Introduction : Looking inside the brain ; Implications or teaching ; Why this book can help improve teaching and learning -- 1. Basic brain facts : Some exterior parts of the brain ; Some interior parts of the brain ; Neuron development in children ; The brain as a novelty seeker -- 2. How the brain processes information : The information processing model -- 3. Memory, retention, and learning : How memory forms ; Stages and types of memory ; Learning and retention ; Factors affecting retention of learning ; Learning motor skills ; Daily biological rhythms affect teaching and learning ; Intelligence and retrieval -- 4. The power of transfer : What is transfer? ; Teaching for transfer -- 5. Brain organization and learning : Brain lateralization ; Spoken language specialization ; Learning to read -- 6. The brain and the arts : The arts are basic to the human experience ; Why teach the arts? ; Impact of the arts on student learning and behavior ; Music ; The visual arts ; Movement -- 7. Thinking skills and learning : Characteristics of human thinking ; The dimensions of human thinking ; Revisiting Bloom's taxonomy of the cognitive domain -- 8. Putting it all together : Daily planning ; Unit planning ; Maintaining skills for the future.