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Parents and educational professionals are asking the question, "Are schools preparing students for their future lives?" Mobile technologies such as smart phones, iPods, GPS systems, iPads, and a constant stream of information drive much of people's world and work. The use of such technologies increases with each passing day. But how often do students and teachers use mobile technology and media for relevant, meaningful learning? Many children spend a great deal of time interacting with their mobile devices. Mobile devices are, and increasingly so, will be a large part of children's lives now and in the future. These devices can and should be used for learning and productivity related to learning. Applications for mobile devices provide the support for learning anytime, anywhere, and right at the time learners need it.

This qualitative action research study investigated the influence that participating in a book tasting had on Pre K-4 pre-service teachers in their social studies methods course. The findings indicated that book tasting helped pre-service teachers to conceptualize what a text set is, learn how to create one using library resources, and incorporate quality children's literature successfully into lesson plans that are designed to meet the NCSS standards using the NCSS themes and the C3 Framework. The findings also indicated that book tastings changed the attitudes and perceptions that pre-service teachers had about using children's literature to teach content Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/01462679.2021.1965685. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes how a fourth grade teacher engaged her students in the study, through multiple texts, of a Pennsylvania Dutch barn-raising.