Elementary Education Commons^™

An Online Hub For Queens Parents, Abe R. Levine

Capstones

I sought to build a common hub for parents across District 28 in Queens to connect with one another. I did this by creating a bilingual newsletter called the Queens Boletín. The goal of the Boletín was for parents to share and find resources, to advance the conversation on equity, and to build community.

Desgarrandonos De Nuestra Lengua: Ripping Us From Our Language, Lillian Ramos, Julia Ramirez

The Qualitative Report

Using a testimonio methodology, this study provides insight on how language ideologies, family, and education in the Texas Borderlands impacted two Latina teachers’ view and understanding of their identity. Through our personal experiences as PK-16 students, classroom teachers, and doctoral students, we were able to understand the colonization of our language and the subsequent endangerment of our bilingualism, which upon reflecting, had an impact on how we see ourselves as individuals, bilinguals, teachers, and Latinas. Our experiences with our bilingualism affected the way in which we perceive ourselves and our community. The reflection and analysis of our experiences allowed us …

Engagement In Music Education In The Upper Elementary Grades, Abigail Jirik

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The research was based on observations from the researcher’s time in the elementary music classroom and addresses the decline of willingness to participate in students in the upper elementary grades. The research addresses the following two research questions; how do family and student attitudes and dynamics towards singing affect student participation in singing in elementary music class? And in what ways could singing be presented and included in instruction to better engage the older elementary learner? The researcher selected fourth and fifth grade students as the participants in the study. Students were given surveys asking questions about participation and attitudes …

The Impact Of Repeated Reading Interventions On Second Grade Readers, Katelyn Schmitz

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

ABSTRACT

Reading is a lifelong skill that is used in many other subject areas. When students aren’t meeting the academic standards set before them in reading, often times, reading interventions take place. Repeated reading is an intervention that targets improving students’ oral reading fluency. This study took place during a second grade classroom’s reading intervention time. The study included four students from my class that were reading below a second grade reading level. I worked one-on-one with these students to conduct the intervention. The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of the intervention of repeated reading in …

The Effect Of Direct Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Instruction And Small Group Literacy Interventions On Kindergarten Students’ Reading Growth, Brianna Elizabeth Wierschke

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This study focuses on the impact of the implementation of Heggerty Phonemic Awareness and Literacy Footprints guided reading system curriculum in a kindergarten classroom. Adding these interventions are to determine if a focus on phonemic awareness skills is essential for students to learn when beginning to learn how to read. Students were tested at the beginning of the school year for a base score, then tracked at every month, and then a final benchmarking in December. The study took place in a North Dakota elementary school, 23 kindergarten students was monitored for data purposes. The data and results demonstrate a …

Literature Circles And The Use Of Comprehension Strategies Within A Fifth Grade Classroom, Allison Mrak

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The purpose of this study was to research the effect of literature circles on the use of comprehension strategies during reading discussions. Example comprehension strategies that students used are based on visualizing, questioning, connections, and summarizing. The participants were 25 fifth graders within a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Three types of data sets were used which consisted of observations, student work, and a final survey. Students formed literature circles using a book of their choice from a given list provided by the researcher. Students had four weeks to read their novel and hold weekly discussions. During the literature circle discussions, …

Introduction To Series And Parallel Circuits, Craig E. Shepherd, Shannon M. Smith

Library Faculty Publications and Presentations

This lesson begins with an introduction on electricity and how it is formed at the molecular level. It then lets learners explore and define a circuit. This introduction is followed by an exploration where learners develop series and parallel circuits using LED lights and motors. Learners then consider what constitutes a series and parallel circuit, open and closed circuit, and a short circuit. The lesson concludes by having learners consider advantages, limitations, and instructional uses of various electronics kits (e.g., Snap Circuits, littleBits, LilyPad, paper circuits, conductive dough) based on their ability to display circuit paths.

World Changers: Social Justice At The Heart Of Middle School Language Arts Curriculum, Mackenzie Mcclain

Honors Theses

English classrooms, at their best, are safe places for adolescents to critically engage with difficult issues presented in novels and the real world. One such issue is human trafficking, which is expected to soon become the world’s most profitable criminal industry (Knudsen, 2015). Incorporating values and instructional approaches from social justice pedagogy, I have designed a sixth-grade language arts unit plan about human trafficking based upon Francesco D’Adamo’s novel, Iqbal (2003). My purpose was to create resources, such as standards-based learning objectives, text sets, lesson plans, and student projects to use in my own classroom, as well as for teachers …

Cultivating Culturally Responsive Elementary Teachers In A Suburban Title I School, Angela L. Mack

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

Research suggests increased enrollment of students with diverse cultural, racial, linguistic, and social backgrounds will continue in schools across the United States over the coming years; thereby, imposing a challenge for some teachers with differing backgrounds to instruct culturally and linguistically diverse students. Without adequate professional development focused on culturally responsive teaching, it has been purported teachers will continue to adopt deficit perceptions and subpar practices that negatively impact students of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Thus, this study aimed to explore how a series of in-service professional development focused on culture, race, and pedagogy may influence teacher perceptions and …

Teaching And Learning During Covid-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study On Elementary School Teachers In Indonesia, Kartika Yulianti, Amirul Mukminin

The Qualitative Report

In this study, we explored how teachers in elementary schools in urban and rural areas in Indonesia experienced teaching and learning during school closure or learning from home (LFH) period and examined the barriers that hindered the teaching and learning process in both contexts. We collected data through demographic profiles and semi-structured in-depth interviews with 18 teachers. We organized our analysis around their perspectives on teaching and learning during COVID-19 pandemic that they encountered emerged. Overall, an analysis of the text revealed that major themes related to the critical issues of (1) teaching and learning activities during school closure, (2) …

Teaching Young Dual Language Learners: A Critical Review Of The Strengths And Limitations Presented In Alanís And Colleagues’ 2021 Book, The Essentials: Supporting Dual Language Learners In Diverse Environments In Preschool & Kindergarten, Jessica Summers

Journal of English Learner Education

The increase in dual language learners (DLLs) in the United States is shifting the way many districts, schools, and individual educators approach teaching and learning in order to better meet the needs of emergent bilinguals. Iliana Alanís, María G. Arreguín, and Irasema Salinas-González’s wrote The essentials: Supporting dual language learners in diverse environments in preschool and kindergarten (2021) to help early childhood educators, administrators, and instructional coaches understand guiding principles of bilingual education and implement evidence-based practices for working with young DLLs. This book review highlights five strengths and provides three critiques.

Bilingual Refugee-Background Student Resilience, Meta-Linguistic Awareness, And Pride In Bilingual Skills, Tunde Szecsi Dr., Debra Giambo, Rachel Bledsoe Bass, William Buchanan

Journal of English Learner Education

This qualitative phenomenological study sought to explore the experiences of emergent bilingual refugee-background [1] students in Florida and their self-perceptions as bilingual learners. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with seven participants learning English both in-person and virtually in high school or adult education programs during the pandemic. The researchers completed content analysis individually and, in subsequent collaboration, identified patterns, and themes. Findings indicated that students took pride in their bilingual skills, demonstrated metalinguistic awareness, and were resilient and proactive learners with strong determination to succeed in the new country. The following recommendations for teachers are offered: (1) building …

Strategies For Equitable Ell Family And Community Engagement, Stephanie K. Knight, Tracy Vasquez, Marjaneh Gilpatrick

Journal of English Learner Education

Families have been involved in their ELL students' education now more than ever. Families are truly now ALL IN. How can we make this dynamic engagement we are seeking to be easier and more seamless for our families? It’s no secret that students whose families reinforce and extend learning at home are more successful in school; moreover, when there exists a mutually supportive network of educators, families, and students, a climate is created to promote learning and success. In this article, the authors have highlighted the significance of family and community engagement in the academic achievement of students.

Teachers Of Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Students And Effective Professional Development: A Critical Review Of Research, Irish Farley

Journal of English Learner Education

Effective Professional Development (PD) is essential for teachers of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) students. Despite the continuing increase of diversity of students, teachers are underinformed with best practices for teaching and support. Many good teachers may not know how to best support CLD students. In 2018, the National Center for Education Statistics reported that only 44% of surveyed teachers who had at least one CLD student in their classroom received professional development specifically for working with these students. This review of the literature covers two distinct but related topics: why teachers of CLD students need more PD and what …

Early Childhood Family Education: Language And Pre-Academic Skills For Latinx Dual Language Learners, Katherine B. Green, Robert A. Griffin, Chelsea T. Morris, Mary Alice Varga

Journal of English Learner Education

This study describes the effectiveness of an early childhood family education (ECFE) program built on a two-generation and strengths-based model to support dual language learners (DLLs) and their families. The researchers investigated the extent to which participation in the ECFE program influenced adult caregivers (n = 15) and the preschool-aged Latinx DLLs (n = 32) who participated, specifically regarding change related to the children’s language and literacy skills and pre-academic skills, families’ perceptions of their home literacy environments, caregivers’ perceptions of their own literacy skills, and caregivers’ actions regarding early literacy at home. Findings were robust and revealed …

Planning For Instruction Using A Language-Based Approach To Content Instruction For Multilingual Learners, Luciana C. De Oliveira, Destini Braxton, Jia Gui

Journal of English Learner Education

This article briefly describes a language-based approach to content instruction (LACI), an approach to content instruction for multilingual learners in general education classrooms that incorporates six Cs of support for scaffolding. The authors provide examples of classroom instruction by a fifth-grade teacher who used several elements of LACI in her instruction. A planning guide to assist implementation of these elements is proposed and concrete examples of how to plan for classroom instruction for multilingual learners are included.

Voices From The Sunshine State: Program And Policy Advocates, Ryan W. Pontier, Rosa Castro Feinberg, Arlene Costello

Journal of English Learner Education

As educators, we are engrossed in a world that pushes us to critically examine what is. Particularly in language education, we explore the various theories and practices involved in learning new language(s)—or expanding our linguistic repertoire, depending on your paradigmatic stance. No matter our position—whether it refers to our jobs or to an ideological stance—we are advocates. We are thus challenged to understand our diverse roles as advocates, which, as Foley and Valenzuela (2004) demonstrate, come in many forms.

We expand Staehr Fenner’s (2014) definition of advocacy—working for students’ equitable and excellent education by taking appropriate actions on their …

Factors Of Motivation In Education: Perspectives Of College Students And Their Professors, Caitlin Reash, Karen H. Larwin

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

This study examines motivational factors based on college students’ and faculties’ perceptions to determine which factors are most impactful. The researchers utilized Jones’ MUSIC® Model of Motivation College Student and Professor inventories. Both are designed to determine the factors that impact student motivation (Jones, 2020). The Caring factor was the highest endorsed factor by both college students and faculty in all data collections. A paired sample t-test revealed that the Usefulness factor was rated statistically different by faculty and students. These data can be used to inform programmatic decisions and course design in the university’s education department.

A Structured Literacy Approach To Support Striving Readers In Secondary Grades: Meaningful Transactions Through Morphological Awareness And Fluency Building, Samantha Bart-Addison, Robert A. Griffin

Georgia Journal of Literacy

A high school English teacher and a university literacy professor provide secondary teachers with structured literacy strategies to support striving readers in the middle and high school grades. The authors present strategies that can be utilized with diverse texts across learning contexts. As a structured literacy approach, morphological awareness and prosodic fluency are emphasized to foster deeper, more meaningful transactions between students and texts. An example of a full structured literacy lesson is also provided that includes multiple strategies and is based on a gradual release model with guided and independent reading cycles. Applicable strategies for delivery of these skills …

Using A Ternion Of Michigan’S Resources To Support A Symbiotic Family/School Partnership, Darreth R. Rice

Michigan Reading Journal

The author used three recent policy related resources (Literacy Essential #10, MiFamily Framework, and Read at Home and parent workshops through Read By Grade Three) in Michigan to connect scholarly literature to classroom practice. In this article, the author provides suggestions for using these resources to foster a solid partnership between teachers and families.