Skip to main content

Content Finder

Apply Filters

Content type
Topic
Executive Function Fact Sheet

Executive Function Fact Sheet

Children with executive function problems have difficulty with planning, organizing and managing time and space, and weakness with “working memory.” Learn more about executive function, how it affects learning, and strategies to help children in school and at home.

Parent with elementary child talking to teacher at school

Helping All Families Participate in School Life

Informed by the author’s work as a researcher and as a Korean parent of a child in a U.S. public school, this article offers suggestions to guide educators in understanding and supporting the involvement of cultural and linguistic minority families in their children’s schools.

Children’s Authors: On Writing

Watch video clips from well-known children’s authors, talking about their journey to becoming writers, describing their writing process, and offering advice for young writers.

Black father reading picture book with young son

Reading 101 for Parents: Vocabulary

Vocabulary is word knowledge — knowing what the words mean. Word learning is an ongoing process — we are always adding to our “word bank.” The goal is to recognize and understand the meaning of spoken and written words.

Songwriting with Kids

Songwriting with Kids

Learn about the process of writing songs, from brainstorming to writing to rehearsing from children’s author and songwriting coach Mary Amato. Listen in to science-themed songs written by first graders, and find out what parents can do at home to encourage songwriting and an ear for the elements of a song.

How Do Children Learn to Read?

How Do Children Learn to Read?

Learning to read is a complex process involving multiple skills and knowledge. Read about the challenges children face as they learn how sounds are connected to print, as they develop fluency and learn to construct meaning from print.

Reading Adventure Pack: Cooking

Reading Adventure Pack: Cooking

Go on a “cooking” reading adventure! Teachers can support reading together at home with our reading adventure packs — designed to encourage hands-on fun and learning centered around paired fiction and nonfiction books. (Recommended level: first or second grade)

Introducing Science Concepts to Primary Students Through Read Alouds: Interactions and Multiple Texts Make the Difference

Introducing Science Concepts to Primary Students Through Read Alouds: Interactions and Multiple Texts Make the Difference

This study of first and second graders looked at teacher-led read alouds as a way to introduce science concepts. Results suggest that multiple exposures to a related concept across different stories gave students more time to build a mental representation of important ideas. This evidence suggests that moving beyond a single text as a source for building students’ understanding is an important instructional approach.

preschool teacher with two kids working on colors and shapes

Choosing Childcare

The first five years of a child’s life are a time of tremendous physical, emotional, social, and cognitive growth. The experiences a child has during this time can make an impact on their readiness to learn. Here the Education Department offers some tips to guide parents in choosing childcare.
Reading Adventure Pack: Money

Reading Adventure Pack: Money

Go on a “money” reading adventure! Teachers can support reading together at home with our reading adventure packs — designed to encourage hands-on fun and learning centered around paired fiction and nonfiction books. (Recommended level: third grade)

Young Asian girl reading The Wimpy Kid book

In Search of Free Books

Where can your school, library, or community group find free or low-cost books for kids? There are a number of national organizations as well as local programs you can turn to for help filling the shelves of your library, classroom, or literacy program and putting books into the hands and homes of young readers.

Reba McEntire

Toddling Toward Reading

Starting early to grow strong readers. We once thought a child’s education started in kindergarten — but that could be years too late. Hosted by Reba McEntire, this episode examines what it takes to give our preschoolers the early literacy skills they need to become successful readers. 

Map Making

Map Making

Students often have difficulty understanding abstract map symbols. Learn how to introduce map skills with literature that contextualizes mapping in a narrative, can be related to where in the world each student lives, and engages students by actively “doing geography.”

Captioning to Support Literacy

Captioning to Support Literacy

One motivating, engaging, and inexpensive way to help build the foundational reading skills of students is through the use of closed-captioned and subtitled television shows and movies. These supports can help boost foundational reading skills, such as phonics, word recognition, and fluency.

Boys and Books

Boys and Books

The statistics are consistent: Young male readers lag behind their female counterparts in literacy skills. This article looks at the social, psychological, and developmental reasons why, and suggests solutions — including the need for more men to become role models for reading.

Young boy looking at camera with his chalk drawing in the background

How to Help Your Child with LD Have a Happy Holiday

The holiday season is a time for family togetherness, fun, and friendship. But children who struggle with social and behavioral problems can feel lonely and excluded during this happy time. This article gives you a dozen ways to help your child join the fun.
row of elementary kids reading books

Models of Reading

An introduction to the most widely tested models — the simple view of reading and Scarborough’s Reading Rope — as well as newer models that seek to expand our understanding of how children become skilled readers.

magnifying glass over the ransome-style letters for the word "clue"

Inferencing

Inferential thinking is a key comprehension skill that develops over time through explicit teaching and lots of practice. Find strategies for teaching inferencing, watch a demonstration, and observe a classroom lesson in action.

Top