This paper presents a novel approach to teaching how vaccines work in the body, and introduces a community outreach project and activity we piloted with youth. Our Nuestra Ciencia program addresses scientific misconceptions among bilingual elementary school children in engaging and scientifically accurate ways. Utilizing analogies and…

Science education should help children acquire sophisticated understandings about science, how it is done, and how they can be scientists. Consequently, there is a need to explore how minoritized children's linguistic and cultural resources can be employed in the science classroom. This study examined how perceptions of science teaching and…

Many students, especially English language learners (ELLs), struggle when they write. This study examined the various writing strategies 3 Spanish-speaking bilingual student teachers used to help their elementary school ELL students write. This was a case study that looked at how these student teachers used their primary language, among other…

Historically, the teaching of literacy in American classrooms has been "restricted to formalized, monolingual, monocultural and ruled-governed forms of language" (The New London Group, 1996, p. 60-61) which disproportionately negatively affects bilingual children of color. In this case study we aimed to understand how bilingual second…

This study examined the school memories of a cohort of bilingual pre-service teachers who experienced school as English Learners. As part of a course assignment, participants described a memory from elementary school and later used that memory to reflect on its future impact on their teaching. Data were inductively analyzed, and themes were…

In this article, the author suggests that children's natural inclination to explore nature, or biophilia, can be explored as a factor that encourages both cognitive engagement and language development. The author summarizes the types of scientific inquiries that bilingual elementary students and their university partners engaged in when guided to…

This paper analyzes the work developed with a group of Latina mothers in a mathematics afterschool program for a period of 3 ½ years. The analysis of the productive patterns of interaction of this group of mothers with a group of bilingual participants shows that the program's participation and activity structure closely determines the quality of…

In teacher preparation programs across the United States, early field experiences are considered to be an effective method of providing teacher candidates with opportunities to observe and interact with children (National Council for Accreditation for Teacher Education (NCATE, 2010). These practicum arrangements assist candidates in developing…

The ability to express meaning in prose is a foundational skill in our society. Given the importance of being a competent writer, concern with the quality of writing instruction is a recurring theme among American educators (Cutler & Graham, 2008; Gilbert & Graham, 2010; National Commission on Writing, 2003, 2004, 2006). Research shows…

In this unique collaboration, the authors bring to life the theory of mediated learning. Through numerous examples and scenarios from classrooms and museums, they show how mediated learning helps children to become more effective learners. Readers learn the steps in the process, including analyzing the child's problem, teaching the child to focus…

To date the authors have completed 23 studies of knowledge monitoring and its relationship to learning from instruction. Their earlier work, 12 studies in all, is summarized and reported elsewhere (see Tobias and Everson, 1996; Tobias and Everson, 2000). In this paper they continue this line of research and summarize the results of 11 studies that…