Annenberg Learner Search Results

Episode 16: Neuroscience & the Classroom – Making Connections

Episode 16: Neuroscience & the Classroom – Making Connections October 24, 2022 Today, we have a special episode, an excerpt from Annenberg Learner series, Neuroscience & the Classroom: Making Connections – a video course designed to familiarize K-12 educators with current neuroscience research that could be used in the classroom. The following episode highlights exciting…

Episode 27: LA84 Foundation Part II with Jason Morgan

…personnel or district leaders would come visit and observe our classroom, one of the biggest notes that they made was, the students are having fun in a math classroom. For some reason, that was so shocking that they were having fun and engaged in math. Why is that not the expectation already? I wanted to…

Episode 17: 2022 Teacher of the Year with William Morejón

…pedagogy in the classroom, and create this network where a teacher might be in Chicago or Florida or anywhere else in the US, that we can also get a window into their classroom as well. The structure of the fellowship was we had some summer professional development, and it was perfect timing because we got…

Episode 4: Out of School Learning with Benjamin Dickow  

…kind of think about these STEM organizations as enriching instruments and stuff like that. I hope one of my personal goals is for us not to think of it that way. Like we are fundamental to the education life of kids, period. We’re just as important as the classroom and as valuable as the classroom….

Episode 6: Haydee Rodriguez – CA State Board of Education Member  

…[14:21] I understand that the pandemic has significantly impacted not only student lives, but teacher lives. Earlier you made the point that teachers often carry the brunt of what’s happening outside the classroom. How did the pandemic change your work in the classroom and what is here to stay? What were some of the lessons…

Episode 22: Games for Change with Luis Saltos

…Student Challenge. Nati Rodriguez [04:03] That’s great. What is that timeline like? These are students that you have in your classroom and they’re competing with a larger audience. How does that work? Luis Saltos [04:12] They do. First, we start in my classroom. I see my students for the entire year. We start the work…

Episode 10: Griffin Education with Tim Griffin

…to reinvent the songwriting residency program as an online activity. The way it works now is instead of me going to a school and going into a classroom, now I meet with small groups of kids from a classroom and help each group write a song about a topic chosen by the teacher. It’s directly…

Episode 12: Statistics In Schools with Victoria Glasier & Jessica Palmer  

…the educator to feel more comfortable leading their classroom on these topics? Victoria Glasier [08:06] For each activity and for our fun facts, we do everything we can to provide teaching guides and topics taught, and skills taught. We try very much to target what they’re doing in the classroom to just supplement what they…

Episode 18: 2022 Teacher of the Year with Michelle Stradford

…why he selected me to be a part of this process this year. Nati Rodriguez [03:08] Can you speak to some of those other roles that you’ve taken on aside from classroom instruction? Michelle Stradford [03:13] Sure. One of the biggest roles that I’ve taken on, and it’s titled something different in every district; in…

Episode 26: LA84 Foundation with Renata Simril

…and the classroom culture is getting from including play and movement in his classroom. There was one – Daisy, and this was an interesting story, and it just goes to the history of the LA84 Foundation’s impact. Daisy is an educator in a middle school, and unbeknownst to us, she was actually an LA84 beneficiary….

Episode 5: Rafael Cruz, LA County Teacher of the Year 2021-22

…was a structure engineer because they could make their video whenever they wanted and they were able to interact with the students without having to come to the classroom. It’s hard to get professionals to come into the classroom. We had doctors come in on Monday, and they didn’t come into the classroom. I need…

Episode 14: LabXchange with Marty Samuels

…materials are infinite in virtual spaces. In that vein, for hybrid use, our virtual lab simulations allow for both warm-ups and extensions from what you might do in a physical classroom. Of course, during the pandemic, a lot of people have ended up using our virtual lab simulations instead of lab opportunities. They don’t have…

Episode 15: Florida Principal of the Year, Adam Lane

…legislators, representatives, senators and really making the education profession the number one thing people should want to go into after school. Nati Rodriguez [05:31] Agree. Thank you. That’s one of the initiatives that Learner really is trying to support is how do we get more teachers in the classroom. What does that pipeline look like?…

Episode 8: Best Buy Teen Tech Centers with Chheav Em

…in the schools, Teen Tech Centers – the layout is going to differ with every location because of building, room size, and design interests – some of the pieces that are very important to us is to make sure you don’t have a classroom setting. We want to see these clusters. We want to see…

Episode 3: High-Impact Tutoring with Susanna Loeb

…development and instructional materials that teachers have to work on are important. Being effective is how they learn to teach once they’re in the classroom. Do they have a good curriculum and curricular materials and enough time to have the kinds of lesson plans and attention to students that they need to be effective? Other…

Episode 24: Social Media Literary with Rob Greenfield

…the something else is what we want our world to be. Nati Rodriguez [19:57] How long have you been in the teaching profession and what changes have you seen as students have started to use smartphones in their daily lives and in the classroom? Rob Greenfield [20:10] It’s funny, maybe this is a pandemic effect,…

Episode 19: 2022 Superintendent of the Year with Dr. Vivian Ekchian

…when deciding whether to stay in the classroom or follow an administrator’s path? Because often we see that some of the best teachers become administrators and there’s this conversation around whether these folks should stay in the classroom and who should go where based on their skills, talents, desires, passions. Dr. Vivian Ekchian [26:50] I…

Episode 13: Discovery Education with Matthew Woods, DEN Star

…ability to collaborate and meet people across the country. When I think of teaching, that’s not what comes to mind, right? I think of a person in a classroom that doesn’t really interact too much, maybe with their department or grade level teams. How valuable is that for you in your roles, either at the…

Episode 20: Californians for All with Josh Fryday

…career in education. That is exactly what we want. That is exactly what we are hoping for with this program to expose our best and brightest to the classroom and hopefully create the next generation of teachers to keep supporting our young people. Nati Rodriguez [09:32] That’s awesome. Thank you for sharing about the program….

Episode 7: Communities In Schools Los Angeles with Elmer Roldan

…Friday, and we actually have a classroom where we’re able to operate our programming out of. The way it works is we work with the school administration and teachers who they themselves recommend the students. They refer them to our program. We go through an intensive process of bringing them on board. Nati Rodriguez [10:50]…

Episode 1: Two Bit Circus with Dr. Leah Hanes

…bring in an old toaster. Let’s take it apart and see how it worked. Let’s reverse engineer. There’s education in that. Nati [29:53] If I’m a teacher and I want to bring more steam into my classroom, where should I start? Leah [30:05] Our group refers to your database of projects as the Fort Knox…

section: Controversial Public Policy Issues — Other Lessons

…in the media and the silence of the classroom pose a challenge to this tenet, obligating the profession to demand more opportunities for open, honest, and thoughtful dialogue in social studies classrooms. This is not to say that any discussion of controversial issues will lead to civic competence. The potential for positive and negative consequences…

Have You Flipped Your Classroom Yet?

…classroom model as a miraculous solution to a myriad of educational problems is also misguided, especially since it may not fit with every teacher’s instructional style or curriculum. Rather than a solution, the flipped classroom should be viewed as a potential tool that could help educators create a more collaborative, engaged classroom. Annenberg Learner offers…

video: Feelings Count: Emotions and Learning

…interacting with others. And all of that can be taught and learned.” Linda Darling-Hammond Key Questions: How do emotions affect learning, and how does the classroom affect emotions? How can teachers foster emotional intelligence and create emotionally safe classroom environments? Learning Objectives: Emotions affect learning – Teachers will understand how their students’ emotions affect learning….

video: Learning From Others: Learning in a Social Context

…students’ levels of proficiency and readiness for a given task and target assistance accordingly. Strategies for fostering communication – Teachers will understand the importance of language, communication, and interaction in learning. Teachers will consider several specific teaching strategies to foster and guide communication in the classroom, including the role of questioning, group work, managed discourse,…

video: The Classroom Mosaic: Culture and Learning

“Learning is essentially cultural, that is, we live in a culture – it comprises our experience. We use that whenever we learn something new. So teachers need to know how to understand the cultural context and experiences their students bring to the classrooms. They also need to help students find themselves in the school curriculum…

section: Teaching Strategies: Developing a Community of Learners

In a collaborative classroom, students are willing to share their opinions. They are enthusiastic about discussing mathematics in the interest of learning. They feel at ease agreeing and disagreeing with one another. All teachers aspire to have a classroom in which students collectively take responsibility for their own learning, but it’s far from common. With…

video: Thinking About Thinking: Metacognition

…understand what metacognition is and how it improves learning. They will become familiar with two aspects of metacognition: reflection and self-regulation. Developing metacognitive skills – Teachers will understand what it means to develop a culture of metacognition in the classroom. Teachers will become familiar with strategies for helping students regulate, monitor, and guide their learning….

workshop: Person to Person

Classroom interaction is simple. It is the talk that occurs in classrooms between teachers and students and among students. It’s also a very complex thing in that it is the primary medium by which learning occurs in classrooms, and that’s any kind of classroom, be it a history classroom or a math classroom or a…

video: Introducing the Envisionment-Building Classroom

…Judith Langer’s theory of literary envisionment and envisionment-building classrooms and invites us into real classrooms of real teachers to see how this theory plays out in practice with real students. Like all good pedagogical theories, Dr. Langer’s theory of envisionment-building classrooms is philosophically concrete, yet allows for a widely diverse range of classroom practices. Grounded…

video: Learning As We Grow: Development and Learning

“As children develop, the ways in which they learn change. If teachers are tuned to those sequences of development, then they can be more thoughtful about how they design their lessons, how they pace instruction, how they move kids along from one concept to the next. Doing these things will build students’ ability to think…

video: Watch the Video | Creating a Literate Community

…focuses on: varied and accessible print materials and classroom resources, purposeful displays of print in the classroom, and classroom routines that promote targeted opportunities for writing and oral language development. An accompanying lecture transcript (PDF) is also available. Video Segment – Dr. Paratore’s Lecture Find this segment approximately 3 minutes and 40 seconds after the…

video: Building on What We Know: Cognitive Processing

…teachers understand how people process information, they can organize information in the classroom, so that there’s a better chance that in fact, students will understand it, and will have a way to remember it, use it, and apply it in a variety of situations.” Linda Darling-Hammond Key Questions How do we process information so that…

video: Expectations for Success: Motivation and Learning

“A lot of times people think about motivation as something that the student has – she’s either motivated or un-motivated. But we actually know that motivation is a function of what happens in classrooms. The way teachers construct tasks, the way they let students know about their competence, the way they scaffold and support developing…

unit: Different Learners, Different Minds

video: Lessons for Life: Learning and Transfer

…– Teachers will understand what conditions are needed for knowledge and skills learned in one context to be retrieved and applied to a new situation. Teaching for transfer – Teachers will develop ideas about how to facilitate transfer in their own classrooms and how to build bridges for their students between concepts, activities, and lessons….

video: Returning to the Classroom

Introduction Implementing the envisionment-building process in the classroom requires teachers to develop “new bones” or ways of planning for and interacting with students to draw out their understanding, ways to connect students to each other, and ways to guide students back to the text, or to question their own readings. By reshaping their approach to…

video: How We Organize Knowledge: The Structure of the Disciplines

“When we want to learn something new, we have to figure out what are the main guideposts in the terrain of a body of knowledge. And that’s what we call the structure of the disciplines – the big ideas, the big modes of inquiry that are used in history, mathematics, science and so on. And…

video: Building Oral Language

Classroom Profile Teacher: Cindy Wilson Years Teaching: 25 School: Josiah Quincy Elementary School, Boston, MA Grade: Kindergarten Class Size: 24 Students Lesson Dates: February 6 and 8 “Many of the people who come into my classroom — casual observers — do not notice that many of my children have lots of learning and behavior issues….

video: Different Kinds of Smart: Multiple Intelligences

“Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, gives us a different framework for teaching and thinking in the classroom, as well as how we think about what people do in life. We rely on lots different abilities to succeed in life. Different people have those abilities differently developed, and using the strengths that we have as…

unit: Implications For Schools

video: How People Learn: Introduction to Learning Theory

“Teaching is not simply random, and ad-hock and haphazard; there are some ways to actually shape your work that are likely to be more effective, because they respond to what learners are actually doing, thinking, and experiencing.” Linda Darling-Hammond Key Questions How do people learn? How can learning inform teaching practice? Learning Objectives History of…

video: Watch It, Do It, Know It: Cognitive Apprenticeship

“A cognitive apprenticeship sort of takes off from where candle-makers and cloth-makers left off in the days gone by, and says ‘How do we teach someone by modeling and demonstrating a way of thinking, a way of “working in our minds?” ” Linda Darling-Hammond Key Questions How can students learn to think strategically? How can…

video: Pulling It All Together: Creating Classrooms and Schools That Support Learning

“As our standards go up, as we aim to educate all kids effectively, we need to put together all of the pieces of learning theory that we’ve acquired over this last century into settings where kids are supported – where they’re scaffolded, where they’re challenged, where they’re motivated, where they have the opportunity to learn…

unit: Lesson Builder

…the Lesson Builder, you will: Implement the envisionment-building process in an existing classroom lesson. Take stock of your own instructional practices, considering which ones support a literary community and which ones need to be renewed. Begin to create a literary community within your own classroom. Process Taking Stock: Which instructional strategies are you currently using…

unit: Activity: Lesson Builder

…Builder, you will: Implement the envisionment-building process in an existing classroom lesson. Take stock of your own instructional practices, considering which ones support a literary community and which ones need to be renewed. Begin to create a literary community within your own classroom. Process Taking Stock: Which instructional strategies are you currently using in your…

Lesson Builder | Making Meaning in Literature: A Workshop for Teachers, Grades 6-8

…the Lesson Builder, you will: Implement the envisionment-building process in an existing classroom lesson. Take stock of your own instructional practices, considering which ones support a literary community and which ones need to be renewed. Begin to create a literary community within your own classroom. Process Taking Stock: Which instructional strategies are you currently using…

video: Introduction: The Art and Science of Teaching

Technology and the Developing Brain

…as shown in Neuroscience and the Classroom, “Technology for Every Student.” Have an additional space for students to connect with peers, which can improve motivation to learn, according to Neuroscience and the Classroom, “Peer Mentoring.” So how can parents and educators weigh the pros and cons of exposing children to emerging digital technology? To understand…

unit: Activity: Lesson Builder

Introduction Learning Objectives At the conclusion of the Lesson Builder, you will: Implement the envisionment-building process in an existing classroom lesson. Take stock of your own instructional practices, considering which ones support a literary community and which ones need to be renewed. Begin to create a literary community within your own classroom. Process Taking Stock:…

video: Seminar Discussion

…two stories. Ms. Franklin hopes to provide students with an opportunity to examine how two different Black characters responded to their circumstances of oppression. The students in the seminar model many of the hallmarks of a classroom community focused on literature: their ideas are at the center of the classroom; questions are viewed as central…

section: Class Context

…geography content from their general classroom curriculum. To reinforce learning, Ms. Appel tries to introduce topics at the same time that they are being covered in the regular classroom, although sometimes she teaches topics before or after they occur in the general curriculum. She often requests copies of materials used in the classroom that she…

session: Creating Contexts for Learning

How can classroom organization and daily routines help students become better readers and writers? In this session, literacy expert Jeanne Paratore outlines strategies teachers can use to enhance literacy skills. You will learn how classroom organization, everyday routines, and grouping practices affect literacy skills in the middle grades. You will explore research-based strategies that help…

section: Examine the Topic | Creating a Literate Community

Extend Your Knowledge In this section, you will expand your understanding of a literate classroom community by comparing the ideas from the workshop video with passages from various publications. Read and respond to the ideas presented as they relate to your own teaching practices. Primary reading teachers have two challenges: designing a classroom environment that…

Zoom and Data Privacy

Even in the best of times, the planning and execution of an engaging lesson for a classroom full of students is a difficult task. The response to the COVID-19 pandemic has required educators to rethink their lesson planning in order to conduct classes remotely. Teachers still must deal with classroom management issues. They must still…

video: The Teacher’s Role in a Literary Community

…disparate pieces and help students put them together. Moving in and out of group discussions, his ultimate goal is to help students become independent thinkers and learners. Trust in students and in their abilities as readers and thinkers is central to Barry Hoonan’s teaching. Understanding that students come to his classroom with a great deal…

section: Extend Your Knowledge | Creating Contexts for Learning

…in classrooms where children excel, they spend a greater amount of time reading and writing, than in classrooms where they don’t. That seems to make sense. But, in different classrooms, there are huge variations in the amount of time children spend reading and writing. The amount of classroom time is fairly stable across classrooms, across…

section: Guide to Researching Photographs

Getting Started This guide provides helpful tips for finding and evaluating photographs that you can use in the classroom to enhance teaching strategies. The following steps are intended to help guide your search. Step 1: Determine Search Criteria Step 2: Evaluate a Photograph’s Classroom Connection Step 3: Assess Copyright Step 4: Activate Student Engagement Note:…

section: Course Overview

Welcome to Neuroscience & the Classroom: Making Connections. This is a course for committed educators genuinely eager to engage in new ideas about learning and to use these ideas to invent solutions to problems they and their students encounter. It is a course for experienced teachers, rookie teachers, aspiring teachers, student teachers, administrators—anyone who wants…

workshop: Valuing Diversity in Learners

When learners come into the classroom, they don’t divest themselves of their cultural experiences or their linguistic background. They bring all of that with them to the classroom. So it’s incumbent upon the teacher to accommodate that wide array of learners. – Marjorie Hall Haley, Ph.D., Associate Professor, George Mason University Learning Goals How do…

video: Expanding the Role of the Arts Specialist

…New Orleans, Louisiana, coordinates her lesson plans with classroom teachers, using dance to integrate reading and vocabulary (see Featured Approaches). Mary Perkerson, a visual art specialist, conducts workshops in visual art techniques for new teachers at Harmony Leland Elementary School in Mableton, Georgia. For an honors art class, she introduces a group of kindergarten through…

video: Readers as Individuals

…says her classroom design is strongly influenced by the reading and writing workshop model described by Nanci Atwell in her first edition of In the Middle: Writing, Reading, and Learning With Adolescents (1987). The theory underpinning this model centers on the importance of students learning to make informed choices about what they read and what…

section: Put It Into Practice | Creating a Literate Community

…to practice in your classroom. Activity #1 Add Literacy Routines Develop additional literacy routines to use with your classroom environment. Activity #2 Create a Literacy Center Design a new literacy center and a supporting classroom routine. Activity #3 Create a Handbook Collect literary resources for each workshop session in a Handbook for Effective Literacy Practices….

video: Whole-Group Discussions

…asks students to read a minimum of half an hour daily. For the first part of the school year, students make their own reading selections, either from a well-stocked classroom library, from the school library, or from sources outside school. By respecting students’ choices early, Rief believes they are more open to choices she makes…

video: Writer’s Journal

  Classroom Profile Teacher: John Sinnett Years Teaching: 23 School: Collins Elementary School, Houston, TX Grade: Kindergarten Class Size: 16 Students Lesson Dates: November 14 and 1 “I want them to start thinking in kindergarten about how they need to make some kind of plan in their head for their writing. I have them draw…

video: View & Analyze the Video

Video Summary In “Person to Person,” Professor Joan Kelly Hall of Pennsylvania State University addresses the importance of the talk that occurs in the classroom. Professor Hall also joins a round-table discussion on strategies for encouraging effective classroom conversations, moderated by University of Pittsburgh professor Richard Donato, and including teachers John Pedini of Brookline, Massachusetts,…

section: Extend Your Knowledge | Teaching English Language Learners

Examine the Topic Inclusion of multicultural literature in the classroom literacy program is important for both English language learners and students who are native speakers of English. Read these statements by Robert Jiménez and Denise Agosto. Consider how the ideas in these statements reflect your own practices and classroom materials. One of the best ways…

video: Signposts

“In envisionment-building classrooms, students’ ideas are right in the center of the discussion, so the role of the teacher is to help students find new and more complex ways to grapple with both the content and the ways of thinking about the content.” Judith A. Langer, Director National Research Center on English Learning & Achievement…

video: View & Analyze the Video

…video addresses the following questions: What is community? How can teachers access community within and beyond the classroom? What roles can heritage speakers play in the classroom? *The classroom excerpts featured in this video are from the Teaching Foreign Languages K-12 video library. To learn more about the featured lessons, go to the Library Videos…

workshop: Engaging With Communities

Our goal is to prepare students to not only take what they have learned in the classroom and use it outside the classroom, but to take the love of that language and the interest in the culture that has happened in the classroom and take it into a community where they can continue learning it….

video: Issues in Social Studies: Unity and Diversity

…diversity found in many classrooms provides teachers with an opportunity to develop habits of mutual respect and appreciation of differences. That same diversity also allows teachers to explore themes of unity by examining the things we have in common. Appreciating one another in the classroom is the first step toward connecting with others in the…

video: Becoming Readers and Writers

Classroom Profile Teacher: Sheila Owen Years Teaching: 10 School: Wellwood School, Beaumont, CA Grade: Kindergarten Class Size: 21 Students Lesson Dates: October 18 and 19, 2001 “I believe that the best thing a teacher can do is to watch her students. And so kid watching is what I do… so that we are immediately following…

unit: The Unity of Emotion, Thinking, and Learning

video: Caring for the Community

…the remodeling project, tell them what they can do to help, and answer any questions they have. Then students work in groups to plan their contribution to the project: packing up their classroom before the remodeling begins. They also prepare speeches and make posters to enlist the help of students in other classrooms. By inviting…

video: Student Diversity

…full-inclusion classrooms, how can teachers ensure that every student will be able to participate fully in the instructional experiences offered? What support will students need to help them understand, accept, and appreciate the multiple perspectives they encounter, both within the classroom and in their larger society? These are the issues examined by the teachers in…

video: Starting in September…

…the classroom. The relationships and routines teachers establish at the beginning of the school year resonate throughout the months that follow. Wise teachers think carefully about what is important in their classrooms, and how they can convey those values from the first moments students enter the classroom. The physical arrangement of the room and its…

video: Making Connections

unit: Bringing It All Together – History/Social Studies

…in history? Watch the video: As you watch, consider how the different teachers and experts link history with reading and/or writing. What learning goals do the different classrooms appear to have for students? Reflect: How might the ideas about incorporating reading and writing in history and social studies be adapted to fit into your classroom?…

unit: Seeing Others from the Self

video: Connecting Skills to Text

Charmon Evans’s First-Grade Class Teacher: Charmon Evans Years Teaching: 9 School: Richard E. Bard Elementary School, Port Hueneme, CA Grade: First Class Size: 20 Students Lesson Dates: October 23 and 24 “There can be a balance between good literature, an exciting classroom environment, and skills-based learning. We all know that’s important, we’ve got to teach…

video: Introducing Our Literary Community

…of it. This first workshop program in a series of nine introduces the hallmarks of the envisionment-building process. Dr. Langer explains ways that teachers can support and encourage this process to help students become better readers and thinkers. Eight middle school language arts classroom teachers also reflect upon their own teaching of literature. These classroom…

video: Program 1: Building a Community of Writers

…What evidence do you see that she has created an atmosphere of safety and respect? How do you encourage your less talkative students to participate in classroom conversations? Providing Time and Structure for Writing In this segment, several classroom examples illustrate how effective writing instruction requires a carefully orchestrated structure of rituals and routines as…

video: Building a Literary Community

About This Video Clip “…My goals are to have them have meaningful interactions with texts, to have meaningful interactions with literature, to frame literature the same way they might frame talking about…something as common as…wrestling or a TV show.” Joe Bernhart, Teacher Fondren Middle School Houston, Texas Students in Joe Bernhart’s classroom explore literature in…

video: Program 11: Conversations Among Peer Writers

…conference in Jeanne’s classroom? How would you account for the differences? Lindsay checks in with Stephan and Emily to see what they have accomplished during their conference. What other ways could you evaluate the success of peer conferences in your classroom? Lindsay Dibert: Lesson Background (PDF) Observing an Independent Peer Conference In the final segment,…

section: Teaching Strategies: Cooperative Learning

…provide equal learning opportunities and job opportunities for all learners, we need to have algebra accessible to all learners. So, “algebra for all” means reaching out, bringing all children closer to the subject of algebra. Cooperative learning differs from the traditional, teacher-centered classroom in that it is student-centered. In a traditional classroom, the teacher plays…

section: Extend Your Knowledge | New Literacies of the Internet

…these technologies into our classroom. –Donald Leu Internet technology has affected a number of areas in the reading classroom. First, a significant difference in reading strategies is evident when students read on the Web when compared with traditional print text reading. This affects our methods of teaching in computer-mediated environments. In addition, we need to…

video: Developing an Arts-Based Unit

…Hurstell Riedlinger to discuss what children will need to know to complete the project. They also organize each teacher’s responsibilities and discuss how the planned activities are geared to state standards. In their classrooms, the teachers use arts-based methods to bring the project to life. Members of the instructional team reflect on how the arts…

video: Facilitating Discussion

About This Video Clip “I like kids to write their own questions because…they’re more involved. If I always come up with the questions…[we] wouldn’t get to what is important to them.” Tanya Schnabl, Teacher Sherburne-Earlville Middle School Sherburne, New York Questions are at the center of classroom discussion for Tanya Schnabl’s students. Because they are…

section: Put It Into Practice | Supporting the English Language Learner

Choose Activities In this section, you will apply what you have learned to your own teaching. The four activities are designed to assist you in developing resources for supporting English Language Learners in your classroom. Choose one or more from the list below to practice in your classroom. Activity 1. Designing a Lesson Watch the…

video: Analyze the Video | Teaching English Language Learners

…see classroom examples that illustrate the research-based strategies Professor Jiménez describes. As you watch the video, consider the following questions: Where do I start? How can I build on what English language learners bring to the classroom? How can the classroom context support English language learners? What are some strategies for teaching English language learners?…

video: Watch the Video | Using Assessment To Guide Instruction

Lecture In this section, you will watch Dr. Paratore’s lecture on using assessment to guide instruction. Print Dr. Paratore’s Assessment Lecture Poster (PDF). Use the poster to take notes on the lecture. In this video segment, Dr. Paratore presents the principles of effective classroom assessment. The lecture emphasizes the importance of ongoing assessment to plan…

video: Envisioning

…in the series of eight, Dr. Langer defines the process of envisionment building, examines the stances or positions readers take in relationship to the text, and comments on the implications this research has on classroom practices. Panelists also comment on their own reading experiences and journeys with text as they build envisionments. They celebrate these…

section: Put It Into Practice | Creating Contexts for Learning

Choose Activities In this section, you will build on what you have learned, and develop strategies you can use in your own classroom. The following activities are designed to help you develop resources for creating a more effective classroom environment. Choose one or both of the activities from the list below. Activity 1 – Create…

section: Assignments + Projects

section: Teaching Strategies: Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners

According to the U.S. Department of Education, if the population of children in this country were evenly distributed geographically, the typical American classroom would look like this: 10 students would be from racial and ethnic minorities 10 would be poor 6 of the above 10 would be from families where a language other than English…

video: Beginning the Year

“I like the idea of blank space in the classroom…not necessarily filling it up for yourself, because I want students to get the idea that whatever they do in this room is important.” -Rich Thompson, 4th Grade Teacher, Canyon Elementary School, Hungry Horse, Montana Establishing routines and expectations, creating a learning community, setting a comfortable…

Lens on Literacy

We all agree that learning to read is a critical step in a child’s education. But teaching children to read is controversial. In classrooms, legislatures, universities, school districts — even courtrooms — there is debate about what makes a good literacy program. Is phonics the answer? Whole language? A mix of both? Amid the controversy,…

video: Building Community

…in the classroom and that’s wonderful.” Latosha Rowley, 4th- and 5th-Grade Teacher Indianapolis Public Schools Center for Inquiry Indianapolis, Indiana In this video, you will watch Latosha Rowley working with her fourth and fifth graders in a multiage setting as they discuss their novels — all historical fiction — in small groups. You will then…

unit: Learning Challenges

Each session of The Learning Classroom generally concentrates on a single learning theory and describes how it might be applied in a classroom. We all know that teaching is much more complicated than that, because learning theories overlap and work together. The Learning Challenges here will help you integrate the ideas presented across different sessions….

video: Classroom Dialogues

…all those out into the mix and come out with a totally different reading at the end. So that’s what I’m hoping for.” -Katherine Bomer, 5th-Grade Teacher, Pleasant Hill Elementary School, Austin, Texas Many teachers are afraid to promote classroom discussion in which students assume control of its shape. And with good reason. What happens…

video: Voices in the Conversation

“The read-aloud in my classroom is the center of the day. It’s a time when we have cried together. It’s a time when we have laughed together. It’s a time when kids have said, ‘This is how life is for me.’…And to me those moments where one child says, ‘I had no idea about what…

video: Classroom Case Studies, Grades K-2

This is the final session of the Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability course! In this session, we will examine how statistical thinking from the previous nine sessions might look when applied to situations in your own classroom. This session is customized for three grade levels. Select the grade level most relevant to your teaching. In…

video: Teaching Theatre

A fifth-grade student’s mask reveals an inner vision of herself, at Barney Ford Elementary School in Denver, Colorado. Two specialist teachers work on basic theatre skills with children of various ages and use theatre education as a gateway to other kinds of learning: At Lusher Alternative Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana, theatre teacher Amanda…

video: Asking Questions

…culminating projects and assignments. For resources that can help you use this clip for teacher professional development, preservice education, administrative and English/language arts content meetings, parent conferences, and back-to-school events, visit our Support Materials page. There, you will find PDF files of our library guide, classroom lesson plan, student activity sheets, and other Teacher Tools….

video: Finding Common Ground

…Fair Oaks Elementary School Marietta, Georgia Complex educational circumstances demand thoughtful and inventive responses. In this classroom, you will see a highly transient student population that comes to school with limited literacy experiences, and, that, in many cases, harbors a distrust of reading in general. Helping these students enjoy literature and become independent literary envisionment…

unit: Big Ideas in Literacy – History/Social Studies

…and write in your classroom? What are your learning goals for students with regard to reading and writing? Watch the video: As you watch, notice how reading and writing in history/social studies are framed. What learning goals do the different classrooms appear to have for students? Reflect: How are these ideas similar to or different…

video: 100 Days of Reading

Shari Frost’s First- and Second-Grade Class Teacher: Shari Frost Years Teaching: 20 School: Norwood Park Elementary School, Chicago, IL Grades: First and Second Class Size: 23 Students Lesson Dates: February 14 and 15 “Life in school reflects what happens in the world. When something is going on in the world it creeps into your classroom….

unit: Bringing It All Together – Mathematics

…and listening are framed in this video. What new ideas surface for you as you contemplate implications for instruction? Reflect: How similar or different are the practices discussed in this video compared to the practices in your own classroom? What new ideas might be important to begin to implement in your own classroom, and why?…

section: Teaching Strategies: Alternative Assessment

…inadequate in both breadth and depth. Thus, states, districts and schools must find ways to strengthen classroom assessments and to use the information that comes from these richer measures to inform the public. This problem, however, is not specific to standardized testing. In the classroom, evaluating students with only one type of assessment is ineffective….

video: Classroom Case Studies, Grades 3-5

…the case! In this session, however, we will shift the focus to your classroom and to the approaches your students might take to mathematical tasks involving algebraic thinking. Note 1 Learning Objectives In this session, we will focus on your experiences as a classroom teacher, as you: Explore how algebraic thinking is developed at your…

video: Classroom Case Studies, Grades K-2

…session, however, we will shift the focus to your classroom and to the approaches your students might take to mathematical tasks involving algebraic thinking. Learning Objectives In this session, we will focus on your experiences as a classroom teacher, as you: Explore how algebraic thinking is developed at your grade level Examine problems for their…

section: Examine the Topic | Using Assessment To Guide Instruction

Extend Your Knowledge In this section, you will expand your understanding of assessment practices that inform your instruction. You will compare the ideas from the workshop video with passages from various publications. Read and respond to the ideas presented as they relate to your own teaching practices. Classroom assessment in kindergarten through second grade requires…

video: Book Buddies

“The whole purpose of Book Buddies is the interaction among the kids and for them to help each other learn to read better and learn to look more deeply into literature.” Tim O’Keefe, 3rd-Grade Teacher The Center for Inquiry Columbia, South Carolina Exciting things often happen when two teachers merge their classes for literature discussion….

video: Classroom Case Studies, Grades 6-8

This is the final session of the Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability course! In this session, we will examine how statistical thinking from the previous nine sessions might look when applied to situations in your own classroom. This session is customized for three grade levels. Select the grade level most relevant to your teaching. In…

video: Working With Local Artists

At P.S. 156 in Brooklyn, New York, visiting dance artist Ca This program looks at a successful, ongoing collaboration between P.S. 156, The Waverly School of the Arts, in Brooklyn, New York, and two local organizations — Lotus Music & Dance and the Teachers & Writers Collaborative. Artists from both organizations collaborate with the school’s…

video: Classroom Case Studies, Grades 3-5

This is the final session of the Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability course! In this session, we will examine how statistical thinking from the previous nine sessions might look when applied to situations in your own classroom. This session is customized for three grade levels. Select the grade level most relevant to your teaching. In…

video: Before You Watch | Creating a Literate Community

…room and wall displays of print materials, and classroom routines that promote reading and writing. Following the lecture, workshop participants watch two sets of classroom excerpts illustrating routines and physical arrangements that advance children’s reading, writing, and oral language skills. Workshop participants discuss these classroom excerpts in relation to their own classrooms and teaching practices….

video: Program 13: Learning To Revise

…answers in your notebook or using them as discussion starters. Experimenting With Revision In the first segment, Jack Wilde discusses the role of revision in the elementary classroom, and Sheryl Block teaches her fourth-graders how to add more action to their personal narratives. (Stop after Sheryl’s student shares his revised lead with the class. You…

section: Reflect on Your Learning | Creating Contexts for Learning

What Did You Learn? Think about what you have learned about classroom organization and grouping routines from Professor Paratore’s comments and the classroom examples. Write a summary of what you have learned. Use the following questions to guide your thinking. When you have finished, save your written summary to submit as an assignment and, if…

section: Teaching Strategies: Questioning Techniques

Educational philosopher John Dewey said: “What’s in a question, you ask? Everything. It is a way of evoking stimulating response or stultifying inquiry. It is, in essence, the very core of teaching.” Effective questions are an integral part of the successful mathematics classroom. Some research suggests that as much as 50 percent of classroom time…

video: Classroom Case Studies, Grades 6-8

…yourself as a mathematics teacher. Not surprisingly, this is often the case! In this session, however, we will shift the focus to your classroom and to the approaches your students might take to mathematical tasks involving algebraic thinking. Note 1 Learning Objectives In this session, we will focus on your experiences as a classroom teacher,…

video: Assessment-Driven Instruction

Hildi Perez’s First-Grade Class Teacher: Hildi Perez Years Teaching: 7 School: Young Achievers School for Science and Mathematics, Boston, MA Grade: First Class Size: 20 Students Lesson Dates: December 11 and 12 “Reading is more than having one skill … reading is about having a balance of different skills. We need to work on making…

video: Dramatic Tableaux

…in a meaningful way. For resources that can help you use this clip for teacher professional development, preservice education, administrative and English/language arts content meetings, parent conferences, and back-to-school events, visit our Support Materials page. There, you will find PDF files of our library guide, classroom lesson plan, student activity sheets, and other Teacher Tools….

video: Overview

unit: Building a Community of Writers

How can you nurture and support the confidence of all students and help them forge unique writing identities? This workshop explores the essential characteristics of a successful writing community and shows examples of teachers who build community in their classrooms through a variety of ways. I think it’s amazing what kids can do at this…

section: Extend Your Knowledge | Fluency and Word Study

…these statements relate to your own classroom organization and teaching practices, and what questions you have about providing instruction that focuses on fluency to advance comprehension. When we start thinking about how you would organize classroom instruction or intervention instruction to begin to address the problem of kids who are unable to read fluently, the…

It’s Here! You’re Viewing the New Annenberg Learner Website! 

…in America Ethics in America II Invitation to World Literature Making Civics Real Neuroscience & the Classroom Physics for the 21st Century  Reading & Writing in the Disciplines  A Private Universe Minds of Our Own American Passages: A Literary Survey The Art of Teaching the Arts The Arts in Every Classroom Library The Arts in…

video: Promoting Readers As Leaders

Valerie Kostandos’s First-Grade Class Teacher: Valerie Kostandos Years Teaching: 20 School: Decius Beebe School, Melrose, MA Grade: First Class Size: 20 Students Lesson Dates: November 5 and 6 “What I would like my students to get by the end of this year is to become independent readers and writers — to want to take risks…

video: Issues in Social Studies: Creating Effective Citizens

…— from researching an issue, to voting, to proposing a bill — so that, as students are learning about the different functions of local and national government, they are also realizing their roles as citizens. In a participatory democracy, the skills of good citizenship are best introduced at an early age. The classroom provides an…

section: Teaching Strategies: Affective Domain

…words describe the affective domain: defend, appreciate, value, model, tolerate, respect. In the mathematics classroom, the affective domain is concerned with students’ perception of mathematics, their feelings toward solving problems, and their attitudes about school and education in general. Personal development, self-management, and the ability to focus are key areas. Apart from cognitive outcomes, teachers…

section: Before You Watch | Creating Contexts for Learning

Session Preparation To prepare for this workshop session, you will review the key terms, identify the strategies that you already use, and then read two articles on classroom organization and grouping practices. Key Terms: Classroom contexts Grouping plans Needs-based groups Wall displays Writing center   Notebook What Do You Do? Consider all the things that…

unit: Reading Like a Writer

How can you use literature in your writing workshop and teach students to look for writing strategies as they read? In this workshop, you will learn how to use “touchstone” and “mentor” texts to teach students new writing techniques. By watching classroom examples, you will also see how teachers immerse students in literary genres and…

unit: Conclusion: A Community of Educators

workshop: Planning for Assessment

…that informs both you and your students about their progress? In this session, you’ll review relevant research, observe video discussions and classroom examples, and do a culminating activity on planning an effective assessment of student work. At the end of this session, you will better understand how to: design informal (formative) classroom assessments of student…

unit: About This Course

Reading and writing are no longer the sole responsibility of the English classroom, but a critical part of how students explore and understand complex concepts across all disciplines. By examining general disciplinary literacy strategies and practices—and then focusing more deeply on their own discipline—middle and high school teachers will gain insight into how to support…

video: Students Create a Multi-Arts Performance

A kindergartner explains the costume he created to be a “Fantastical Creature” in an original performance piece at Lusher Alternative Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana. At Lusher Alternative Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana, a kindergarten class and a fourth-grade class studied various aspects of Cirque du Soleil’s Quidam over several months. Classroom teachers…

video: Discussion Strategies

“The genuine foundation is a love and passion for story and the knowing that story brings about a place for kids to find their way in, a way of expressing themselves… So I read good books and share them, and I listen to kids tell me about them. That’s the natural element for a good…

session: Teaching English Language Learners

…and how to create a classroom environment that promotes meaningful literacy learning.     Learning Goals At the end of this session, you will better understand how to: use what you already know about effective literacy practices to plan instruction for English language learners create a classroom environment and curriculum that integrate different languages and…

section: Teaching Strategies: Listening to Students

…what students have to say. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) promotes active classrooms in which teachers gather information about students through questioning. To ensure deep, high-quality learning for all students, assessment and instruction must be integrated so that assessment becomes a routine part of the ongoing classroom activity … In addition to…

video: Responding to Literature

“I see my role in two ways. One is as a reader, responding just like the kids while having a watchful ear on how their reading and thinking are going and how they are growing through the story and learning. [While] I’m helping kids make connections, at the same time I want to be involved…

unit: Big Ideas in Literacy – English

Introduction The English language arts classroom has always been the primary place where students are taught academic literacy practices. These days, as teachers of other subjects, like math and science, are asked to incorporate academic literacy into their classrooms, some English teachers ask each other, “If reading and writing are taught in science, math, and…

video: Program 6: Reading/Writing Connections

Watch the 30-minute video “Reading/Writing Connections.” Apply what you learned in “Reading Like a Writer” as you watch the extended video of classroom examples. Answer the questions that follow each segment, jotting down your answers in your notebook or using them as discussion starters. Christine Sanchez’s Class Christine Sanchez’s third-graders are preparing to write about…

video: Sharing the Text

“Discussion is really important to the students because they learn from each other…They may be confused about something, and they may not admit it, or they may not even be aware that they were confused or didn’t understand something. But…the discussion really enables them to clarify things that they’ve read.” BJ Namba, 3rd-Grade Teacher Punahou…

lesson: Activities and Discussion

Dance teacher Kathy DeJean with members of the Dance Troupe at Lusher Alternative Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana. Suggested Activities and Discussion Consider these questions for reflection: If you are a classroom teacher, how can an arts specialist help you enrich instruction in your classroom? What arts-based skills would help you teach more effectively?…

video: Analyze the Video | Creating Contexts for Learning

Video Summary In this video, Professor Jeanne Paratore discusses the organization strategies, routines, and reading practices that enhance students’ literacy skills. You will also see classroom examples that illustrate the strategies and research that Professor Paratore describes. As you watch the video, consider the following questions: Why does classroom organization matter? Why are routines important?…

video: The Stances in Action

…build envisionments, nor should they be. It is necessary for educators to understand the envisionment-building process, as well as each stance, for the sake of instructional design and planning. Here, teachers can utilize their envisionment-building knowledge in order to create rich classroom experiences by asking questions that will stimulate student thinking. Students will benefit tremendously…

workshop: Subjects Matter

…something interesting. – Patsy M. Lightbown, Professor Emeritus, Concordia University, Montreal Learning Goals What is the importance of content-based instruction in a foreign language classroom, and how do you do it effectively? In this session, you’ll review relevant research, observe video discussions and classroom examples, and do a culminating activity in which you design a…

video: Creating a Community of Writers

video: Students Making Choices

Becky Pursley’s First-Grade Class Teacher: Becky Pursley Years Teaching: 14 School: Barton Hills Elementary School, Austin, TX Grade: First Class Size: 18 Students Lesson Dates: November 12 and 13 “I hope all first graders learn how to unlock words, use all parts of literature to make connections to their own lives, and make meaning from…

unit: A Writer’s Notebook

“Writing is very difficult. What I like best is having written.” – Judith Ortiz Cofer No one knows the anguish and joy of writing better than a writer. That’s why numbers of educational organizations believe those who teach writing should be writers themselves. That doesn’t mean that you have to be a great elegist or…

video: Starting Classroom Conversations

…personally. Possibly you raised questions about the way things happened or things that puzzled you. These are the kinds of authentic discussions teachers in envisionment-building classrooms encourage among students. Helping students recognize, acknowledge, and articulate their responses to texts becomes the focus of instruction for teachers leading students in authentic talk about their readings. Teaching…

section: Commentary

video: Program 10: Teacher-Student Conferences

Watch the 30-minute video “Teacher-Student Conferences.” Apply what you have learned in “Conversations With Student Writers” as you watch the extended video of classroom examples. Answer the questions that follow each segment, jotting down your answers in your notebook or using them as discussion starters. Silvia Edgerton’s Class Silvia Edgerton is engaged in a formal…

section: Commentary

video: Classroom Case Studies, 6-8

In This Session Part A: The Concept of Area Part B: Reasoning About Measurement Part C: Problems That Illustrate Measurement Reasoning Homework This is the final session of the Measurement course! In this session, we will examine how measurement concepts from the previous nine sessions might look when applied to situations in your own classroom….

video: Classroom Case Studies, 3-5

In This Session Part A: The Concept of Area Part B: Reasoning About Measurement Part C: Problems That Illustrate Measurement Reasoning Homework This is the final session of the Measurement course! In this session, we will examine how measurement concepts from the previous nine sessions might look when applied to situations in your own classroom….

video: Classroom Case Studies, K-2

…classroom. This session is customized for three grade levels. Select the grade level most relevant to your teaching. In the previous sessions, we explored many different topics related to measurement. You put yourself in the position of a mathematics learner, both to analyze your individual approach to solving problems and to get some insights into…

video: Historical and Cultural Context: Christopher Paul Curtis

…activities. Curtis visits the classroom, addresses questions, and leads the students in a writing workshop. The unit culminates with a service learning project in which the students create children’s books about the civil rights movement and share them with elementary school children. In this interdisciplinary unit, Laina Jones helps her students become critical readers by…

video: Leadership Team

The Leadership Team at Lusher Alternative Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana, includes classroom teachers, an arts specialist teacher, the principal, and the assistant principal. At Lusher Alternative Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana, principal Kathleen Hurstell Riedlinger works closely with a team of classroom teachers and arts specialists on curriculum and policy decisions. She…

unit: Envisionment Building

The Center for English Learning and Achievement (CELA) has made these two great resources available for teachers. Authored by Dr. Judith Langer and Elizabeth Close, both documents contain concise explanations of envisionment and concrete suggestions for creating a classroom where students have rich interactions with literature. Improving Literary Understanding Through Classroom Conversation Effective Literature Instruction…

video: Starting Out

“My job is to circulate and re-motivate kids when they stall [and] challenge them to take further steps in the discussion. Hopefully…I can keep them discussing and enjoying a poem; it helps push them to a higher level of understanding.” Jonathan Holden, 4th-Grade Teacher Nathan Hale Elementary School Roxbury, Massachusetts Students often don’t know how…

section: Reflect on Your Learning | Building Comprehension

…What classroom practices might you change or modify? What new instructional practices will you implement in your classroom? How will you use the ideas presented in this video to improve the comprehension of your struggling readers? Final Project If you are taking this workshop for credit, complete the next section of the Literacy Practices Portfolio….

section: Reflect on Your Learning | Assessment and Accountability

…if you are taking this workshop for credit, include it in your Literacy Practices Portfolio. Which classroom assessment practices most closely reflect what you do or would like to do? What are the challenges you face in implementing effective classroom assessment? What changes will you make to address those challenges? How can you prepare your…

unit: Envisionment Building | Making Meaning in Literature: A Workshop for Teachers, Grades 6-8

The Center for English Learning and Achievement (CELA) has made these two great resources available for teachers. Authored by Dr. Judith Langer and Elizabeth Close, both documents contain concise explanations of envisionment and concrete suggestions for creating a classroom where students have rich interactions with literature. Improving Literary Understanding Through Classroom Conversation Effective Literature Instruction…

section: Reflect on Your Learning | Teaching English Language Learners

What Did You Learn? Assignment Think about what you have learned about teaching English language learners from Professor Jiménez’s comments and the classroom examples. Write a summary of what you have learned. Use the questions below to guide your thinking. When you have finished, save your written work to submit as an assignment and, if…

video: Engagement and Dialogue: Judith Ortiz Cofer and Nikki Grimes

…school year. In a culminating project, the students create their own visual symbols to represent the characters and events in the text. They then explore works by Nikki Grimes and examine her craft as a writer. Grimes visits the classroom, answers questions about her work, and attends an after-school reading of student poetry. As teacher…

video: Social Justice and Action: Alma Flor Ada, Pam Muñoz Ryan, and Paul Yee

…Paul Yee, and compare characters’ hopes, expectations, and actual experiences upon arriving in the United States. The students conduct research, which includes interviews with family members and nonfiction readings. Alma Flor Ada visits the classroom, answers questions about her novel, and facilitates discussion about social justice and taking action for change. As a culminating project,…

unit: What Is Disciplinary Literacy?

INTRODUCTION When students enter middle and high school, their teachers expect that they have learned the basic skills and strategies for reading and comprehending text. Students who are still working to develop these proficiencies may need assistance from their classroom teachers and, in some cases, from specialists in reading or special education, to support their…

unit: What is Envisionment Building?

The Center for English Learning and Achievement (CELA) has made these two great resources available for teachers. Authored by Dr. Judith Langer and Elizabeth Close, both documents contain concise explanations of envisionment and concrete suggestions for creating a classroom where students have rich interactions with literature. Improving Literary Understanding Through Classroom Conversation Effective Literature Instruction…

section: Expert Interview Transcript: Richard Huganir, Ph.D.

Professor of Neuroscience; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Richard Huganir, PhD, is a professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His laboratory is working to understand the interaction of molecules during long-term potentiation, a neuronal hyperactivity that is thought to underlie learning and memory….

video: View & Analyze the Video

Video Summary In “Valuing Diversity in Learners,” Professor Marjorie Hall Haley of George Mason University in Virginia talks about ways of addressing multiple learning styles and levels in a standards-based foreign language classroom. Professor Haley also joins a round-table discussion on effective instructional practices for diverse learners and methods for connecting research to practice. The…

section: Class Context

…when giving corrective feedback is to repeat what the student said in a questioning way to encourage students to notice their own errors and build self-correction skills. Ms. Quackenbush uses classroom setup and materials to support her teaching. She fills her classroom with tables (not desks) because she feels that tables promote conversation. This year,…

video: Creating a Literate Community

…more self-directed learners Factors Related to This Session Accessible reading material Accessible writing material Purposeful room and wall displays Classroom routines “You create a classroom that’s…attractive, that has lots of good books in it, has some nice bulletin boards or wall displays. It seems very simple. But in truth, it’s really not.” Jeanne R. Paratore…

Annenberg Learner

…Photographs Across the Curriculum Science Physics for the 21st Century Workshops & Courses Professional Development Browse list of multimedia PD resources to improve your teaching practice. View all Education Neuroscience & the Classroom: Making Connections English Language ArtsEducationMathematicsScienceSocial Studies & History Reading & Writing in the Disciplines English Language Arts In Search of the Novel…

section: Class Context

…target language in the classroom. For example, she has set up a classroom “store” at which two students play the role of shopkeepers and ask the other students what supplies they need for class activities. Because her course is so unique, she has had to develop her own curriculum over the years. “I refer to…

video: Creating a Classroom Culture

…more effectively. Teacher: Darby Masland School: The Urban Assembly Institute of Math and Science for Young Women, New York, NY Grade: 9 Discipline: Social Studies (Global Studies) Lesson Topic: “Grassroots lesson” (a focus on skills with which students are struggling) Lesson Month: March Number of Students: 18 Other: This classroom is in an all-girls school….

section: Freedom of Religion — Other Lessons

…Court cases that are relevant to the lessons. Controversial Issues in Practice By Maria Gallo Law-related education is a perfect vehicle for teaching controversial issues. Among my students, I have found that the subject of religion and the state can provoke some very heated classroom discussion, of the kind that spills into the hall and…

section: Part B: Developing Statistical Reasoning (40 minutes)

…2 classrooms, students are expected to do the following: The line plot (also commonly referred to as a dot plot in elementary classrooms) below displays the raisin data collected by the students in Ms. Sabanosh’s first-grade classroom: See Note 3 below.             Problem B1 Imagine yourself in a conversation with…

video: Watch the Video | Differentiating Instruction

…Next, she presents classroom practices and routines that reflect the research and support flexible grouping for reading instruction. Use the video image below to locate where to begin viewing. An accompanying lecture transcript (PDF) is also available. Video Segment – Dr. Paratore’s Lecture Find this segment approximately 3 minutes and 35 seconds after the begining…

video: Learning from Professional Writers

What can young writers learn from those who make their living through writing? Educators, researchers, and noted authors consider this question, offering innovative ways to bring the voice of the professional into the classroom. Teachers show how professional works by favorite writers can be the seeds for engaging classroom activities, while authors talk about their…

video: Diversity in Texts

…to understand human nature, yourself, and how to get along in the world. Reading a variety of genres, styles of writing, and literature portraying many ways of life builds literate thought and minds. These diverse text experiences provide opportunities for lively discussions that support envisionment building in the classroom. The kinds of literary experiences you…

section: Controversial Public Policy Issues — Teacher Perspectives

JoEllen Ambrose, who has been teaching social studies for 23 years, teaches law to seniors at Champlin Park High School in Champlin, Minnesota. In these interview excerpts, she talks about her approach to discussing controversial issues in the classroom. The particular issue her class debated was racial profiling. The discussion was governed by a formal…

section: Freedom of Religion — Teacher Perspectives

Kristen Borges, who majored in political science and has a Master’s degree in social sciences, has been teaching at Southwest High School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the last six years. In these interview excerpts, which were taped when her class was involved in a simulation of a Supreme Court trial on a First Amendment case,…

video: Many Students: Many Voices and Abilities

“If I had a homogenous classroom with all the same kids, all at the same reading level, I’d be disenchanted. But every day is a new surprise with kids bringing to the table and discussions new material and new thoughts.” -Jonathan Holden, 4th -Grade Teacher, Nathan Hale Elementary School, Roxbury, Massachusetts Diversity in American classrooms…

section: Resources

video: Using Art and Other Disciplines To Enrich Classroom Conversations

…have integrated these alternative response modes—both formally and informally—into their classrooms. In spite of potential difficulties with organization and order, these teachers feel strongly that the value alternate response modes bring students far outweighs possible disadvantages. Not only are their classrooms livelier, and their students more engaged, but they have also found the conversations more…

video: Designing the Classroom to Support Understanding

Kristen Ferrales explains how she intentionally designs her classroom to create an effective learning environment. Teacher: Kristin Ferrales School: The Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice, New York, NY Grade: 11 Discipline: History (Global Research) Lesson Topic: Socratic Seminar: Lasting impacts of the Haitian Revolution Lesson Month: March Number of Students: 21 Other: This…

video: Learning in a Blended Classroom

Leon Young explains how he integrates technology into the classroom to support blended learning. Teacher: Leon Young School: REALM Charter School, Berkeley, CA Grade: 8 Discipline: Mathematics (Algebra 1) Lesson Topic: Arithmetic sequences Lesson Month: January Number of Students: 23 Other: REALM, the Revolutionary Education and Learning Movement, is a project-based and technology-rich charter school….

video: A Shared Path

What kind of atmosphere do students need to grow as writers? This session concentrates on the “hows” and “whys” that answer that question. The featured teachers talk about the physical set-up of a writing community, the importance of reading in a writing classroom, and their own roles as co-writers in the community, showing how these…

unit: Reading in Mathematics

video: Staying on Topic

Martha Duran-Contreras’s Second-Grade Class Teacher: Martha Duran-Contreras Years Teaching: 22 School: Will Rogers School, Santa Monica, CA Grade: Second Class Size: 22 Students Lesson Dates: October 16 and 17 “Creating a community of learners is the most important thing I do all year long. Because in establishing a community for them I make the students…

video: Foundations

“When we read something, we build envisionments that help us make sense of the text. Our ideas grow and change and become more full or complex over time. In the classroom, we want our students to do the same thing.” -Dr. Judith Langer, Director, National Research Center on English Learning & Achievement (CELA), State University…

video: Looking at Literature

…teachers are often those who initially came to the profession because of their own deeply felt love of literature. Novice or maestro, they typically enter their classrooms seeking to transfer that passion to their students. In this workshop you will listen to eight such teachers, passionate about literature and about conveying that passion to their…

video: Teaching Poetry

unit: Bringing It All Together – Science

…to focus on reading skills—and independently on writing skills—but as students gain proficiency, the next level is for them to always be reading and writing. Cultivating a classroom norm where students easily and frequently move back and forth without really compartmentalizing reading and writing as separate literacies can have a powerful impact. Reading and writing…

section: Put It Into Practice | Teaching English Language Learners

Choose Activities In this section, you will build on what you have learned and develop strategies that you can use in your own classroom. The following activities are designed to help assess your multicultural books and to use students’ interests to plan instruction. Choose one or more of the activities from the list below. Activity…

video: Borrowing From the Arts To Enhance Learning

Fifth-grade students designed visual representations of their own personal histories at Browns Mill Elementary School in Lithonia, Georgia. Teachers use arts-based techniques to engage their students’ minds, bodies, and emotions, adding vitality and context to day-to-day learning experiences: At Maria Mitchell Elementary School in Denver, Colorado, Penny Suazo raises achievement in her class of active…

unit: Big Ideas in Literacy – Science

…strategies for developing science literacy. Students and instructors can benefit from an approach that combines literacy practices with discipline-specific content. The videos that accompany and complement these units show how practicing classroom teachers are taking a variety of creative approaches to disciplinary literacy through modeling, mentoring, group work, and iterative inquiry. Acquiring literacy is the…

session: Arabic: Making Sales Calls

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Eric Bartolotti Language Arabic I Grades 9 and 11 School Watertown High School, Watertown, Massachusetts Lesson Date April 13 Class Size 10 Schedule 1 hour, 4–5 days per week اضغط هنا للترجمة باللغة العربية Video Summary In this lesson, high school students demonstrate their ability to use basic greetings and…

workshop: Historical References in the Arts

Learner Team member Jan Adkisson, also known as the principal of Drew Model School in Arlington, Virginia, explores how the hat she created affects the way she moves. How does art history inform and influence contemporary works of art? How do individual art forms affect or inform each other in a multi-arts work? In this…

section: Part A: Statistics as a Problem-Solving Process (30 minutes)

…Too often, classrooms focus on the techniques of making data displays without engaging children in the process. However, it is important to include children in all aspects of the process for solving statistical problems. The process studied in this course consisted of four components:   Children often talk about numbers out of context and lose…

section: Reflect on Your Learning | Teaching Diverse Learners

What Did You Learn? Assignment Consider what you have learned about diverse learners from Professor Strickland’s statements, the classroom examples, and the readings and activities in this session. Write a summary of what you have learned. Use the questions below to guide your thinking. When you have finished, save your written work to submit as…

lesson: Featured Classroom: Linda Block, Castro Valley, CA

…San Francisco Unified School District. She has taught second through eighth grades, but most of her teaching experience has been with fourth and fifth graders. For two years she left the classroom to become a teacher in residence at the Exploratorium’s Institute for Inquiry, where she worked with teachers in classrooms and provided professional development….

video: Classroom Case Studies, K-2

…get some insights into your own conception of geometric reasoning. It may have been difficult to separate your thinking as a mathematics learner from your thinking as a mathematics teacher. Not surprisingly, this is often the case! In this session, however, we will shift the focus to your own classroom and to the approaches your…

video: Classroom Case Studies, 3-5

…to get some insights into your own conception of geometric reasoning. It may have been difficult to separate your thinking as a mathematics learner from your thinking as a mathematics teacher. Not surprisingly, this is often the case! In this session, however, we will shift the focus to your own classroom and to the approaches…

video: Engaging Students in Active Learning

section: Before you Watch

unit: Arts Education

Every child has a right to expect an education rich in knowledge of the arts, as have students in societies dating back to ancient civilizations. We know that arts education provides avenues to crucial modes of thinking and learning. It helps students on many levels with all academic subjects as well as developing an understanding…

workshop: Delivering the Message

…or oral presentational task that has students focus on a particular audience? In this session, you’ll review relevant research, observe video discussions and classroom examples, and do a culminating activity on the presentational mode of communication. At the end of this session, you will better understand how to: take audience into consideration when designing written…

video: Classroom Case Studies, 6-8

…some insights into your own conception of geometric reasoning. It may have been difficult to separate your thinking as a mathematics learner from your thinking as a mathematics teacher. Not surprisingly, this is often the case! In this session, however, we will shift the focus to your own classroom and to the approaches your students…

workshop: Meaningful Interpretation

Invoking the interpretive mode is one of the most creative ways to make a text personal to all kinds of learners. Every student in a classroom can come to appreciate a text on his or her own level. – Virginia Scott Chair of French and Italian Vanderbilt University Learning Goals How can you build your…

video: Cognitive Neuroscience

Essay: Understanding Cognitive Neuroscience The experiments in this program help illustrate not only the brain’s flexibility and responsiveness, but also how we measure these responses and changes. Through a variety of instruments, doctors are able to take pictures of the brain, but only as recently as the 1990s did functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) make…

video: A Better Brain: The Ethics of Neuro-Enhancement

As our story begins, Maria, a teacher, sits at a school assembly, where a graduate who now works at Hype Pharmaceuticals describes a new drug called Alerta. Developed for people with narcolepsy, it allows someone to forego sleep for extended periods of time. Maria doesn’t have narcolepsy—she is perfectly healthy, in fact—but she does have…

video: View & Analyze the Video

Video Summary In “Subjects Matter,” Patsy Lightbown, Professor Emeritus of Concordia University in Montreal, addresses the balance between form and content in a content-based language classroom. Professor Lightbown also joins a round-table discussion on effective ways of planning for content-based instruction, moderated by University of Pittsburgh professor Richard Donato, and including teachers Jai Scott of…

video: Research and Discovery: Edwidge Danticat, An Na, Laurence Yep, and more

…away from the unit thinking about injustice and inspired to do something about it. Teacher educator Jerome Harste comments, “Often curriculum stays at an intellectual level, not at a social practice level. And what we need to do is open up space in our classrooms so that kids can position themselves differently. [So they can…

video: Program 14: Modeling Revision

Watch the 30-minute video “Modeling Revision.” Apply what you learned in “Learning to Revise” as you watch the extended video of a classroom example. Answer the questions that follow each segment, jotting down your answers in your notebook or using them as discussion starters. Nicole Outsen’s Class Nicole Outsen and her fifth-grade students are writing…

video: Moving Through

…readers enter this close transaction with a text, they often have more questions than answers. Not only is this expected in the envisionment-building process, it is celebrated. By capitalizing on the experiences and questions of many, each individual in the classroom community creates a fuller, but somewhat unique, vision of the text than what might…

lesson: Featured Classroom: Melissa Minnick, Walkersville, MD

…what they see in their world to what they’re doing in the classroom, and realize that science is all around them.”   School at a Glance: Glade Elementary School Location: Walkersville, MD Enrollment: 588 Students per teacher: 16.7 Ethnicity: 94% White 3% African American 2% Hispanic Percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch: 6%…

video: Watch the Video | Connecting School and Home

Lecture In this section, you will watch Dr. Paratore’s lecture on connecting school and home literacy practices. Print Dr. Paratore’s Connecting School and Home Lecture Posters (PDF). Use the posters to take notes on the lecture. In this video segment, Dr. Paratore presents research related to parent involvement in children’s literacy development. These findings suggest…

session: New Literacies of the Internet

…how these new literacies are changing the way we teach. You will learn how to integrate technology into your literacy curriculum and enhance literacy learning in your classroom.   Learning Goals At the end of this session, you will better understand how to: organize your curriculum and instruction to meet the demands of the new…

video: Going Further in Discussion

Introduction “I think literature’s job is to help kids find their way and see their way in books. It’s hopefully illuminating the challenges that we have as people in this world.” Barry Hoonan 5th and 6th Grades Teacher, The Odyssey School Bainbridge Island, Washington Orchestrating meaningful literature discussions is a delicate dance. Teachers must artfully…

video: Social Justice and Action: Joseph Bruchac and Francisco Jiménez

This program begins with profiles of the featured authors, then moves on to Chicago, Illinois, where Lisa Espinosa’s seventh-grade students explore themes of representation through literature, documentary film, and photography. The students look critically at past and current media depictions of African Americans, Latino/as, and Native Americans, and examine ways in which artists and writers…

section: Commentary

video: Historical and Cultural Context: Langston Hughes and Christopher Moore

section: Commentary

video: Research and Discovery: Shirley Sterling and Laura Tohe

At the Skokomish reservation in Washington State, Sally Brownfield and her eighth-grade students study the literature and issues related to the Indian boarding school program through community involvement and self-examination. Brownfield begins with her students’ questions and supports them through a cycle of investigation, discussion, presentation, and reflection as they seek answers. The students use…

section: Part B: An Example for Developing Algebraic Thinking (20 minutes)

…mathematical models to represent and understand quantitative relationships • Analyze change in various contexts For the classroom in Grade 3-5, understanding patterns includes the following expectations: • Describe, extend, and make generalizations about geometric and numeric patterns • Represent and analyze patterns and functions, using words, tables, and graphs • Represent the idea of a…

section: Teaching Strategies

video: Program 12: Peer Conferences

Watch the 30-minute video “Peer Conferences.” Apply what you have learned in “Conversations Among Writing Peers” as you watch the extended video of classroom examples. Answer the questions that follow each segment, jotting down your answers in your notebook or using them as discussion starters. Jeanne Boiarsky’s Class After describing “Receiving the Piece” to her…

video: Classroom Case Studies, 3-5

…classroom and to the approaches your students might take to mathematical tasks involving number and operations concepts. As in other sessions, you will be prompted to view short video segments throughout the session; you may also choose to watch the full-length video for this session. See Note 1 below. LEARNING OBJECTIVES In this session, you…

video: Classroom Case Studies, K-2

…classroom and to the approaches your students might take to mathematical tasks involving number and operations concepts. As in other sessions, you will be prompted to view short video segments throughout the session; you may also choose to watch the full-length video for this session. See Note 1 below. LEARNING OBJECTIVES In this session, you…

video: Program 8: Teaching a Specific Writing Strategy

Watch the 30-minute video “Teaching a Specific Writing Strategy.” Apply what you have learned in “Teaching the Writing Craft” as you watch the extended video of classroom examples. Answer the questions that follow each segment, jotting down your answers in your notebook or using them as discussion starters. Silvia Edgerton’s Class In this segment, Silvia…

section: Teaching Strategies

video: California Missions

…of art and multimedia exhibits for parents’ night, during which the students will serve as docents and explain to classroom visitors what they have learned. Class at a Glance Teacher: Osvaldo Rubio Grade: 4 School: Sherman Oaks Community Charter School Location: San Jose, California Themes and Standards Addressed in This Lesson “California Missions” highlights the…

section: Part B: An Example for Developing Algebraic Thinking (25 minutes)

…Use mathematical models to represent and understand quantitative relationships • Analyze change in various contexts For the classroom in grades 6-8, understanding patterns includes the following expectations: • Represent, analyze, and generalize a variety of patterns with tables, graphs, words, and, when possible, symbolic rules • Relate and compare different forms of representation for relationships…

lesson: Featured Classroom: LauraJo Kelly, Brooklyn, NY

…we’d move onto seeds…I wanted something with more continuity.” That, combined with never having had a passion for science as a child herself, left her feeling like she wasn’t getting through to her students in science. In her third year in the classroom she was asked to pioneer the SCIS curriculum in her school. She…

section: Part B: An Example for Developing Algebraic Thinking (25 minutes)

…symbols • Use mathematical models to represent and understand quantitative relationships • Analyze change in various contexts For the Pre-K-2 classroom, understanding patterns includes the following expectations: • Recognize, describe, and extend patterns such as sequences of sounds and shapes or simple numeric patterns, and translate from one representation to another • Analyze how repeating…

unit: Reading and Analyzing Texts

session: French: Touring a French City

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Robin Neuman Language French Grades 8 School Concord Middle School, Concord, Massachusetts Lesson Date January 17 Class Size 19 Schedule 48 minutes, four days a week Video Summary In this lesson, students practice how to give and follow directions. Students begin by describing several buildings in a classroom-sized model they…

video: Watch the Video | Teaching Writing as a Process

Lecture In this section, you will watch Dr. Paratore’s lecture on teaching writing as a process. Print Dr. Paratore’s Writing Process Lecture Posters (PDF). Use the posters to take notes on the lecture. In this video segment, Dr. Paratore reviews the principles of effective writing instruction. The lecture focuses on writing as a process and…

unit: Building New Neural Networks

lesson: Featured Classroom: Linsey Newton; Hudson, MA

…And the FOSS curriculum has really opened my eyes to see how children can look at science as [more than] factual information fed to them by their teacher, and really explore and learn science through their own experiences and from what they see in the classroom.” According to Dr. Camins, “In Hudson, we have three…

lesson: Featured Classroom: Laurie Wicks; Middletown, DE

…Wicks. And so, while engaged in her “second career” — staying at home with her children for a few years — she worked to become certified for her third. Laurie is now in her eighth year in the classroom, and fifth year teaching third grade. Laurie shares two homerooms with a partner, and the two…

Should schools allow discussions of controversial issues? (Part I)

…Ferguson, Mo. in schools, because “parents complained … that some teachers were interjecting their own opinions into class discussions rather than objectively guiding discussion for students.” While it’s true that discussions about emotionally charged or controversial issues must be handled carefully in the classroom, what message do teachers send when they have to tell their…

lesson: Featured Classroom: Barbara Waters with Robin Geggett; Mashpee, Massachusetts

…interested in the constructivist approach to teaching, which, in the 1980’s, was not yet strongly advocated to classroom teachers. For her master’s thesis, Barbara combined her two interests, and one of the results of her work is the grades 4-8 curriculum Watershed to Bay: The Raindrop Journey. For the video, Barbara worked with Robin Geggett’s…

session: Arabic: People Who Help Us

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Khamael Alaloom Language Arabic Grades: 1 School William Ford Elementary School, Dearborn, Michigan Lesson Date April 7 Class Size 21 Schedule 45 minutes, once a week اضغط هنا للترجمة باللغة العربية   Video Summary In this lesson, Khamael Alaloom introduces her first-grade class to people who help in the community…

lesson: Featured Classroom: Duke Dawson, Science Consultant with Debbie Bastian; Worcester, Massachusetts

…Anna Marie College and Clark University. For the video, Duke worked with Debbie Bastian’s fifth-graders at the Goddard School of Science and Technology. Now in her tenth year in the classroom and second year as a fifth-grade teacher, Debbie is preparing to return to school for her masters in education, with a focus in reading….

lesson: Featured Classroom: Ariel Owen and Jeff Parrish; Walnut Creek, CA

…in the classroom ever since — an impressive 32 years. Though not formally teamed, Jeff and Ariel are the only 6th-grade science teachers at Foothill, and they work together closely, following approximately the same lesson plans and freely exchanging ideas. Recently, both have been working with an online, inquiry-based curriculum called WISE, which was developed…

section: Reflect on Your Learning | New Literacies of the Internet

What Did You Learn? Assignment Consider what you have learned about teaching new literacies from Professor Leu’s comments, the classroom examples, and the readings and activities in this session. Write a summary of what you have learned. Use the questions below to guide your thinking. When you have finished, save your written work to submit…

section: Teaching Strategies

section: Teaching Strategies

video: Three Leaders at Arts-Based Schools

Assistant Principal Rory Pullens of Smith Renaissance School of the Arts in Denver, Colorado. Administrators of three successful arts-based schools share their insights and practical management strategies: Principal Martha Rodriguez-Torres leveraged her approach to arts-based learning to transform the low-performing P.S. 156 into The Waverly School of the Arts, a source of pride and accomplishment…

section: Reflect on Your Learning | Writing

What Did You Learn?   Assignment Consider what you have learned about effective writing instruction from Professor Ruiz’s statements and the classroom examples. Write a summary of what you have learned. Use the questions below to guide your thinking. When you have finished, save your written work to submit as an assignment and, if you…

section: Part A: Classroom Video (30 minutes)

To begin the exploration of what algebraic thinking looks like in a classroom at your grade level, watch a video segment of a teacher who has taken the “Patterns, Functions, and Algebra” course and has adapted the mathematics to her own teaching situation. When viewing the video, keep the following three questions in mind: Note…

section: Teaching Strategies

Asking: Finding Inquiry Topics and Questions Investigating: Collecting and Working with Information Creating: Making Presentations Reflecting and Transforming: Writing, Thinking, and Acting on the Inquiry Process Resources…

video: Engagement and Dialogue: Julia Alvarez, James McBride, Lensey Namioka, and more

In New York City, Carol O’Donnell and her seventh-grade students explore themes of multiple worlds and dual identities. They read poetry by Diana Chang and Naomi Shihab Nye; James McBride’s memoir, The Color of Water; and essays and short stories by Gish Jen, Khoi Luu, Lensey Namioka, and Julia Alvarez; and watch Tina Lee perform…

section: Session Author and Literary Works: Keith Gilyard

…grown up “a Native Black English speaker in an urban public school environment” who acquired not only strong Standard English language skills, but the “socio-linguistic competence” to be successful in a variety of settings, Gilyard explores the question of the place of culture, race, and language in the classroom. Voices of the Self alternates chapters…

unit: Conversations With Student Writers

All teachers understand the value of responding personally to student work. But how do you use that feedback to help students improve their writing? In this workshop, you will examine the practical issues of planning and conducting writing conferences. You will also see classroom examples of formal and informal writing conferences. I still find conferring…

section: Commentary

video: View & Analyze the Video

As you reflect on these questions, write down your responses or discuss them as a group. Before You Watch Respond to the following questions: How might you connect with content of other disciplines? What content areas might enhance the learning of your students? What kinds of activities engage young children in the language classroom? What…

lesson: Featured Classroom: Rebecca Cituk, Portsmouth, RI

…School is divided into “learning centers,” each with about 70 students. Each learning center is in a square that’s divided by walls that can open and close. In Rebecca’s center, there are three classrooms and one open classroom. The students rotate from one class to the other and see different teachers throughout the day. According…

session: Assessment and Accountability

How can assessment improve students’ reading and writing? How do teachers assess student performance as they teach? In this session, literacy expert Kathryn Au discusses the importance of integrating assessment practices with classroom instruction on a daily basis. You will learn how to use assessment results to plan instruction, improve students’ reading and writing, and…

section: Constitutional Convention — Essential Readings

The following essential readings are available below: Authentic Intellectual Work in Social Studies: Putting Performance before Pedagogy Assessment in a Social Contructivist Classroom  …

section: Part A: Classroom Video (30 minutes)

To begin the exploration of what algebraic thinking looks like in a classroom at your grade level, watch a video segment of a teacher who has taken the “Patterns, Functions, and Algebra” course and has adapted the mathematics to her own teaching situation. When viewing the video, keep the following three questions in mind: Note…

section: Part A: Classroom Video (30 minutes)

To begin the exploration of what algebraic thinking looks like in a classroom at your grade level, watch a video segment of a teacher who has taken the “Patterns, Functions, and Algebra” course and has adapted the mathematics to her own teaching situation. When viewing the video, keep the following three questions in mind: Note…

video: Success Story: Dr. Todd Rose

Dr. Todd Rose is a research scientist with CAST and a faculty member at Harvard Graduate School of Education, teaching Educational Neuroscience. He lectures internationally on learning sciences, working memory, and the role of neuroscience in learning design and digital education.

video: Technology for Every Student?

…regardless of their particular profiles of cognitive strengths and weaknesses. Prof. Rose is a research scientist with CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology) and a faculty member at Harvard Graduate School of Education, teaching educational neuroscience. He lectures internationally on learning sciences, working memory, and the role of neuroscience in learning design and digital education….

video: Before You Watch | Differentiating Instruction

…the use of a flexible grouping model for literacy instruction. She reviews basic formats for flexible grouping, and applies the research to effective teaching practices and routines that advance all students’ reading development. The workshop participants watch classroom excerpts illustrating instruction in different grouping formats. They then relate the classroom practices to their own teaching….

video: Civic Engagement — Workshop Session

…they progress through their high school years. In this Human Geography class taught by Bill Mittlefehldt, a 30-year veteran of the classroom, students work in teams to define a project, choose and meet with a community partner who can help educate them about the seriousness of the issue and its current status, conduct further research…

section: Part B: Statistics as a Problem-Solving Process (45 minutes)

…data to answer them • Select and use appropriate statistical methods to analyze data • Develop and evaluate inferences and predictions that are based on data • Understand and apply basic concepts of probability In the grades 6-8 classroom for data analysis and statistics, students are expected to do the following: • Formulate questions, design…

section: Civic Engagement — Other Lessons

…between the classroom and what is happening in the community. Students develop a deeper sense of caring about others, as well as the ability to put their caring into practice. [Although] many of the materials in this publication have been adapted from ACT, the overall framework focuses on ACT’s five fundamental steps. A Working Definition…

video: Quadratic Functions

Quadratic functions model a number of real-world situations. They describe the path of a ball in flight, represent a cross section of a headlight’s reflector, and enable business people to forecast sales….

section: Extend Your Knowledge | Assessment and Accountability

Examine the Topic High-stakes testing to measure proficiency in reading and writing has become a reality for students, beginning in grade 3. While this testing continues to be controversial, literacy experts and classroom teachers acknowledge the importance of preparing students to do well on these tests. Read the following statements by Professor Au and by…

video: Before You Watch | Using Assessment To Guide Instruction

…decisions. In her lecture, Dr. Jeanne R. Paratore reviews the principles of classroom-based assessment and engages the workshop participants in a discussion of their own assessment practices. The participants then watch and discuss a set of classroom excerpts illustrating Dr. Paratore’s lecture. In the final activity, workshop participants assess a first-grader’s reading and writing samples….

Classroom Resources

Search the classroom resources you need here using the filter and search bar.

video: Classroom Case Studies, 6-8

…own classroom and to the approaches your students might take to mathematical tasks involving number and operations concepts.   As in other sessions, you will be prompted to view short video segments throughout the session; you may also choose to watch the full-length video for this session. Note 1 Learning Objectives In this session, you…

video: Introduction to the Library

The “Introduction to the Library” video summarizes the goals and content of Teaching Foreign Languages K–12: A Library of Classroom Practices. It includes excerpts from the video library and methodology workshops as well as reflections from teachers, students, and experts in the field. The video library excerpts capture the range of foreign language teaching practices…

section: Class Context

…through teaching, and the other student is learning from a peer. – Eric Bartolotti     YEAR AT A GLANCE The Alphabet; Pronunciation; Introducing Myself Asking Questions; Singing the Alphabet Classroom Objects; Who Am I?; Numbers 1–10 Colors; Expressing Wants and Needs Possessions How Many/How Much?; Numbers 20–100 Making Phone Calls; Using Numbers to Describe…

section: Class Context

…learning goals. He then considers how to work in activities developed around the Five C goal areas, with particular emphasis on Interpersonal, Interpretive, and Presentational Communication. Mr. Joundeya typically has students complete reading and writing assignments outside the classroom. Inside the classroom, he wants students to practice authentic conversation. They exchange customary greetings with Mr….

section: Class Context

…learned the curriculum using over 70 songs. – Jai Scott     YEAR AT A GLANCE Songs; Body Parts; Colors; Numbers Apples Parts of the Classroom Letter of the Week (ongoing) The Farm Science Unit (buoyancy) Halloween National French Week Thanksgiving Winter Holidays Winter (clothing, weather, sports) Journal Writing (start writing) Black History Month 100th…

Free K-12 Educational Resources (online and for noncommercial broadcasting)

…can use directly from www.learner.org. Search classroom resources by grade levels and subject areas. Some video resources also include coordinated online materials, such as user guides, downloadable textbooks, labs and interactives, and more. Or look at the full list of available content and professional development resources, under Series Availability in our FAQ. You can also find…

Press Release: Annenberg Foundation and Two Bit Circus Foundation Ignite Lifelong Love for Arts and Sciences with Free STEAM-Based Online Projects

…them take agency over their own learning. We’re excited to have Annenberg Learner, a leader in advancing education, share our hands-on curriculum to their wide range of followers, inspiring the next generation of inventors.” For nearly three decades, Annenberg Learner has funded and distributed multimedia resources for K-12 classroom instruction and teacher professional development. And…

unit: Argument Writing

…argument focused on discipline-specific content, (2) writing as informative/explanatory texts, and (3) writing as narrative. Classroom historical investigations that incorporate argument writing fulfill the criteria for the first of these two text types. Depending on the framing of the writing assignment, the third text type could also be fulfilled by argument writing. Argument writing is…

section: Class Context

Students have to speak French constantly to have a high degree of ability to speak the language. It has to be something that is done every time they enter the classroom. -Yvette Heno   YEAR AT A GLANCE French IV Unit 1 Review of French history and geography up to the Middle Ages Music: Best…

video: Exploring Unity and Diversity

video: Planning and Professional Development

…who they are as individuals. They are interested in new developments in their subject matter. They consider new understandings about thinking and teaching and learning, and wonder how they might be applicable to their classrooms. Posing questions and seeking answers are foundational aspects of their professional lives. Some of this learning is informal. Effective teachers…

video: Assessment

…effective teachers develop curriculum, they are conscious of the ways in which both they and their students will assess progress and developing understandings. Assessment becomes an organic component of classroom instruction, and evaluation in such classrooms is designed to target the specific knowledge, skills, and understandings identified by curricular standards, presented via explicit instruction, and…

video: Literature, Art, and Other Disciplines

Introduction “One of the problems with integrating literature [and] other domains is the belief that there has to be some grandiose formal plan. And there does not. It can be very impromptu.” Dorothy Franklin 7th Grade Teacher, DeWitt Clinton Elementary School Chicago, Illinois Across the country, teachers are offering students doorways into literature via the…

video: Encouraging Discussion

…discussion in their literature classrooms? What instructional techniques encourage students to discuss literature and how do we plan for these discussions? In this workshop, eight middle school teachers address these concerns and share strategies they use to support and nurture students’ discussion of literature. For a complete guide to the workshop session activities, download and…

video: Writing in the 21st Century

Evolving technology has expanded the tools available to all writers. It has also opened new venues — with new requirements — for their work. How can teachers make the best use of these new resources? The teachers show some beginning steps they have taken to integrate technology into their instruction and their professional lives, and…

video: Different Purposes

Purpose directly relates to the form or genre selected to express writers’ ideas. In this session, the teachers examine this relationship, presenting classroom examples of students working in many genres, including persuasive writing, memoir, and poetry. Their subsequent analysis underscores what students can learn by examining commonalities and differences among genres and the value of…

video: Making Bread Together

Video Summary: Kindergarten teacher Meylin Gonzalez brings economic concepts to life in the classroom by creating a hands-on assembly line in which her students make bread. Ms. Gonzalez begins by reading a book entitled Pasta, Please to help students understand how pasta is made and where commercially prepared food comes from. Then they discuss the…

section: Part B: Developing Statistical Reasoning (45 minutes)

…data to answer them • Select and use appropriate statistical methods to analyze data • Develop and evaluate inferences and predictions that are based on data • Understand and apply basic concepts of probability In grades 3-5 classrooms, students are expected to use appropriate statistical methods to do the following: • Describe the shape and…

video: View & Analyze the Video

…languages.* The video addresses the following questions: How do you assess performance? How do the standards inform assessment? What are the roles of rubrics and feedback? *The classroom excerpts featured in this video are from the Teaching Foreign Languages K-12 video library. To learn more about the featured lessons, go to the Library Videos Chart….

section: Class Context

…parents of Arab descent, but may or may not speak Arabic in their household. She gives a placement test to any student with exposure to Arabic, whether it has been through his or her family, religious background, or prior study. The Lesson In this lesson, Ms. Mayalah’s class consisted of 12 students. Normally, her classroom…

video: Leaders, Community, and Citizens

Video Summary: How do you teach young students abstract concepts like the different levels and functions of government? First-grade teacher Cynthia Vaughn focuses on the connection between citizens, community issues, and civic leaders. Working as a class, students name the different elected positions in local, state, and national government (for example, mayor, governor, president), and…

section: Class Context

…Design Mrs. Alaloom sees her students just once a week and carefully manages her classroom to ensure she achieves content and language objectives. When designing her curriculum, she references Michigan’s state standards and the Five C goal areas to create unit goals and, from those, lessons. Most of her lessons incorporate the Five Cs. For…

session: Arabic: Making Plans

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Belal Joundeya Language Arabic V/VI Grades 9-12 School Lincoln High School, Portland, Oregon Lesson Date March 8 Class Size 20 Schedule 92 minutes, 2–3 times per week اضغط هنا للترجمة باللغة العربية Video Summary In this lesson, high school students in Belal Joundeya’s Arabic V/VI class engage in authentic conversations…

session: Spanish: Politics of Art

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Lori Langer de Ramirez Language Spanish V Grades 12 School Herricks High School, New Hyde Park, New York Lesson Date February 26 Class Size 22 Schedule 43 minutes daily Video Summary In this lesson, students read a letter written by prominent Colombian artists and intellectuals to Spain’s prime minister. The…

video: Introducing Arts Education

Costumes lead to inquiry about the arts and social studies in a fifth-grade class at Lusher Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana What Is Arts Education? (14 minutes) To get you thinking, here is a montage of insights from teachers and administrators plus examples of successful arts instruction in classrooms across America. In the Observations…

video: Bringing Artists to Your Community

Visiting musician Michael Stanwood works with third-grade teacher Sandi Waitman at Idalia School in Idalia, Colorado. In rural Idalia, Colorado, 150 miles from Denver, two visiting artists work with teachers to enhance learning at tiny Idalia School: Theatre artist Birgitta De Pree involves a kindergarten class in a storytelling activity that engages the imagination while…

video: Before You Watch | Teaching Writing as a Process

…various purposes for writing. She reviews the stages of the writing process and outlines the classroom practices that develop students’ writing. The workshop participants then watch and discuss two sets of classroom excerpts showing writing instruction in grades K-2. Following their discussion, they analyze their own instructional practices for teaching and managing their writing programs….

unit: Different Brains

unit: Teaching the Writing Craft

How can you target specific writing skills and strategies in your teaching? In this workshop, you will explore the role of whole-class instruction in the writing workshop and how lessons on particular writing skills can unfold over multiple days. Planning whole-class instruction begins with your required curriculum, what you know about writing, and what your…

section: Teaching Strategies: Manipulatives

Manipulatives: An old Chinese proverb states: I hear, and I forget; I see, and I remember; I do, and I understand. Manipulatives are hands-on tools that allow students to do mathematics. They provide physical representations of abstract concepts. As students often explain, “They help you see and touch the numbers” and “They let me see…

workshop: Building on New Ideas

…members reflect on instructional changes and consider where they’ll go next with the arts. In this session, you will take on roles from the school community to debate the importance of arts to education. You also will work in pairs to create a work of art that communicates your vision of arts in your classroom….

section: Assignments + Projects

video: Historical Change

Video Summary: In this lesson, David Kitts uses children’s literature and the local region’s agricultural heritage to introduce his first-grade class to the concept of historical change. Mr. Kitts begins with a timeline from a previous unit on the family. The timeline defines periods of time based on events that students can relate to, such…

video: Responding As Readers

Introduction For many years, Dr. Judith Langer has been studying how readers interact with texts and what the implications for teaching are, so that we can help students become more fully literate. Through the eyes of English and language arts educators, teacher educators, researchers, and writers, viewers have the unique opportunity to step back from…

video: Developing Students as Artists

In this Program Dance A dance teacher gives seniors leadership responsibilities and coaches their choreography. Theatre A theatre teacher mentors students who are progressing through a stagecraft and design curriculum. Music A vocal music teacher works with two classes: students learning to read music, and an advanced jazz ensemble. Visual Art Visual art teachers introduce…

video: Addressing the Diverse Needs of Students

In this Program Theatre A visiting theatre artist draws on the different learning styles of ninth-graders to help them understand and embrace the playwriting process. Visual Art A visual art teacher brings together honors art students and students with disabilities, so they can learn from each other.   Music As a music teacher works with…

video: Explorations in Archeology and History

Video Summary: How can ancient history and archeology be brought to life in the classroom? To launch her lesson on world civilizations, Gwen Larsen begins by looking at each student’s personal history. By taking on the roles of archeologists and presenting their own heirlooms, students learn how to decipher artifacts and make connections to the…

section: Put It Into Practice | Using Assessment To Guide Instruction

Choose Activities In this section, you will apply what you have learned to your own teaching. The three activities are designed to assist you in developing resources for assessing your students’ literacy development. Choose one or more from the list below to practice in your classroom. Activity 1. Use Assessment To Plan Instruction Analyze a…

video: Watch the Video | Word Study and Fluency

Lecture In this section, you will watch Dr. Paratore’s lecture on Word Study and Fluency. Print Dr. Paratore’s Word Study Lecture Posters (PDF). Use the posters to take notes on the lecture. In this video segment, Dr. Paratore presents and discusses the research-based principles of effective word study instruction. The lecture focuses on three areas…

video: Direct and Inverse Variation

Part 1: Direct Variation Direct variation is a critical topic in Algebra 1. A direct variation represents a specific case of linear function, and it can be used to model a number of real-world situations. Part 2: Inverse Variation Inverse variations are excellent vehicles for investigating nonlinear functions. A number of real-world phenomena are described…

section: Teaching Strategies: Concepts First, Skills Later

Teacher Peggy Lynn’s mathematics classroom probably looks different from many classrooms you have seen. That’s because Peggy teaches math in context, using special activities to bring out math concepts. Listen to audio clip of teacher Peggy Lynn   Audio from Peggy Lynn I’ve been teaching for 17 years, so when I first started teaching, I…

video: View & Analyze the Video

…and languages.* The video addresses the following questions: Who is the audience? How does audience influence oral and written presentations? How does feedback improve presentational communication? *The classroom excerpts featured in this video are from the Teaching Foreign Languages K-12 video library. To learn more about the featured lessons, go to the Library Videos Chart….

workshop: Rooted in Culture

…Training, Brattleboro, Vermont Learning Goals What is the importance of integrating culture into the study of a foreign language? In this session, you’ll review relevant research, observe video discussions and classroom examples, and do a culminating activity on integrating culture into your lessons. At the end of this session, you will better understand how to:…

section: Part A: Observing a Case Study (25 minutes)

To begin the exploration of what topics in number and operations look like in a classroom at your grade level, watch a video segment of a teacher who took the Number and Operations course and then adapted the mathematics to her own teaching situation. In the video segment, Ms. Donnell introduces students to That’s Logical!…

session: Arabic: How We Spend Our Free Time

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Katie Quackenbush Language Arabic I Grades 8 School Boston Latin Academy, Boston, Massachusetts Lesson Date May 8 Class Size 14 Schedule 47 minutes daily   اضغط هنا للترجمة باللغة العربية Video Summary In this lesson, eighth graders in Katie Quackenbush’s Arabic I class continue a unit on hobbies and practice…

section: Expert Interview Transcript: Fred Gage, Ph.D.

Professor of Genetics Fred Gage, Ph.D., is a professor in the Laboratory of Genetics at the Salk Institute in San Diego. His research is focused on the generation of new neurons during adulthood, an idea that runs counter to neuroscience dogma. Gage hopes that the work will one day lead to therapeutic uses for people…

lesson: Plant Life Cycles: Featured Classroom – Sally Florkiewicz, Lakewood, CO

Sally Florkiewicz, Lakewood, CO “The best part about teaching life science is that I think the kids really relate to it. It gives them a hands-on experience. They can actually sit and observe something and relate to it. Some of the other sciences are a little bit more abstract and they’re not able to have…

video: Reacting to Students’ Work

…5th -Grade Teacher, Indianapolis Public Schools Center for Inquiry, Indianapolis, Indiana Identifying appropriate and useful assessment tools is a complicated task in any classroom. In envisionment-building classrooms finding relevant means of assessment becomes even more complex. How do teachers fully assess students’ understandings of literary texts or students’ abilities to participate in discussions about those…

section: Teaching Strategies: Appropriate Use of Technology

…When he was writing things on the board, you could just see there was a structure there, and the color highlighted different pieces that he wanted to emphasize. It added a whole new dimension to the class. I think [Tom] really illustrated how new technologies can be used as effective tools in the mathematics classroom….

video: Celebrations of Light

Video Summary: Eileen Mesmer uses the theme of holidays to teach students about social studies. Throughout the year her class has read stories about different cultures’ holiday celebrations, prepared foods traditionally eaten during those holidays, learned holiday greetings in other languages, and studied artifacts related to the various holidays. Shifting the emphasis from how holiday…

video: Understanding Stereotypes

Video Summary: How would you teach your students about stereotyping? You might begin by asking, What is a stereotype? What is the impact of stereotypes on our lives? What actions can we take to stop the perpetuation of stereotypes? These are a few of the questions that fourth- and fifth-grade students in Libby Sinclair’s class…

video: Issues in Social Studies: Dealing With Controversial Issues

…democracy and that working with others to address multiple perspectives is a skill that students need to develop in a classroom context. All social studies teachers must inevitably deal with controversial issues, ranging from basic ideas of fairness and equality in a democracy, to immigration, to the distribution of world resources. Controversial issues require students…

section: Teaching Strategies

Annotating Text Small Peer Group Discussions Using Visual Imagery to Respond to Texts Finding Evidence in Texts Lodge Activity Resources…

unit: Learning To Revise

How can you help your students understand the value of revision and use what they know to improve their own writing? In this workshop, you will discover why students in the middle grades can be reluctant to revise, help them better understand the purpose of revision, and teach revision strategies they can use. A lot…

section: Authors and Literary Works

video: Different Audiences

…audiences in language arts and other disciplines, and audiences on other levels, such as those encountered in college and the job world. Classroom experiences show how writing community members think about, plan around, and address audience expectations. The teachers tackle the same theme for different audiences in a writer’s workshop led by Judith Ortiz Cofer….

unit: What is Envisionment Building?

…and middle grades (e.g., Andrasik 1990, Cianciolo & Quirk 1992; Close 1990, 1992; Goodman & Wilde 1992; Many & Wiseman 1992; McMahon 1992; Nystrand, Gamoran, & Heck 1993; Zancanella 1992, Zarillo & Cox 1992). Still others have been focusing on literature-based and whole language instruction at the primary level (e.g., Jipson & Paley 1992; Mills,…

unit: Reasons for Writing

In this workshop you will explore practices that motivate students to write and help them develop into independent, motivated writers. These effective practices include allowing students to make their own choices about their writing, helping them keep a writer’s notebook in which to record their thoughts and draw inspiration, and providing opportunities for students to…

video: Assessing Students’ Learning

video: Watch the Video | Supporting the English Language Learner

Lecture In this section, you will watch Dr. Gort’s lecture on reading instruction for English Language Learners in grades K-2. Print Dr. Gort’s English Language Learners Lecture Posters (PDF). Use the posters to take notes on the lecture. In this video segment, Dr. Gort presents and discusses research-based principles on second-language literacy development. The lecture…

video: Connecting School and Home

…teacher-parent communication Structured parent-teacher conferences Environments supporting home literacy Teacher-assigned home literacy activities Cultural differences in parents’ perceived roles — for themselves and for teachers   “There are rich resources within each family. If we can find out what those funds of knowledge are we can build on them in the classroom.” Jeanne R. Paratore…

section: Commentary

video: Flexible Grouping to Promote Learning

…and vocabulary. Teacher: Darby Masland School: The Urban Assembly Institute of Math and Science for Young Women, New York, NY Grade: 9 Discipline: Social Studies (Global Studies) Lesson Topic: “Grassroots lesson” (a focus on skills with which students are struggling) Lesson Month: March Number of Students: 18 Other: This classroom is in an all-girls school….

video: Standards and the Five Cs

…competence and cultural sensitivity in a world language. Through classroom examples and interviews with teachers, students, and experts in the field, this program begins to show how a range of teachers are using the Standards to advance their students’ language skills and engage them in lifelong learning. The video is organized according to the five…

session: French: Chicken Pox

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Jai Scott Language French Grades Kindergarten School Ecole Kenwood Alternative Elementary School, Columbus, Ohio Lesson Date November 11 Class Size 27 Schedule About 6 hours daily (immersion) Video Summary In this lesson, students demonstrate their knowledge of body parts. They begin by talking about the chicken pox and reading Marc…

session: French: Mapping Planet Earth

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Stephanie Appel Language French Grades 2 School Radburn Elementary School, Fair Lawn, New Jersey Lesson Date March 8 Class Size 23 Schedule 30 minutes, two times per week Video Summary In this lesson, students practice vocabulary for the continents and oceans. They begin by reviewing vocabulary for the solar system,…

session: German: Sports Stats

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Amy Garcia Language German Grades 5 School Brockett Elementary School, Tucker, Georgia Lesson Date March 26 Class Size 16 Schedule 30 minutes, four days per week Video Summary In this lesson, students talk about their sports likes and dislikes. They begin by reading their personal journal entries to review the…

section: Before you Watch

video: Teaching Music

All of the students at Harmony Leland Elementary School in Mableton, Georgia, study the violin. Here they work with music teacher Barrett Jackson. Two music specialists from arts-based schools demonstrate different approaches to serving diverse student populations: Harmony Leland Elementary School in Mableton, Georgia, has purchased violins for all of its 485 pre-kindergarten to fifth-grade…

section: Examine the Topic | Teaching Writing as a Process

…been widely explored, and recent evidence (National Center for Educational Statistics, 1996) indicates that students in classrooms that include more elements of the process approach indeed become better writers than those in less process-oriented classrooms. We think this evidence is convincing, and we strongly endorse the process approach as a method of teaching writing. However,…

session: Arabic: Comparing the Weather

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Wael Fawzy Language Arabic Grades 6 School LaSalle II Magnet Elementary School, Chicago, Illinois Lesson Date April 6 Class Size 8 Schedule 45 minutes, 4 times a week اضغط هنا للترجمة باللغة العربية   Video Summary In this lesson, Mr. Fawzy’s sixth-grade class continues to learn about the weather in…

session: Japanese: Daily Routines

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Margaret Dyer Language Japanese Grades 5 School Clarendon Elementary School, San Francisco, California Lesson Date May 16 Class Size 26 Schedule 45 minutes daily Video Summary In this lesson, students practice vocabulary related to daily routines in Japan and in the U.S. First, Ms. Dyer uses Total Physical Response and…

session: Chinese: Communicating About Sports

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Jie Gao Language Mandarin Chinese Grades 6 School Bigelow Middle School, Newton, Massachusetts Lesson Date February 4 Class Size 12 Schedule 50+ minutes, four times during a six-day schedule   Video Summary In this lesson, students talk about sports. While their classmates learn the names and characters for eight sports,…

session: Spanish: Hearing Authentic Voices

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Davita Alston Language Spanish Grades 8 School Shue-Medill Middle School, Newark, Delaware Lesson Date December 10 Class Size 26 Schedule 50 minutes, six times in a seven-day schedule Video Summary In this lesson, students talk about what they like to do when they are not in school. They begin by…

session: Arabic: Vegetables We Like

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Rita Lahoud Language Arabic Grades 2 School Public School 261 Philip Livingston, Brooklyn, New York Lesson Date May 23 Class Size 17 Schedule 50 minutes once a week اضغط هنا للترجمة باللغة العربية   Video Summary In this lesson, Miss Lahoud’s second-grade Art and Arabic students develop vocabulary through art,…

session: Spanish: Food Facts and Stories

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher John Pedini Language Spanish I Grades 8 School Michael Driscoll School, Brookline, Massachusetts Lesson Date January 9 Class Size 14 Schedule 40 minutes daily Video Summary In this lesson, students make connections to science, health, and math during a nutrition discussion. They talk about the effects of a fast-food diet,…

video: Analyze the Video | Fluency and Word Study

…they can easily read, practicing giving them plenty of time to practice reading, and allowing them to read without being interrupted. Professor Allington also discusses effective word study strategies. The video also features classroom examples that illustrate his comments and address the following questions: What instructional practices support fluency? What are effective word study strategies?…

session: Spanish: Routes to Culture

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Pablo Muirhead Language SpanishII Grades 9-10 School Shorewood High School, Shorewood, Wisconsin Lesson Date November 14 Class Size 19 Schedule 49 minutes daily Video Summary In this lesson, students explore some historical and cultural aspects of the African presence in Latin America. After a warm-up activity of charades, students participate…

section: Put It Into Practice | Teaching Diverse Learners

Choose Activities In this section, you will apply what you have learned to your own teaching. The following activities are designed to assist you in developing resources for diverse learners in your classroom. Choose one or both of the activities from the list below. Activity 1 –Modeling Main-Idea Questioning In this activity, teachers will model…

session: Spanish: Interpreting Literature

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Barbara Pope Bennett Language Spanish III (IB) Grades 11 School Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, Washington, D.C. Lesson Date December 12 Class Size 23 Schedule 45-90 minutes; alternate week block schedule* Video Summary In this lesson, students discuss Dos caras (Two faces), by New Mexico author Sabine Ulibarri. Having read…

section: Reflect on Your Learning | Fluency and Word Study

What Did You Learn? Consider what you have learned about fluency and word study from Professor Allington’s comments, the classroom examples, and the readings and activities in this session. Write a summary of what you have learned. Use the questions below to guide your thinking. When you have finished, save your written work to submit…

lesson: Featured Classroom: Stephanie Selznick, Dorchester, MA

Stephanie Selznick, Dorchester, MA “A good class is fully engaged, they want to do the experiments, the questions, the answers. They’re into it. You can see it on their faces, the discovery and the excitement. And you know that they’re learning, because if you ask them a question, they just go on and on and…

section: Assignments + Projects

video: Competing Ideologies

Video Summary: From declaring war to waging peace, history is shaped by the ideological beliefs of the people who lived it. Different people hold different ideas about human nature and how a society should be organized. In his ninth-grade world history class, Wendell Brooks explains how competing ideologies drive the world events that make up…

section: Classifying Living Things | A Closer Look

Look for the following topics in the video, indicated by the onscreen icon, and click below to learn more. Classifying Living Things CO2 and O2 Taxonomic Classification Teaching Tips Scientist at Work Curriculum Resources…

video: Program 4: Fostering Choice and Independence

Watch the 30-minute video “Fostering Choice and Independence.” Apply what you have learned in “Reasons for Writing” as you watch the extended video of classroom examples. Answer the questions that follow each segment, jotting down your answers in your notebook or using them as discussion starters Mark Hardy’s Class On these first two days of…

section: Civic Engagement — Lesson Plan

…description of how the lesson was organized; Assessment includes both the lesson assessment tools and the rubrics associated with them; Lesson Materials contains any printed information or worksheets distributed to students as part of the lesson; and Resources are additional items and/or articles that may further help you adopt these strategies in your own classroom….

workshop: Responding to the Arts

Learner Team members Angela Snead and Connie Usova attend “Critic School.” How is our perception of a work of art influenced by what we know about the time and place in which it was created? How does music establish a mood or atmosphere? How do you evaluate a work of art? Program 2 features two…

section: Patriotism and Foreign Policy — Essential Readings

The following essential readings are available below: Cooperative Learning Multiple Intelligences: Gardner’s Theory  …

video: Finding Your Voice

PROGRAM AT A GLANCE School FAIR School (Fine Arts Interdisciplinary Resource School) Location Crystal, MN Grade 8 Disciplines Visual Art Dance Music Theatre Language Arts Social Studies Description Students explore ideas of conflict and protest through original artwork. The Integrated Instruction Rachael Hoffman-Dachelet, Visual Art Teacher The important concept tying this interdisciplinary arts unit together…

video: Program 3: Reasons for Writing

…and language through her positive responses to their purposeful use of Spanish within their English writing. Could these or similar practices be adapted for your classroom? What are some other ways to honor your students’ cultural backgrounds? By having her students create “heart maps,” Latosha encourages them to begin thinking about what matters to them….

workshop: What Is Art?

Start Your Journey Here Take this survey to assess your current knowledge and ideas about art. Are there universal elements that distinguish what we call “art” from other objects or experiences? How can we recognize art when we see it? In the first four lessons of Program 1, you will explore the nature of art…

section: Teaching Strategies

video: Collaborating With a Cultural Resource

Fourth-graders from Lusher Alternative Elementary School study the work of local artist Will Henry Stevens at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, Louisiana Lusher Alternative Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana, teams with the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, an affiliate of the University of New Orleans, on a unit of study…

session: Spanish: Interpreting Picasso’s Guernica

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Meghan Zingle Language Spanish II Grades 10 School Glastonbury High School, Glastonbury, Connecticut Lesson Date March 1 Class Size 22 Schedule 40 minutes daily   Video Summary In this lesson, students interpret and discuss Pablo Picasso’s Guernica. First, as a class, students list vocabulary words suggested by the images in…

lesson: Part A: Geometry and Reasoning (25 minutes)

…of this situation?     Problem A2 This lesson is not couched in a “real-world context.” Students are thinking about mathematical ideas in the abstract. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this kind of lesson? Are “mathematics only” lessons important in your classroom? What purpose do they, as opposed to contextualized lessons, serve? Note…

section: Put It Into Practice | Building Comprehension

Choose Activities In this section, you will build on what you have learned and develop strategies you can use in your own classroom. The following activities are designed to help you develop instructional practices for developing students’ comprehension. Choose one or both of the activities from the list below. Activity 1 – Develop a Home…

session: Spanish: Creating Travel Advice

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Fran Pettigrew Language Spanish III Grades 11 School McLean High School, McLean, Virginia Lesson Date March 20 Class Size 30 Schedule Block schedule, 90+ minutes every other day Video Summary In this lesson, students learn to communicate about vacations. They work individually and in pairs to express their personal travel…

unit: Conversations Among Writing Peers

How can peer conferencing help students in grades 3-5 become better writers? In this workshop, you will examine the various forms peer response might take in a writing workshop, the importance of an authentic audience for written work, and how peer conferencing can enhance writing skills in grades 3-5. You will also explore teaching strategies…

session: Russian: Russian Cities, Russian Stories

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Jane Shuffelton Language Russian I and IV Grades 9-12 School Brighton High School, Rochester, New York Lesson Date March 6 Class Size 20 Schedule 45 minutes; modular schedule* In this lesson, Russian I and Russian IV students meet to discuss Russian geography and the origins of Russian city names. Working…

session: Japanese: Happy New Year!

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Leslie Birkland Language Japanese II Grades 9-11 School Lake Washington High School, Kirkland, Washington Lesson Date January 10 Class Size 32 Schedule 55 minutes daily Video Summary In this lesson, students learn about the products and practices of the Japanese New Year’s celebration. First, half of the class participates in…

session: Italian: U.S. and Italian Homes

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Marylee DiGennaro Language Italian II Grades 9 School North Haven High School, North Haven, Connecticut Lesson Date October 9 Class Size 11 Schedule Block schedule, 82 minutes every other day Video Summary In this lesson, students practice vocabulary relating to homes, furnishings, and directions. First, they compare typical U.S. and…

session: French: Performing With Confidence

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Yvette Heno Language French IV-V, Advanced Placement Grades 10-12 School Westside High School, Houston, Texas Lesson Date April 10 Class Size 15 Schedule Block schedule, 90 minutes every other day Video Summary In this lesson, students participate in activities that improve their oral proficiency and prepare them for the AP…

session: French: A Cajun Folktale and Zydeco

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Paris Granville Language French Grades 8 School Pleasant Hill Middle School, Pleasant Hill, California Lesson Date January 13 Class Size 22 Schedule 80 minutes every other day Video Summary In this lesson, students learn about music and storytelling in the Cajun culture. They begin by comparing Louisiana and California life….

video: Blended Learning: Using Technology to Learn Math Concepts

Leon Young uses technology in the classroom to facilitate communication among peers and to support differentiated instruction of small learning groups. Teacher: Leon Young School: REALM Charter School, Berkeley, CA Grade: 8 Discipline: Mathematics (Algebra 1) Lesson Topic: Arithmetic sequences Lesson Month: January Number of Students: 23 Other: REALM, the Revolutionary Education and Learning Movement,…

session: Latin: Music and Manuscripts

CLASSROOM AT A GLANCE Teacher Lauri Dabbieri Language Latin II-III, IV AP Grades 10-12 School Westfield High School, Chantilly, Virginia Lesson Date March 19 Class Size 33 Schedule Block schedule, 90 minutes every other day Video Summary In this multilevel lesson, students learn to distinguish between translation and interpretation in a classical language class. While…

section: Expert Interview Transcript: John Postlethwait, Ph.D.

Professor of Biology Postlethwait is a professor of biology at the University of Oregon, Institute of Neuroscience. He studies the genetic regulation of animal development including development of the nervous system, the mechanisms of sex determination, the origin of novel morphologies in evolution and the evolution of the vertebrate genome….

video: The Montessori Approach

A visit to a public Montessori school to see how a multisensory approach to learning is supported by neuroscience research.

video: Tools of Neuroscience: EEG

Electroencephalography — How do we study the brain in real time?

video: Emotional Connections in Math and Science

Dr. Gary Scott, assistant professor of clinical education in USC’s Rossier School of Education, taught high school and middle school math and science. He discusses how neuroscience will provide scientific evidence for how effective learning occurs, and makes the case for researchers and teachers to work together to develop teaching methods that foster meaningful emotional…

video: Tools of Neuroscience: MEG

Magnetoencephalography — A new method of functional brain imaging with high resolution in both time and location.

video: The Behaving Brain

…understanding, and behavior are now better understood. For a more detailed breakdown of the human brain, go to the Brain Exploration feature of this site. Dr. Verfaellie contributed to an article about memory distortions in amnesic patients, published in MIT’s Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, “When True Recognition Suppresses False Recognition: Evidence from Amnesic Patients.” http://mitpress.mit.edu/journals/JOCN/jcn10602.pdf….

video: Tools of Neuroscience: MRI/fMRI

Dr. John Gabrieli of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT explains the uses of MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), which reveals the structure and function of the brain, and of the fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging), which shows us the changes in the brain when we engage in any activity, from moving a hand…

video: A Brief History of Neuroscience

video: Online Textbook and Video

This online textbook chapter supports and extends the content of the Neurobiology video. The chapter covers the basic electrical workings of the neuron and more complex phenomena like Long-Term Potentiation….

video: Montessori and Dynamic Skill Theory

One finding linked to Kurt Fischer’s Dynamic Skill Theory is that student performance does not increase steadily but goes up and down, depending on context. Even though they were developed long before Dynamic Skill Theory was proposed, Montessori classrooms incorporate ways for students to repeat tasks at their own pace until they reach mastery….

timeline: History of Psychology: Timeline

Contemporary Foundations

video: It Has to Make Sense

section: Expert Interview Transcript: Ajit Varki, M.D.

Director, Glycobiology Research and Training Center Professor of Medicine and Cellular Molecular Medicine and Director of the Glycobiology Research and Training Center at the University of California at San Diego. He studies the medical and evolutionary applications of glycobiology, the study of glycans, sugar chains that regulate many cellular functions….

video: Collaboration

video: Students Think for Themselves

LaNelle Harvey is a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Her school lies in an area where the dropout rate for high school students reaches 70 percent. She discusses her effort to tackle this problem by using Socratic seminars to engage students in math, social studies, and language arts.