Teaching science is as much about learning what it means to do science as it is about the pedagogy of teaching. Launching Learners in Science provides both theoretical and practical ideas surrounding the teaching and learning of science. Providing opportunities for teachers to observe, share, experiment, organize, and hypothesize about science content, this resource also focuses on the students and the kind of science instruction they receive. Kerry C. Williams and George E. Veomett describe the principles of and requirements for the active learning of science and identify key ingredients for students and their development as young scientists. Educators will find examples, questions, and stories inviting them to construct meaning from the text. Based largely on the High/Scope preschool project as adapted for primary students, the book connects to research on cognitive and neural development and motivational theory from the work of Piaget and Vygotsky, and from the teaching experiences of the authors. Based on the perspective that the teaching of science is about three things: knowing content, knowing children, and teachers knowing themselves as teachers and learners, this handbook invites educators to think about what it means to teach science in a way that will make a lasting difference in children's lives.

Teaching science is as much about learning what it means to do science as it is about the pedagogy of teaching. Launching Learners in Science provides both theoretical and practical ideas surrounding the teaching and learning of science. Providing opportunities for teachers to observe, share, experiment, organize, and hypothesize about science content, this resource also focuses on the students and the kind of science instruction they receive. Kerry C. Williams and George E. Veomett describe the principles of and requirements for the active learning of science and identify key ingredients for students and their development as young scientists. Educators will find examples, questions, and stories inviting them to construct meaning from the text. Based largely on the High/Scope preschool project as adapted for primary students, the book connects to research on cognitive and neural development and motivational theory from the work of Piaget and Vygotsky, and from the teaching experiences of the authors. Based on the perspective that the teaching of science is about three things: knowing content, knowing children, and teachers knowing themselves as teachers and learners, this handbook invites educators to think about what it means to teach science in a way that will make a lasting difference in children's lives.

By the 1840s, American literature tradition had become fascinated with the frontier. The rural folk humor of the ""Devil's Fork"" letters that a young Charles Fenton Mercer Noland (1810-1858) of central Arkansas began writing in 1837 was something the country wanted. His pieces were published regularly in New York's ""Spirit of the Times"", and he quickly achieved a reputation as one of the southwest's best humorists. His tall tales told in dialect reflected the peculiar characteristics of the people of a backwoods region. Noland's semiautobiographical ""Letters"" were built around the experiences of Pete Whetstone, who, along with his neighbors, devoted himself to hunting, fishing, and an outdoors lifestyle. Through his first-person narration readers were able to experience an ideal southwest frontier existence. Here was a land of natural beauty, with clear rivers, forested mountains, and abundant game, a place where a person could live a free and rustic lifestyle. Here too were horse races and bear fights, politics and balls. Unfortunately for Noland, an early death cut short a promising career. Had he lived longer and written more, he could have become one of America's great nineteenth-century humorists. Midcentury America was certainly looking for one.