Education Commons^™

Secondary Teachers Should Expose Rural Readers To Books That Are Culturally Different Than The Student's Personal Choice, Sarah Roiger

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This capstone addresses the research question, “How can secondary teachers expose rural readers to books that are culturally different than the student’s personal choice?” It documents one teacher’s creation of a book club that allows students a chance to read various novels that portray cultures that differ from the rural culture. It integrates differentiation of choice novels, reflections, and character comparisons. The author documents research from the literature review based on rural influence and motivation, classroom culture, and censorship by schools, parents, and librarians. This project includes the lists of books to use, the step-by-step layout, and the character comparison …

Writing To Learn Across Content Areas, Melissa Bertsch

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Writing has predominantly been the relegated to literacy blocks at the elementary level and English language arts classes at the secondary level. Research shows that students need to write more, not only to improve their writing skills, but to improve their learning in all disciplines. This capstone traces the development of the write to learn movement, examines the connection between writing and the psychological processes of cognition and metacognition, as well as highlighting the sociocultural aspects of writing. This research shows that writing improves learning. The research then proceeds to highlight research­based best practices in relation to write to learn …

Using Self-Regulated Strategy Development To Teach Middle School Writing, Julia Breen

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Being able to write well is a skill critical to students’ success in higher education. Yet standardized test scores reveal that many students are moving into high school and college without these writing skills. Writing is a complex task; in addition to content knowledge, students must use self-regulation skills (including staying focused on the task, working through frustrations) to see success. This capstone project sought to answer the question: How can the teaching of self-regulated skills be integrated into lessons focused on developing the expository writing of middle school students? The result is a series of lesson plans that seek …

How Can Mentor Texts Be Used To Teach Students In A Second Grade Classroom?, Caroline Thorvig

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Mentor texts is a popular term in the education world right now. This capstone defines mentor texts, how experts suggest selecting them, and how using mentor texts fits into best practices in literacy education. The use of mentor texts in reading, writing, and content areas is discussed. This capstone project gives examples of four mini-lessons taught with different mentor texts at a second grade level. Other possible mini-lessons are suggested to show the reader how one text can be used to teach many concepts.

Being Mila: Creating An Lgbtq Curriculum That Is Authentic, Follows Policies And Ethics, And Teaches Acceptance, Tam Friestad

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The literature and curriculum used in the classroom needs to change to reflect the students that are being taught. With the number of students and families being impacted by LGBTQ issues, one teacher decided to create a project addressing the research question of: How can I create an LGBTQ curriculum that is authentic, follows policies and ethics, and teaches acceptance? It will document the creation of a children’s book about a transgender child, as well as an accompanying Teacher Resource Guide. The author uses related literature reviews to create a book and resource guide that is authentic and developmentally appropriate. …

Re-Assessing Assessment: Implementing Constructivist Testing With New And Existing Curriculum, Joey Kretchman-Grande

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question at the focal point of this research was: How best can educators implement constructivist assessment in a way that benefits all students? This project was heavily influenced by the theories of Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget and discovering how to share their information with educators in a way that will help them

revise their own assessments. The final result of the project is a website detailing step- by-step instructions of how to create or adapt assessments to fit this newer, non- traditional style. The resulting website was published online through Google Sites and is now accessible by …

What Are The Elements Of A Strong Rationale To Support The Development And Creation Of A Rain Garden In My School District?, Amanda Sterna

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed in this project was, “What are the Elements of a Strong Rationale to Support the Development and Creation of a Rain Garden in my School District?” It documents a teacher’s proposal for a rain garden at an elementary school, for both environmental purposes as well as for an outdoor classroom space. The capstone encompasses all aspects needed to create a proposal, including (add details here about the different sections/aspects it includes, such as a clear design process,). The researcher documents the details of the proposal process, complete with the project design with related research literature to …

Mentor Texts To Teach Grammar And Mechanics: A Curriculum, Beth Hillerns

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Mentor texts are texts that teachers can use with students to model author’s craft - how a text is written. This project addresses the research question, how can mentor texts be used to effectively teach grammar and mechanics in an elementary classroom? The literature review explores the history of grammar instruction, mentor texts in the context of writing workshop, and rubrics for writing assessment. Then the author outlines the development of a curriculum project that utilizes mentor texts to address several third and fourth grade standards from the Language strand of the Common Core State Standards. The paper concludes with …