Education Commons^™

A Study Of The Methods And Strategies Used For Teaching Spanish In One Private School In The Hamilton County Area, Jennifer S. Dantzler

Honors Theses

Foreign Language instruction is a useful tool in the schools. It allows for cultural exposure and language formations. Foreign language instruction is especially important at the lower elementary levels because younger students are able to learn a language much quicker than older students. Also, research has shown that foreign language taught at the elementary level increases standardized test scores in verbal intelligence, mental flexibility, reading and even math. The College Board noted that students with more than five years of foreign language instruction scored higher on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) than students with little or no foreign language. Students …

The Effect Of A Teacher Enhancement Project Designed To Promote Interactive-Constructivist Teaching Strategies In Elementary School Science On Students' Perceptions And Attitudes., John Dunkhase, Brian Hand, James Shymansky, Larry Yore

Educator Preparation & Leadership Faculty Works

This study takes place within the context of the Science: Parents, Activities, and Literature (Science PALS) project and examines elementary school students' reactions to instruction implemented by teachers participating in this special problem-centered professional development program. The study focuses on student perceptions of their science instruction and student attitudes toward science learning as a function of their exposure to interactive, constructivist teaching strategies designed to focus on student ideas, utilization of literature connections, and incorporation of parents as partners. Using student perceptions and attitudes as dependent variables, teacher participation as the main independent variable, and grade levels and student gender …

Putting Theory To Practice: Application Of Constructivist Learning Theories In Social Studies Education, Tammy G. Embry

Honors Capstone Projects and Theses

No abstract provided.

Effective Reading Programs And Strategies For Students With Learning Disabilities, Tina Irene Baggett

All Graduate Projects

This project was designed to identify effective reading programs and strategies for students with learning disabilities. Teachers need many different instructional strategies and techniques to effectively teach the increasing number of students with learning disabilities. Appropriate interventions have been compiled to assist teachers in teaching students who have reading disabilities in grades kindergarten through third.

A Model Playground Behavior Program For Primary Level Students In The Cashmere School District, Scott R. Griffith

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to design and develop a Model Playground Behavior Program for elementary-level students in the Cashmere School District, Cashmere, Washington. To accomplish this purpose, current research and literature on playground safety and programs were reviewed. Additionally, related information from selected school districts was obtained and analyzed for possible ideas or practices to be included in the model playground program.

A Multicultural Education Program For Primary-Level Students In Taiwan, Using Visual And Performing Arts, Yu-Chi Chen

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to design and develop a multicultural education program for primary-level students in Taiwan. To accomplish the purpose, a review of current literature regarding utilization of the performing and visual arts in the advancement of multicultural education will be conducted. Additionally, related information from selected authorities was obtained and analyzed.

A Guide For Educators In Teaching Four Central American Indigenous Tales, Judith C. Ginther

All Graduate Projects

An informal study was conducted to develop a guide for grades 4-6 educators to use in teaching Central American folklore in the context of an interdisciplinary curriculum. Four story books were selected which reflect the cultures of Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala and Panama and serve to illustrate the oral tradition of peoples from these countries. The instructional method used was the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA) by Chamot and O'Malley. Based on the language acquisition and bilingualism research and theoretical work of Jim Cummins, CALLA follows a comprehensive lesson plan model that integrates language development, academic content mastery, and …

A Model Program In Music Orientation And Skill Development For Li-Gang Elementary School Ping-Dong County Taiwan, Jean Yu-Chun Chen

All Graduate Projects

This project was to design and develop a model program in music orientation and skill development for Li-Gang Elementary School, Ping-Dong, Taiwan. To accomplish the purpose, a review of current literature regarding elementary-level music programs was conducted. The program emphasizes activities that will help music become a part of a child's overall development and education, and is based on the premise that music classes for young children should be "Fun with a Purpose" and "Learning by Doing". The program concentrates on four specific areas: listening to music, moving to music, singing and playing musical instruments. More specifically the musical concepts …

A Primary-Level Art And Music Program For Little Star Eduation Center In Taiwan, R.O.C., Shu-Hui Hsiao

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to develop a primarylevel art and music program for Little Star Education Center, private academies in Taiwan. To accomplish this purpose, a review of current literature regarding primarylevel art and music curricula and instructional strategies was conducted.

Development Of An Effective Spelling Curriculum To Be Implemented In A First-Third Grade Classroom, Katherine Marie Richardson

All Graduate Projects

Spelling is a frequently investigated curriculum area. There has been extensive research in the last century concerning various instructional procedures for the acquisition of spelling skills. Many research-based principles of effective spelling instruction have emerged from one of two contrasting models for the development of spelling competence. Traditionally, spelling has been taught with textbooks from spelling series. Students followed a structured program with the goal of learning to spell the list words. Advocates for spelling reform suggest spelling instruction should be based on the understanding of the developmental nature of the child. This project report provides guidelines for implementing a …

An Inservice Training Manual Of Selected Writing Techniques To Improve Reading Achievement In Primary Grades, Roni L. Rumsey

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to design and develop a manual of writing techniques that could be used in kindergarten and first grade classrooms, in order to increase reading achievement. To accomplish this, current research and literature on emergent literacy, reading, writing, and communication was reviewed. Additionally, information and selected materials from selected schools and school districts related to the utilization of writing techniques to improve reading skills was obtained and analyzed.

Values Education: Using The Washington State Essential Academic Learning Requirements In Social Studies To Teach Values, Elizabeth Smith

All Graduate Projects

The development of a Values Education curriculum included with the Social Studies curriculum was studied. Related literature was reviewed. The review of literature showed that school systems that have tried a comprehensive values education plan are finding some pro-social results from their programs. Lessons were developed for West Valley (WA) fifth grade students using the Washington State Essential Learning requirements in Civics. A summary, conclusions and recommendations are included.

An Inservice Training Manual For Facilitating Effecting Teaching Strategies Of Behaviorally Challenged Middle Level Students In The Cashmere School District, Donald Dean Smith

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to design and develop an inservice training manual for facilitating effective teaching strategies of behaviorally challenged middle level students for Cashmere School District, Cashmere, Washington. To accomplish this purpose, current research and literature on behaviorally challenged students were reviewed. Strategies were developed by putting the research to practice with behaviorally challenged students and typical students in a fifth and sixth grade multi-age classroom.

Literature-Based Supplimental Activities In A Second Grade Classroom, Heidi Stevens

All Graduate Projects

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics recommendations and the Washington State Commission on Student Learning Essential Academic Learning Requirements are addressed. The benefits of integrating mathematics and literature are studied. Integrated activities, materials, and a bibliography of children's literature that supplement a traditional mathematics CUITiculum for primary students are developed. Recommendations for implementing the project are given.

A Model Fourth Grade Science Curriculum Based On Multiple Intelligence Theory And Washington State's Essential Academic Learning Requirements For Science, Kerry Lynn Ward

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to design and develop a model fourth grade science curriculum based on Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences and in line with Washington State's Essential Academic Learning Requirements for Science. Along with this, assessment criteria were to be designed for each learning activity. To accomplish this purpose, current research on Multiple Intelligence Theory, assessment, curriculum development and Washington State's Essential Academic Learning Requirements for Science were reviewed. Finally, student learning objectives, learning activities and corresponding assessment criteria were adapted and developed.

Children's Book Festival, Karen Rowell, Onva K. Boshears Jr., University Of Southern Mississippi

Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival Programs

The program for the thirtieth annual Children's Book Festival held on the campus of The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 1997.

Basic Needs: A First Grade Curriculum Study, John Heffernan

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The following first grade curriculum study is an investigation of food, shelter and services in the neighborhood surrounding the school. The activities incorporate hands-on research, discussion, and expressive materials to offer opportunities for children to discover the interdependence and relationships that exist in their immediate environment. The three units of food, shelter and community services have specific goals, and they are:

Food -Investigate how markets, stores and restaurants provide food for the neighborhood, where the food comes from and how it gets to Park Slope.

Shelter - Investigate how and where people house themselves in the neighborhood and what are …

The Cultural Politics Of Identity: Student Narratives From Two Mexican Secondary Schools, Kathryn Herr, Gary L. Anderson

Department of Educational Foundations Scholarship and Creative Works

This narrative study provides an analysis of the identity construction of students in two Mexicansecondary schools within the structural, cultural, and informational resources that schools asinstitutions provide. A within-case analysis of the narratives of two students is explored in depth, emphasizing, in one case, issues of social class and, in the other, issues of gender. The analysisexplores the lack of congruence between the resources educational institutions provide studentsand their daily struggles to construct personal and occupational identities.Characteristics specific to the Mexican context are provided, and the ways that Mexican students’ dilemmas are at once different from and similar to the …

Science Learning Museums As An Extension Of The Elementary Classroom, Aaron Ward

Honors Theses

The lack of good science education in the American school is a problem that will affect the future of the United States. Not only is the decline of science-based teaching of elementary school students due to lack of funds and increase of class size, it is caused by a deficiency of creative teaching methods. One possible method that has and can be cultivated and developed is the use of Science Learning Museums (SLM) as effective teaching tools. The integration of classrooms and science museums can bring about positive, creative, fun, and exciting ways to learn, bringing an unenthusiastic textbook example …

Impact Of A Six-Trait Character Education Program On Sixth-Grade Students' Perceived Attitudes And Behaviors, Cindy S. Baumgartner

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a pilot character education program, called BOOMERANG, on students' reported attitudes and behaviors of six character constructs. The subjects consisted of 80 sixth-grade students enrolled in a small Midwestern town during the 1995-96 school year who were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group.

The intervention consisted of a 16-week character education program led by trained high-school students for a weekly, 30-minute session, using a pilot character education curriculum designed by the researcher. The intervention program consisted of six character traits: (a) caring, (b) citizenship, (c) …

Promoting Gender Equity In The Elementary Learning Environment, Amy Elizabeth Roberts

Graduate Research Papers

This research review discusses the importance of teaching in a gender equitable manner. It examines the negative interactions teachers have with their students, many times without being aware of it. The effects of each of these negative teacher behaviors are explained and practical strategies and interventions are suggested to reduce the negative interactions.

Many of these strategies can be teacher directed, but strategies involving students, colleagues, and parents are also presented. The interventions are beneficial not only to female students but to male students as well. The Gender Expectations and Student Achievement (GESA) teacher training program is discussed and many …

Why It Is Important To Keep Recess In Schools, Mary Lou Mcgee Cushing

Graduate Research Papers

Recess is a common part of most elementary school schedules yet its benefits are often not clearly articulated. As a result recess may be thought to be expendable from school curricula as school districts adjust already full schedules in an attempt to accommodate every necessary component.

This research review explores the relationship of recess to school schedules, time allotments, activities commonly observed at recess, and developmental (social, cognitive, and psychomotor) aspects of recess in schools. Also addressed are common criticisms of recess in schools.

Math Problem Solving In The Classroom, Mary Jane Conrad

Graduate Research Papers

This paper describes the important aspects for teaching problem solving in mathematics. Problem solving was used to introduce the concepts as well as to practice them. This research paper discusses mathematical concepts and skills in a student-centered environment of a multi-aged first and second grade classroom in a parochial school and investigates the effects of the approach on students, teacher, and curriculum.

In many primary classrooms mathematics is taught in ways that fail to connect with young children's prior knowledge and ways of learning. The cumulative effect is such that students tend to do math procedures, rather than apply math …

A Comparative Analysis Of School-Based Performance Of Mobile And Nonmobile Students, Yvonne Darcel Smith-Jones

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the impact of mobility on fifth grade students in an urban elementary school environment during the 1994-95 and 1995-96 school years. The significance of the study lay in its intent to assess the impact of mobility. Specifically, the study analyzed the demographic characteristics of mobile students and investigated the impact of mobility on student achievement, attendance, discipline referrals, and retention.;The sample consisted of 244 fifth graders. Archival data were obtained from the students' scholastic and directory information records for the 1994-95 and 1995-96 school years. The results were analyzed by performing …