Primary / Elementary School

The Teaching for Understanding Guide

The Teaching for Understanding Guide: What does it mean to understand something? How do students develop understanding? How can teachers know how well they understand and support the development of understanding? Teaching for Understanding describes an approach to teaching that requires students to think, analyze, problem solve, and make meaning of what they have learned. Teaching for Understanding: Linking Research with Practice introduced the approach and the research that supports it. Now this companion workbook shows teachers how to use the four critical components of the Teaching for Understanding Framework.

Based on extensive research conducted by Project Zero and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, The Teaching for Understanding Guide offers teachers a practical way to apply the concepts of the Teaching for Understanding framework—both in the classroom and in curriculum planning. Using classroom examples from science, mathematics, language arts and social sciences, and reflecting the input of practicing teachers, the workbook shows how teachers can:

• Choose topics that engage student interest and connect readily to other subjects.
• Set coherent unit and course goals.
• Create activities that develop an demonstrate students' understanding.
• Improve student performance by providing continual feedback.

Brief case studies of teachers using this approach illustrate the process in action. Simple planning sheets and teaching units make this guide a useful resource for developing curriculum. Reflection sections at the end of each chapter suggest related activities, issues, and questions to facilitate further exploration of the chapter's ideas. The challenging process of rethinking classroom practice can lead to a new level of student understanding and learning. This how-to guide gives teachers the practical tools for making understanding more achievable in the classroom. ISBN-13: 978-0787909932

The MUSE BOOK and Guide

The MUSE BOOK documents the work of Project MUSE and presents the background, development, and uses of MUSE learning tools and educational approaches, with comments from collaborating school and museum educators. The MUSE Guide, a training manual for using MUSE tools, accompanies the report.

Teaching through Projects: Creating Effective Learning Environments

The ideas in Teaching through Projects can be used in grades 3-6 for both classroom and out-of-school programs. Projects can make learning meaningful to students lives in ways that subject-by-subject teaching cannot and can motivate students to take charge of their own learning. Teaching through Projects helps teachers become coaches and mentors by setting up a model for integrated learning. You'll find successful projects, teaching strategies, and project design to increase students interest and motivation while meeting curriculum demands. The approach will help your students develop literacy and thinking skills by building on a wide variety of activities and interests. 1996, ISBN: 978-0201495072

Smart Schools: Better Thinking and Learning for Every Child

In this book, David Perkins draws on over twenty years of research which indicates that students from the first grade through college often have only the most superficial kind of knowledge even after considerable instruction in a subject. Here he reveals some commonly misguided strategies students use in trying to understand a topic, and why traditional-teaching approaches often fail. ISBN-13: 978-0028740188

Arts PROPEL: A Handbook for Imaginative Writing

In the Arts PROPEL approach to instruction and assessment, students write poems, and tackle other real-life projects as the starting point for exploring the works of practicing artists. Prepared by Project Zero and the Educational Testing Service with the help of teachers and administrators from the Pittsburgh Public Schools. The Arts PROPEL handbooks, An Introductory Handbook, A Handbook for Imaginative Writing, A Handbook for Music, and A Handbook for Visual Arts, offer guidelines and models for creating a project-based curriculum and using portfolios to assess student work in the arts.