprocal teaching is a researched-based technique that utilizes the comprehension strategies of predicting, clarifying, questioning, and summarizing. This article provides methods of incorporating characters, props, and visual and hands-on tools to encourage and motivate students to learn through reciprocal teaching. Teachers are given…

Over the course of one year in a first-grade classroom, English learners (ELs) used several literacy practices to construct meaning from expository text. The teacher modeling, guided practice, and independent use of the five most frequent practices are explained in detail, with accompanying photographs of student work. The author describes how…

Task cards are instructional tools that combine a picture of a skill with written instructions about how to perform the skill. This article provides practical guidelines for developing research-based task cards for use in physical education classes. Fitness-related motor skills are used as examples to clarify design principles for task cards. The…

Reading Improvement Through Art (RITA) program is an interdisciplinary approach to literacy that blends visual art with reading comprehension, evaluated in nine New York City urban high schools. 240 problem readers participating in the pilot program were pre- and post-tested in the Fall 1975 and Spring 1976 semesters. The testing showed the 9th…

Since the National Reading Panel presented its 2000 report, systematic and explicit strategy instruction has been featured in the scope and sequence chart of basals, the lesson plans of guided reading groups, and the headlines of workshop brochures. Sticky note responses have become a classroom staple, and teacher read-alouds are now synonymous…

Despite over 25 years of research supporting the instruction of comprehension strategies, it seems that such instruction is not readily found in many classrooms or basal readers, resulting in students that struggle with analyzing and comprehending text. This is particularly true in the primary grades. Originally designed with seventh grade…

Best-selling author Marcia L. Tate brings her trademark "dendrite-growing" teaching strategies to this practitioner-friendly collection of brain-compatible methods for engaging K-12 students in social studies. Included are 20 proven strategies and more than 200 grade-leveled activities for applying them. Teachers will find concrete ways to…

A growing research base on adolescent literacy supports an emphasis on direct instruction in the reading and writing skills needed to perform these more complex literacy tasks. However, many middle and high school teachers have little or no preparation for teaching these skills within their content-area disciplines and have few resources upon…