Writing is a critical literacy component often overlooked in the elementary curriculum and classroom. This IES practice guide offers recommended activities and strategies teachers can implement to improve students’ developing writing skills.
English Language Arts
Policies and Practices for Explicit Instruction
As part of the Meadows Center “10 Key” series, this document provides ten research-based recommendations to support schools, districts, and states in identifying and implementing explicit instruction at the elementary and secondary levels. Several brief scenarios provide specific examples of explicit instruction to clarify each of the ten recommendations. The scenarios include a variety of instructional settings: English language arts […]
Observing Special Education Toolkit
This toolkit, developed based on research conducted through an Institute of Education Sciences grant, introduces five evidence-based instructional practices for students with disabilities. The toolkit defines each practice and provides excerpts of teaching demonstrating the practice. The toolkit also includes a pre-observation conference guide, an observation guide, and a research library.
Foundations in Emergent Literacy Instruction
Children start building their vocabulary very early in life. Vocabulary is more than the words a child knows; it is how they communicate. Students communicate by listening, reading, writing, and speaking, and students with large vocabularies are more successful readers and writers. This one-page document gives additional information on effective instructional practices for teaching vocabulary.