The COVID-19 pandemic has affected student learning; according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (2022), scores for students in the United States have shown a decline in mathematics. . One way educators can strengthen students' current mathematical knowledge and bridge to new content is through Number Talks. Number Talks are brief…

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…

What makes a productive mathematics discussion? Who does the talking? Whose ideas are taken up? Can a student question take the lesson in an unexpected but valuable direction? What does it mean to be responsive to students' mathematical thinking? These questions intrigued the authors as teachers, teacher educators, and researchers, and they…

First-grader students engaged in a guided historical inquiry about Abraham Lincoln. The teacher carefully intertwined historical content, close reading, critical thinking, and text-based writing during Reading, Writing, and Social Studies classes. Students scrutinized secondary sources, which were largely biographies of Lincoln, to build their…

When the author encountered the C3 Framework, she saw an opportunity to develop a different approach that she hoped would encourage all her students to reach their highest potential. The approach she created--The Deliberative Classroom--has pushed her as much as it has pushed her students. The benefits have been powerful: better academic…

We summarize the argumentative theory of reasoning, which claims that the main function of reasoning is to argue. In this theory, argumentation is seen as being essentially cooperative (people have to listen to others' arguments and be ready to change their mind) but with an adversarial dimension (their goal as argument producers is to convince).…

A Number Talk is a brief activity (10-15 minutes in length) that is designed to support students' mathematical sense making and promote flexible thinking. During a Number Talk, students engage in mental computations. Number Talks help students do the following: (1) Develop number sense focused on making sense of quantity and mathematical…

The design and implementation of questioning, specifically in regards towards a higher level of thinking, is a common practice in many secondary social science classrooms (Bickmore & Parker, 2012). Questioning can help the teacher develop critical thinking concepts, scaffold discussions, and prod students towards an elevated level of cognition…

Paideia Seminar is a method for facilitating Socratic discussions about different types of texts, whether they be texts in the literal sense of the word or any other object that represents ideas or values. In this article, we describe how teachers can implement Paideia Seminar to spark deep thinking and rich discussion among early elementary…

Kentucky's elementary social studies curriculum includes introductory knowledge in state and national history, providing an opportunity for teachers to include instruction on the influence of slavery on society before and after the Civil War, and sometimes on current events. For example, following the violent events in 2017 in Charlottesville,…

The group work test is an assessment strategy that promotes higher-order thinking skills for solving context-rich problems. With this format, teachers are able to pose challenging, nuanced questions on a test, while providing the support weaker students need to get started and show their understanding. The test begins with a group discussion…

The modernization of higher education and the transition to the new Federal Education Standards require a higher quality training of the graduates. The training of highly qualified specialists must meet strict requirements: a high level of professional competence, the developed communication skills, the ability to predict the results of one's own…

The mean can be interpreted as a fair-share value and as a balance point. Standards documents, including Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) (CCSSI 2010), suggest focusing on both interpretations. In this article, the authors propose a sequence of five activities to help students develop these understandings of the mean, and they…

The content of most MBA capstone strategic management courses emphasizes general management theory and analytical skill development. Additionally, the design of the capstone is often tasked with providing practical application, integrative thinking, and experiential learning. A common critique of the capstone, however, is its insufficient delivery…

This article highlights an inquiry project in an eighth-grade ELA class in a rural middle school. Using the novel "Monster" by Walter Dean Myers, we encouraged students to form questions relating the text to the larger world. To begin the unit, students participated in three anchor activities over a three-week period. Students blogged…