A Texas librarian shares his strategy of using nonfiction picture books to introduce new concepts to struggling adolescent readers and to build their background knowledge. Once students have been exposed to academic content in easy reading material, they are more confident in making the transition to textbooks.

Copying definitions from the dictionary and memorizing words for tests is not sufficient work for students to master and retain new vocabulary. This article helps teachers choose which words are most important to teach and suggests strategies to bring those words to life for students.

Each of us, every day, has to contend with multiple messages or texts-in the news, over the Internet, in our workplace, in books, and in conversation. Making sense of these sometimes conflicting messages is critical. But without being explicitly taught how to do so, students can have trouble synthesizing multiple texts-gathering facts without keeping an eye toward the different perspective of each. This Learning Point Associates article offers a case study and guidelines for using multiple texts in the classroom to increase the critical thinking and academic sophistication of older students.

Knowing how to engage in signature scientific acts, such as formulating questions and using evidence in arguments is an important part of science learning. This InfoBrief from the National Center for Technology Innovation offers more information about using technology to support struggling students.

In an increasingly complex world, all students need to be scientifically literate. While some students may go on to pursue advanced careers in the sciences, basic scientific literacy is critical for all students.

Science learning often involves creating abstract representations and models of processes that we are unable to observe with the naked eye. Learn more about visualizing, representing, and modeling to aid struggling learners.

To be scientifically literate, students must be able to express themselves appropriately. Learn how to help struggling students master specific vocabulary and be able to use it in their science writing activities.

This is a collection of four videos about teaching vocabulary. The first is a principal discussing a school-wide approach to vocabulary improvement; the second is a director of the academic English at the University of California discussing academic vocabulary and strategies to teach it. The third one is a college professor discussing the need for explicit instruction of vocabulary, multiple exposure to the vocabulary, the "bricks" and "mortar" words, and the 3 tiers of vocabulary. The last video is of teachers and their students teaching vocabulary.

As part of their series to help schools understand the federal No Child Left Behind Law, Learning Point Associates describes the four key elements of student engagement - student confidence, teacher involvement, relevant texts, and choice among texts and assignments.

If schools and students understand college readiness in a more comprehensive way, they can do more to develop the full range of capabilities and skills needed to succeed in college. Click on Classroom Strategies on the left of the page for useful information for increased comprehension.

The developmental nature of reading means that diagnosing the reading comprehension ability of adolescents is more challenging than diagnosing reading comprehension among third graders. In particular, assessments should not only capture the increased sophistication of the reading task in the middle and high school years, but should also capture the specialization of the many tasks that comprise reading comprehension for older readers. Educators must think carefully not only about what the assessments they use consider "grade-level" text, but also how those assessments capture or fail to capture the processes involved in reading in different content-area classes.

The National Reading Panel identified three predominant elements to support the development reading comprehension skills: vocabulary instruction, active reading, and teacher preparation to deliver strategy instruction. L .9-10.3 knowledge of lang

Drawing on New York City teachers' experiences, this article examines three ways to effectively integrate young adult literature into the curriculum: use core texts (usually novels, but also other genres as well) that the entire class read and study together; organize literature study with text sets, allowing students to select from multiple texts to read; and incorporate independent reading into coursework (via Sustained Silent Reading or at-home reading assignments).

Students often think they understand a body of material and, believing that they know it, stop trying to learn more. But come test time, it turns out they really don't know the material very well at all. Can cognitive science tell us anything about why students are commonly mistaken about what they know and don't know? Are there any strategies teachers can use to help students better estimate what they know?

Learn from an expert why some kids with learning disabilities struggle with writing and how some instructional approaches can help.

Ad Reinhardt is profiled at this site in a format that begins with a brief biographical sketch of his life. His works are then listed by appearance in the museum's database. Each work is presented in thumbnail format with brief information including title of work and date of creation.

The Adaptation series highlights the intersectionality of environmental education, geography, and anthropology. Explore our collection of resources and classroom activities that promote civic action by students to make real connections in their local communities as inspired by the actions in the global examples presented in each episode. These lessons could apply to geography, life science, or environmental science/studies classes, as well as innovation and engineering programs with a human-centered design approach. This Collection features 4 videos and a lesson plan for Grades 6-8, 9-12.

This webcast relates the research being done to understand the adaptations insects and other arthropods make to survive in various conditions. [29:15]

This session allows students to observe and make open ended claims for adaptations and environmental change, as long as they supply evidence.

How do the differences in adaptations of African and Asian elephants reflect the habitats in which they live? For grades 4-6 from the Connections to Africa program. It is an activity designed to get students to think critically about problem-solving. This activity is designed to start your students in recognizing themselves as scientists and thinking critically about problem-solving. The goal is to teach concepts through discovery and to encourage using scientific thought processes. As with all lessons provided, please feel free to adapt them according to your students’ abilities. You may find it more successful to lead activities and discussions as a whole group rather than using individual Research Plan sheets. Certain scientific vocabulary may or may not be appropriate for your students’ level of understanding. Take these ideas, make them your own and your students will have a greater chance at success.