Improving Students’ Critical Thinking with the 5E Model One of the best instructional strategies for developing students’ critical thinking skills is the 5E model. This active learning approach teaches students how to dig deeper into any given topic using these five phases: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. Researchers created the 5E model in 1987…
Why Students Should Debate Controversial Topics in History In a world of fake news and polarized politics, your teachers have a responsibility to teach students how to evaluate and value different opinions. The challenge is helping students overcome my-side bias — the tendency to evaluate information and test hypotheses based on prior opinions. When students…
25 Fun End-of-Year Celebration Ideas for Remote Learning What a year! No doubt after all the changes and adjustments you’ve had to make these last two school years, you are ready for summer to begin. However, before you get ready to jump into the swimming pool, binge-watch your favorite TV show, or tackle professional development…
Using Inquiry-Based Learning in Four Easy Steps Students learn at a deeper level when they ask lots of questions, according to John Nabors, Studies Weekly product manager and former educator. In a recent webinar, Nabors showed a graph that revealed that the older children get, the fewer questions they ask. He suggested this might be…
5 Tips for Effective Digital Learning for Elementary Teachers When schools closed in March 2020 due to COVID-19, Danny Hulshult, a curriculum coach at Studies Weekly, worried that his 6-year-old daughter, Ella, would fall behind in school. All the research he’d read said that 1st grade was an important time in a child’s development, but…
Finding and Sharing Diverse Voices in Children’s Books The National Center for Education Statistics estimates that by 2027, 55% of elementary and secondary students will be minorities. Students of color already total a little more than 50% of school enrollment across the nation. As our student population evolves, our education resources must evolve as well.…
How can educators help students develop their sense of identity? How do we help kids explore who they are? Where do our kids find mirrors of themselves? That is not something we can dictate, but something we can encourage. Teachers who want to promote a positive sense of self must create a safe place for…
How to Keep Teachers Happy Are your teachers happy? That is a tough question to answer lately. But part of an administrator’s job is looking after teacher well-being, and ensuring teachers are motivated and feel appreciated. These efforts don’t have to be big. Small efforts to improve teachers’ happiness and job satisfaction helps them be…
Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Through Storytelling “The Spirit of Ubuntu — that profound African sense that we are human only through the humanity of another human being — is not a parochial phenomenon, but has added globally to our common search for a better world.” — Nelson Mandela “Why is storytelling so important to…
As a subject, Science can be one of the most equitable topics taught in the elementary classroom. Race, culture, and socio-economic status can affect how prepared a student is to gain literacy or math skills, but phenomena-based instruction that pulls directly from the observable world around students puts all students on equal footing. “Centering science…