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Full-Text Articles in Education
The Role Of Piay In Elementary School: The Perceptions Of Students, Aaron Skjerseth
The Role Of Piay In Elementary School: The Perceptions Of Students, Aaron Skjerseth
Theses and Graduate Projects
This study is a look into students' views surrounding play and its place in the elementary classroom. The study was qualitative in nature and focused wholly on student interviews and their viewpoints and opinions on the subject. From these interviews, four broad themes were established. These themes revealed that students found play to be crucial in developing and maintaining friendships, destressing throughout the day, keeping up focus during lessons, and finally, there needs to be more play in schools. These themes suggest play should be taken more seriously in the classroom, as students view it to be crucial in several …
Students Perspectives On Learning, Christma Groe Lange
Students Perspectives On Learning, Christma Groe Lange
Theses and Graduate Projects
How do children learn best? This study looks at what students themselves feel makes school fun, what type of environment helps them learn best, and what types of strategies help them persevere when things are hard. This study of fourth grade students-diverse in ethnic background, socio-economic status, mindset, and identified academic level-examines student perspectives on learning. Qualitative methods including journal reflections, interviews and descriptive analysis are used. It explores how students' mood and sense of belonging play a dynamic part in their readiness to learn. This research provides perspectives on how the learning environment as well as students' sense of …
Student Perspectives On Guided Math, Kristy N. Westrom
Student Perspectives On Guided Math, Kristy N. Westrom
Theses and Graduate Projects
The purpose of this study is to determine the student perspectives of a guided math instructional method. Qualitative data was collected in the form of focus groups conducted with 4th grade students in my classroom at an elementary school in the upper Midwest. Transcripts from the focus groups were analyzed for themes. Findings suggest that students prefer an instructional format that is unlike traditional direct instruction. Findings also suggest that classrooms are in need of better support to differentiate for various types of learners. Recommendations include the expected continued development of teachers to ensure optimal learning environments for all levels …
Students' Perspective Of Personalized Learning In An Elementary Classroom, Michael Schladweiler
Students' Perspective Of Personalized Learning In An Elementary Classroom, Michael Schladweiler
Theses and Graduate Projects
Students learn a variety of ways when attending elementary school. Whether that learning is derived from direct instruction, guided learning, or personalized learning, students generally are impacted by the teaching strategies used by teachers in an elementary classroom, However, many new 21st century teaching strategies stress the importance of recognizing that students' motivations towards learning and levels of development vary greatly therefore; students may require a more personalrzed approach when learning. Historically, teachers relied on the old fashioned "factory model" of teaching. The factory way of teaching supports the rigorous teaching strategy known as direct instruction. Direct instruction is rich …
The New Kindergarten: Developmentally Appropriate Practice And Academic Rigor, Rebecca Marshall
The New Kindergarten: Developmentally Appropriate Practice And Academic Rigor, Rebecca Marshall
Theses and Graduate Projects
Kindergarten has changed drastically since it was introduced to the United States in the 1850s. Recent changes in curriculum and government involvement in educational policy such as the No Child Left Behind Act lead to increased rigor in Kindergarten classrooms. Among other curricular expectations, Kindergarteners are expected to be strong readers at the end of the year. In order to determine how teachers perceive these changes and how they affect their classrooms, 91 teachers were surveyed from across the state of Minnesota. Teachers were asked about the basic demographics and structure of their classroom as well as their familiarity with …
Differentiating Math Instruction In An Elementary Classroom: Teacher Perspectives, Amy Lynn Zagaros Hoff
Differentiating Math Instruction In An Elementary Classroom: Teacher Perspectives, Amy Lynn Zagaros Hoff
Theses and Graduate Projects
Classroom teachers of a diverse group of learners are presented with a conundrum: how can math curriculum be effectively presented to students in order to ensure that all students are meeting required learning targets? Research shows that whole group instructional methods do not meet the needs of struggling and gifted students. So how can teachers change instruction to promote student learning for all? The purpose of this action research was to discover effective strategies to differentiate math instruction in an elementary classroom. In this qualitative research, data were collected through five structured interviews with classroom teachers. The teachers represented grades …
An Ibook For Elementary Students: The Great Wall Of China, Carrie L. Carlson
An Ibook For Elementary Students: The Great Wall Of China, Carrie L. Carlson
Theses and Graduate Projects
Digital texts may provide learners with a richer reading and leaming experience as compared with traditional paper texts. Research suggests learners enjoy reading interactive texts and may spend more time with interactive materials. For my Leadership Application Project, I developed an interactive text for third grade students focused on the Great Wall of China and then tested it in several classrooms. I found that students showed a significant increase in content knowledge after using this book. In addition, they were engaging in learning and wanted to spend more time with the material, even when their assigned task was complete. This …
Integrating Archaeology Into A Standards-Based, Fifth Grade Classroom, Lindsey Lee Elizabeth Mieras
Integrating Archaeology Into A Standards-Based, Fifth Grade Classroom, Lindsey Lee Elizabeth Mieras
Theses and Graduate Projects
Archaeology enhances student learning through use of cooperative skills, inquiry, anthropologic thought, hands-on learning, and community connections. However, a standards aligned curriculum to educate students in the field of archaeology is currently inadequate. Due to variation in teacher's interest, knowledge base, and ability to merge archaeology into several disciplines, a guide to be used as engagement activities, individual lessons, or filler activities is more helpful than integrating it in a social studies or science unit. In the process of this project, a curriculum guide was created and intended to reach all types of teachers, disciplines, and standards in the process …
Current Reading Methodologies Used In Classrooms: Grades K-6, Brett Ott
Current Reading Methodologies Used In Classrooms: Grades K-6, Brett Ott
Theses and Graduate Projects
The purpose of my research is to examine what reading strategies k-6 general education teachers use in their classrooms to support balanced literacy instruction. In its relevancy to leadership, this research is specific to the current body of knowledge on how to teach children to read. I surveyed 35 k-6 teachers' literacy practices and compared their choices with the methods promoted by leading advocates in the field of literacy.
Student Perceptions Of Responsive Classroom In An Urban Setting, Jeremy Lee Jones
Student Perceptions Of Responsive Classroom In An Urban Setting, Jeremy Lee Jones
Theses and Graduate Projects
Responsive Classroom is an approach to elementary teaching that focuses on the social, emotional, and academic needs of children by creating a warrn classroom environment. Responsive Classroom incorporates ten classroom practices into its educational framework. These classroom practices consist of: morning meeting, rule creation, interactive modeling, positive teacher language, logical consequences, guided discovery, academic choice, classroom organization, working with families, and collaborative problem solving. Through the use of in- depth interviews, this study seeks to explore student perceptions of Responsive Classroom based on a specific population of urban students. Themes that emerged from the interviews were: (l) Responsive Classroom establishes …
Differentiating Reading Comprehension Curriculum Using Nwea Data, Robert A. Reetz
Differentiating Reading Comprehension Curriculum Using Nwea Data, Robert A. Reetz
Theses and Graduate Projects
Just as the population of Minnesota students in inner-city and first ring-suburban high schools continues to grow more diverse in ethnicity, socioeconomic status, ability, interest and motivation, so too grows the expectation that all students show adequate yearly progress. Given the important challenge of holding all different types of students to the same rigorous academic standard and with the goal of maximizing individual reading comprehension growth, a series of differentiated units was developed using data from the Northwest Evaluation Association's (NWEA) Measuring Academic Progress (MAP) test. The student data generated from the MAP test along with NWEA's Descartes "Continuum of …
Strategies And Methods Of Reciprocal Teaching As Defined, Revised, And Implemented By Individual Teachers Across The K-L2 Spectrum, Linday Peters
Strategies And Methods Of Reciprocal Teaching As Defined, Revised, And Implemented By Individual Teachers Across The K-L2 Spectrum, Linday Peters
Theses and Graduate Projects
Reciprocal Teaching is an instructional activity that takes place between students and teachers while reading segments of text. The dialogue is lead by the actions of predicting, clarifying, questioning, and summarizing. The teachers trains the students in the four actions, or strategies, and then gradually releases responsibility to the students according to their maturity and readiness levels. The purpose of this paper was to examine how three teachers from a school district in Minnesota used the concept of Reciprocal Teaching in their classrooms. The first objective was to discover how each teacher defined the concept. From there the researched focused …
Becoming Literate Through Art: Benefits Of A Literacy Infused Art Curriculum, Amy Wagner
Becoming Literate Through Art: Benefits Of A Literacy Infused Art Curriculum, Amy Wagner
Theses and Graduate Projects
The decline of literacy skills continues to be a crisis and a concern. It is important to emphasize that being literate goes beyond reading and writing. The definition of literacy can and should also include the ability to listen and speak. With this inclusion literacy becomes well defined as a form of communication. While art and writing are both forms of expression and thereby a means of communication, it is only natural that, because the two share the same goal, they should be studied jointly. The study and practice of art can enhance student's fine motor skills, cognitive learning development …
The Impact Of Animals With Struggling Readers, Jennifer Heyer
The Impact Of Animals With Struggling Readers, Jennifer Heyer
Theses and Graduate Projects
The purpose of this thesis was to evaluate the impact that dogs have with students that struggle with reading. Several programs have been implemented where students spend time reading books to dogs. During these reading sessions, students tend to be more relaxed and confident with their reading. For this thesis, the researcher collected evidence from six students to assess if reading to a dog assists student's reading achievement. Three students met with the researcher for sixteen weeks and worked on their reading skills. The other three students worked with a dog-reading team. Research was collected by using reading assessments, field …
An Evaluation Of A Conflict Management Program At An Elementary School, Maggie Holland
An Evaluation Of A Conflict Management Program At An Elementary School, Maggie Holland
Theses and Graduate Projects
There is a growing concern about conflict due to the growing increase in more violent crimes both in the schools and the surrounding communities. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a conflict manager program in elementary school. The program was evaluated by distributing three different questionnaires to three different groups. The groups which were surveyed included the student disputants who used the program to help resolve their problem, the conflict managers who were trained and utilized the conflict management skills, and the parents of the conflict managers. All of the responses were very positive. The …