The authors of this practical, timely work maintain that the public schools can, and should, play a role in delivering both a good educational start and high-quality care to young children. Addressed to a wide readership including federal and state legislators, state commissioners of social services and education, policy planners, education and advocacy organizations, and public school administrators, this book focuses on the major contemporary child care issues in a readable, understandable format. It will, by virtue of its breadth and authority, change the way those in the field perceive and respond to the critical and sensitive problems of early care.

This info-packed book is bursting with over 250 mind-blowing facts and illustrations on a range of fascinating subjects, from prehistoric animals and Ancient Romans to curious inventions and foody trivia. Did you know ... Buzz Aldrin was the second man to walk on the Moon, but the first man to wee on it. He weed into his suit and it leaked into his boot. At Spain's Tomatina festival, over 20,000 people hurl over a million tomatoes at each other in one hour. What a food fight! Every fact is accompanied with a hilarious illustration by artist Andrew Pinder to bring the information to life. With tons of awesome things to discover, this book will keep curious kids laughing and learning for hours on end. Also available in the series: 9781780559254 Awesome Facts for Curious Kids: 6 Year Olds 9781780559278 Awesome Facts for Curious Kids: 8 Year Olds

This book presents a pioneering longitudinal study on English language instruction at the elementary school (ELES) level in the Japanese public school system. It attempts to identify those domains most sensitive to early English instruction by employing a state-of-the-art quantitative research methodology. English education was formally introduced in Japan for fifth and sixth graders in 2011 and is still in its infancy as a program. This study compares two groups (Grade 7 and 8) of students, one with ELES and one without, in order to shed light on their experiences. Comparisons are carried out not only quantitatively, measuring changes in English skills (listening, speaking, reading, and vocabulary / grammar) and the ELES students' affective aspects, but also qualitatively through in-depth interviews. Thus, this study attempts to capture the ELES students' experiences from a multi-dimensional perspective. The comprehensive literature review provided offers a valuable resource not only for researchers looking for a quick digest of the literature in this field before undertaking their own research, but also for policy-makers seeking to assess how to best implement ELES.

What do you get when you bring together two of NSTA's bestselling authors to ponder ways to deepen students' conceptual understanding of science? A fascinating combination of deep thinking about science teaching, field-tested strategies you can use in your classroom immediately, and personal vignettes all educators can relate to and apply themselves. Teaching for Conceptual Understanding in Science is by Richard Konicek-Moran, a researcher and professor who wrote the Everyday Science Mysteries series, and Page Keeley, a practitioner and teacher educator who writes the Uncovering Student Ideas in Science series. Written in an appealing, conversational style, this new book explores where science education has been and where it's going; emphasizes how knowing the history and nature of science can help you engage in teaching for conceptual understanding and conceptual change; stresses the importance of formative assessment as a pathway to conceptual change; and provides a bridge between research and practice. This is the kind of thought-provoking book that can truly change the way you teach. Whether you read each chapter in sequence or start by browsing the topics in the vignettes, Konicek-Moran and Keeley will make you think-really think-about the major goal of science education in the 21st century: to help students understand science at the conceptual level so they can see its connections to other fields, other concepts, and their own lives.

The purpose of this book is to promote a thoughtful engagement with key issues and theories that inform our understanding of childhood. Readers will enjoy, and be provoked by, a sophisticated analysis of the role and function of childhood in twenty-first century Britain, which can be used as a springboard for further enquiry and exploration.

Two intertwined themes permeate the text:
- Children's sense of self and adults' temporal and cultural fabrications of childhood, and the articulation of these with policy and provision for young children.

- Young children and representation: how they are represented, the sense they make of such representations and their own representational activity.

Whose Childhood Is It? intends to turn readers away from our collective tendency to simplify the experiences of young children and replace this with a fuller, more complex, and more realistic understanding of the social dynamic that constitutes childhood today.

This book takes a user-friendly approach, with key questions and reflection boxes throughout as well as chapter summaries and suggested further reading. It will provide a rich resource for students of Early Childhood Studies, and for Early Years professionals and those training to be Early Years practitioners.

This book focuses on ethical and methodological issues faced by researchers working with young language learners in formal school contexts. It uncovers and explicitly discusses a range of ethical dilemmas, challenges and experiences that researchers have encountered and grappled with, in studies of all kinds from large scale, experimental studies to ethnographic studies focused on just a handful of children. The chapters are written by researchers working with children in different classroom contexts around the world and highlight how ethical dilemmas and tensions take on a complex form in child-focused research, requiring researchers to pay particular attention to the social and cultural norms of the different communities within which children are educated as well as their school-based experiences. The book comprises three sections, with the first part focused on involving children as active participants in research; part two on ethical challenges in multilingual contexts and part three on links between teacher education and researching children. The book includes a critical discussion of the opportunities and challenges associated with applying the UNCRC (1989) document in second language research with children which will be of use to any researcher working in this area.

This handbook covers such research issues in middle level education as advisory programmes, teaming, effective teachers, staffing, and teacher preparation programmes.

Mastering Primary Design and Technology introduces the primary design and technology curriculum and helps trainees and teachers learn how to plan and teach inspiring lessons that make design and technology learning irresistible. Topics covered include: * Current developments in design and technology * Design and technology as an irresistible activity * Design and technology as a practical activity * Skills to develop in design and technology * Promoting curiosity * Assessing children in design and technology * Practical issues This guide includes examples of children's work, case studies, readings to reflect upon and reflective questions that all help to exemplify what is considered to be best and most innovative practice. The book draws on the experience of a leading professional in primary design and technology, Gill Hope, to provide the essential guide to teaching design and technology for all trainee and qualified primary teachers.

All students enter our math classrooms with ideas worthy of discussion. Some of the most effective breakthroughs come from short, intentional talks between students and teacher, yet planning for these moments can seem daunting. In her innovative book, Conferring in the Math Classroom, Gina Picha focuses on simple and transformative ways teachers can use math conferences, short conversations between teachers and small groups of students at work, to guide instruction, assess understanding, and build strong math thinkers. Inside you'll learn how to: Facilitate math conferences to listen to students, encourage them to share their math thinking, and build on their strengths Ask exploratory questions to gain insight into their math reasoning and plan the next steps for instruction Provide differentiated instruction based on the individual and group needs Picha includes teacher questioning guides, If-Then charts organized by grade level and math topic, and note-taking templates to help you get started with math conferring right away. This practical and accessible approach can help students deepen their math understanding, build confidence in their math abilities, and connect learnings between math subjects.

The current global marketplace demands more workers who are scientifically literate, yet few are being adequately prepared to meet that demand. Particularly underrepresented are women and minorities, who often lack the social and academic support that stimulate and sustain interest in science, math, and engineering. The authors of this book demonstrate that early intervention, especially during grades 4 through 8, can help overcome some of these obstacles. They show how increased career awareness and exposure to mentors and role models can help students see science and math-related careers as desirable and viable options. And they explain how test preparation, activity-based instruction, cooperative learning, and tutoring can help to improve academic outcomes. The authors also provide critical information on ten successful intervention programs, including MESA, Project SEED, and Operation SMART - and they offer practitioners specific guidance for developing, funding, and implementing similar programs in their own schools.

Collins International Primary Maths supports best practice in primary maths teaching, whilst encouraging teacher professionalism and autonomy. A wealth of supporting digital assets are provided for every lesson, including slideshows, animations, tools and games to ensure they are rich, lively and engaging. Each lesson is based on a 'big idea', providing an engaging, exciting theme which is anchored in a real-life international context. Activities, exercises and investigations provide opportunities for learners to apply their knowledge, skills and understanding of the mathematics they are learning. Provides support as part of a set of resources for the Cambridge Primary curriculum framework from 2011. This title is endorsed by Cambridge Assessment International Education.

Basic Laboratory Methods for Biotechnology, Third Edition is a versatile textbook that provides students with a solid foundation to pursue employment in the biotech industry and can later serve as a practical reference to ensure success at each stage in their career. The authors focus on basic principles and methods while skillfully including recent innovations and industry trends throughout. Fundamental laboratory skills are emphasized, and boxed content provides step by step laboratory method instructions for ease of reference at any point in the students' progress. Worked through examples and practice problems and solutions assist student comprehension. Coverage includes safety practices and instructions on using common laboratory instruments. Key Features: Provides a valuable reference for laboratory professionals at all stages of their careers. Focuses on basic principles and methods to provide students with the knowledge needed to begin a career in the Biotechnology industry. Describes fundamental laboratory skills. Includes laboratory scenario-based questions that require students to write or discuss their answers to ensure they have mastered the chapter content. Updates reflect recent innovations and regulatory requirements to ensure students stay up to date. Tables, a detailed glossary, practice problems and solutions, case studies and anecdotes provide students with the tools needed to master the content. To succeed in the lab, it is crucial to be comfortable with the math calculations that are part of everyday work. This accessible introduction to common laboratory techniques focuses on the basics, helping even readers with good math skills to practice the most frequently encountered types of problems. Basic Laboratory Calculations for Biotechnology, Second Edition discusses very common laboratory problems, all applied to real situations. It explores multiple strategies for solving problems for a better understanding of the underlying math. Primarily organized around laboratory applications, the book begins with more general topics and moves into more specific biotechnology laboratory techniques at the end. This book features hundreds of practice problems, all with solutions and many with boxed, complete explanations; plus hundreds of "story problems" relating to real situations in the lab. Additional features include: Discusses common laboratory problems with all material applied to real situations Presents multiple strategies for solving problems help students to better understand the underlying math Provides hundreds of practice problems and their solutions Enables students to complete the material in a self-paced course structure with little teacher assistance Includes hundreds of "story problems"that relate to real situations encountered in the laboratory

Collins International Primary Maths supports best practice in primary maths teaching, whilst encouraging teacher professionalism and autonomy. A wealth of supporting digital assets are provided for every lesson, including slideshows, animations, tools and games to ensure they are rich, lively and engaging. Each Workbook page has three levels of challenge which allow learners to practise and consolidate their newly acquired knowledge, skills and understanding of the mathematics they are learning. Provides support as part of a set of resources for the Cambridge Primary curriculum framework from 2011. This title is endorsed by Cambridge Assessment International Education.

This is a comprehensive yet accessible guide to the teaching and learning of physical education in the primary school. By taking a developmental approach, readers are encouraged to plan lessons that are individually relevant, worthwhile and exciting for children, and to ensure that learning is at the heart of the physical education experience. In addition to covering all activity areas of the physical education curriculum, the authors provide guidance to ensure that the subject is planned, delivered, assessed and managed effectively. Teachers are encouraged to consider a range of issues that impact on subject delivery, and reflect on strategies and skills required for effective subject leadership. This book is invaluable reading for all in-service and trainee primary teachers, and those who work within wider school sports partnerships. It provides a theoretical and practical focus for those wishing to deliver high quality physical education in the primary school.

Asal and Harwood explore how today's information technology is changing how we educate and are educated. Focusing on the United States, with useful insights from the classroom digital revolution in a few other key places (the United Kingdom, Australia, and India), the authors investigate the impact of today's technologies on education -- how they impact teachers and teaching, children and learning, and the intersection of teaching and learning. For example, they tell us what the educational impact of having over 60% of America online is. The authors explain exactly how new technologies are changing the learning environment in and out of the classroom with a focus on the effects on K-12 education. Chapters include vignettes about children who are integrating information technologies into their lives at school and at home and those children who for a variety of reasons, most notably, socio-economic, have found themselves excluded as full members of the first digital generation. There are also accounts from K-12 teachers who are incorporating technology into their classroom environments. Using closed-circuit cameras, electronic cheating, and distance learning are all also discussed at length.

Good teachers do much more than instructing children. They develop a relationship built on trust, honesty, humor, and above all love. When two or more students discuss varied ways to solve problems we have the beginnings of a creative dialogue, which is the root of inventiveness and a direct path to successful collaboration skills. Too often we do not recognize the value of friendships that is buoyed up by the brotherhood or sisterhood among children. There is a force that flows between them, an invisible understanding cementing their friendship

This edited book tells the story of the multifaceted efforts devoted by a "future school" in Singapore-The Nan Chiau Primary School-in shaping future learning. It documents the various measures implemented by one primary school to improve student learning outcomes in a technology-rich teaching and learning environment. With the current interest in Singapore's "Masterplan for ICT (information and communication technology) in Education," and the increasing focus on teaching and learning design by leading education researchers and professionals, this well-timed book will appeal to policy makers, educators and researchers.

Scientific Discourse examines the nature of scientific inquiry in the primary school classroom to show how this interacts with early literacy. Through an examination of the texts used and produced by pupils studying science the author shows how what is at work in this context of scientific discourse is actually multiliteracy. The teacher aids the pupils' learning using different forms of literacy spread across the spoken word, written text, visual text and physical action. The result of this diverse approach is a growth not only in scientific knowledge, but basic literacy. The book provides a theoretical introduction to developmental literacy theory, current positions of science education and advanced theories of multiliteracy and genre theory. The new theory of scientific discourse presented in this book will be of interest to researchers of applied linguistics, discourse analysis and education.

This book contains a collection of the author's previously published articles on early childhood care and education. Each chapter was written in response and reaction to particular events or contexts that were provocative. Many of the issues explored were stimulated by experiences with teachers and caregivers of young children, many of whom were also the author's students, as well as with other professional colleagues. These background experiences and events are described briefly in the introduction to each article.