1st Edition

A Learning Community in the Primary Classroom

    288 Pages
    by Routledge

    286 Pages
    by Routledge

    This richly detailed description and analysis of exemplary teaching in the primary grades looks at how a teacher establishes her classroom as a collaborative learning community, how she plans curriculum and instruction that features powerful ideas and applications to life outside of school, and how, working within this context, she motivates her students to learn with a sense of purpose and thoughtful self-regulation. The supporting analyses, which ground the teacher’s practice in principles from curriculum and instruction, educational psychology, and related sources of relevant theory and research, are designed to allow teacher-readers to develop coherent understanding and appreciation of the subtleties of her practice and how they can be applied to their own practice.

    Resulting from a lengthy collaboration among an educational psychologist, a social studies educator, and a classroom teacher, the aspects and principles of good teaching this book details are widely applicable across elementary schools, across the curriculum, and across the primary grade levels. To help readers understand the principles and adapt them to their particular teaching situations, an Appendix provides reflection questions and application activities.

    Preface

    Chapter 1 Introduction

    Chapter 2 Establishing the Classroom as a Collaborative Learning Community

    Chapter 3 Communicating with Families

    Chapter 4 Managing the Learning Community’s Everyday Activities

    Chapter 5 Using Narrative to Build a Content Base

    Chapter 6 Modeling of Self-Regulated Reasoning and Learning

    Chapter 7 Motivating Students to Engage in Learning Confidently and Thoughtfully

    Chapter 8 Individualizing to Meet Students’ Needs

    Chapter 9 Planning

    Appendix

    Biography

    Jere Brophy (deceased) was University Distinguished Professor of Teacher Education and Educational Psychology, Michigan State University.

    Janet Alleman is Professor of Teacher Education, Michigan State University.

    Barbara Knighton is an Early Elementary Educator, Waverly Community Schools & Winans Elementary School, Michigan.

    "...a nice companion volume for beginners to illustrate the theories about which they are learning. It provides specific advice for those preparing to immediately enter their own classroom, and it should reinforce the work of veterans who will see their own successful practices mirrored here....Recommended for all readership levels."--CHOICE

    "… a much-needed addition to elementary social studies that will move the field ahead."--Keith C. Barton, University of Cincinnati

    "This text fills a valuable niche and should quickly become a leading reference for teachers and teacher educators."--Linda S. Levstik, University of Kentucky