Education Commons^™

Using Ipads In A Readers' And Writers' Workshop, Megan Engfer

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Many classrooms around the country and world are using technology to enhance student learning. An increase in technology use in the classroom allows students more educational opportunities when meaningful tasks are created by teachers and curriculum writers. When meaningful tasks are created teachers may have an increase in student engagement. This capstone uses a variety of resources to help answer the research question: What do teachers need to know about using iPads for engagement in a readers’ and writers’ workshop? Research concludes that teachers need additional resources and time to fully understand how to effectively use iPads in the classroom …

Effectively Teaching Reading And Social Studies That Students Will Meaningfully Connect To Their Lives And Experiences, Daniel Zielske

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research studies have shown that students reading culturally relevant literature have increased reading comprehension and fluency, experienced affirmation of their identity and an increased understanding of other cultures, and increased reading engagement (Ladson-Billings, 1995; Ebe, 2010; Feger, 2006; Freeman, Y. & Freeman, D., 2004; Clark and Fleming, 2019 ). Bringing culturally responsive competent teaching into literacy and social studies by using culturally relevant texts will allow students to connect these texts to their own lives and experiences. Looking at the social studies textbook used in my school district, I felt it was ineffective in helping to connect students to history …

Increasing Student Engagement And Success In Reading: A Reading Workshop Unit For Grade 7 Ela, Megan Wilson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The goal of this capstone project was to design and implement a digital reading workshop unit that is based on the Investigating Characterization: Author-Study Book Clubs (Calkins, Ehrenworth, & Wischow, 2018). This project sought to answer the question Can student-selected texts and the use of a reading workshop model improve student reading engagement and success? My early teaching experiences inspired me to consider whether or not traditional reading instruction methods were resulting in student reading engagement and success. The research studied in this capstone revealed that increasing student engagement in reading is highly reliant upon building student motivation, including student …

Best Instructional Practices For High School Slife: A Narrative Curriculum For A Sheltered El Class, Sarah Jorgenson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

the growing population of English Language Learners (ELLs). One subset of ELLs are students with limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE). These students have primarily been educated through informal education, come from collectivist cultures, and have more experience with oral language versus written language. SLIFE have different needs than formally educated ELLs and instructional practices need to be altered to meet them. This capstone provides a narrative curriculum to answer the research question, What are the best instructional practices for high school SLIFE? Research concludes that the best practices for SLIFE include basic literacy instruction, strong student-teacher relationships, modeling of …

The Importance Of Sleep For Learning And Behavior, Alison D’Antonio

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Sleep is a necessary action humans need in order to survive, yet often it is neglected. The importance of sleep ranges from poor health defects to lack of performance in schools. The research question addressed in this project is “How does sleep affect a student’s behavior and learning?” The rationale for this topic was the lack of information provided about sleep’s importance in schools. The project associated with this capstone is a website. The goal of the website is to enlighten educators and parents/guardians on the importance of sleep and show ways to implement changes within schools and at home. …

Creating A Model-Based Chemistry Curriculum Sequence, Dillon Briesemeister

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Most general chemistry curricula use electron arrangement for explaining the majority of concepts and phenomena in the course. This is due in large part to General Chemistry , a book by Nobel laureate Linus Pauling published in the 1940’s to support university level students with chemistry concepts. However, knowledge of the electron was absent historically for the discovery and initial progress of those concepts. In fact, the use of this sophisticated theory to explain those more basic concepts causes students to become separated from understanding the scientific process. This process is required to discover chemical concepts, and is aided by …

Social-Emotional Learning Integration Into Language Arts Classrooms, Claire Johnas

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Growing up is hard. Not many people are interested in reliving their adolescent years. One way that school professionals can support students during adolescence is through meeting their social and emotional needs so that they may be successful academically. This led to the question, How can social-emotional learning be authentically integrated into the middle school language arts classroom? To assist in answering this question, expert research was explored and examined around six topics— teacher preparation and professional development, use of social-emotional learning in middle schools and in English- language arts classrooms, other various social-emotional activities, assessments, and parent involvement and …

Increasing Engagement And Comprehension Through Cooperative, Collaborative And Game-Based Learning In A Middle School Literacy Intervention Class, Tarah Eck

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Eck. T. Increasing Engagement And Comprehension Through Cooperative, Collaborative and Game-based Learning in a Middle School Literacy Intervention Class.

Research has demonstrated that increased engagement in learning can lead to better understanding or comprehension of the concept and materials. This capstone addressed the question: How can cooperative, collaborative and game based learning increase engagement and comprehension in a middle school literacy intervention class? The English Language Arts website designed for this project focuses on using game-based learning and collaborative and cooperative learning strategies to engage and motivate students to learn in an intervention classroom, content area classroom, and at home. …

Equitable Learning Opportunities For English Language Learners In Mainstream Content Area Classrooms: A Professional Development Resource For Scaffolds And Supports At The Secondary Level, Stephanie Noble

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Noble, Stephanie (2020). Equitable Learning Opportunities for English Language Learners WIDA Levels One Through Three in Mainstream Content Area Classrooms: A Professional Development Resource for Scaffolds and Supports at the Secondary Level.

While the number of English Language Learners (ELLs) continues to rise among our schools, it is imperative that mainstream classroom teachers are equipped with the tools necessary to help scaffold instruction and support these students throughout the learning process. By doing so, they are providing these diverse learners with more equitable learning opportunities accessing the content standards and meeting the needs of their specific language proficiency level. The …

Fostering Autonomous Learning In University Language Students: Best Teaching Practices To Encourage Life-Long Learning, Samantha Veenhuis

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Veenhuis, S. J. Fostering Autonomous Learning in University Language Students: Best Teaching Practices to Encourage Life-Long Learning. (2020)

Fostering autonomous language learning in university students is advantageous to their ability to push their language learning further. Implementation, however, is not a simple practice. There are many roles the teacher, students, and university must play. This capstone uses relevant literature to answer the research question, how can teachers of English as a foreign language at the university level help their students become successful, autonomous learners? The project informed by this capstone outlines a professional development training to help teachers understand how …

Creating An English As A Second Language Program Model That Caters To Junior High Students With Limited Or Interrupted Formal Education, Alison Krzenski

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Krzenski, A. Creating an English as a Second Language Program that Caters to Junior High Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (2020)

This capstone explores the guiding question, how can schools create an English as a Second Language program model that will best support junior high students with limited or interrupted schooling? Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE) are a diverse population of students that are increasing within our school systems. According to the Minnesota Department of Education (2019) in order for a student to be qualified as SLIFE they must meet three of the following five …

Effective Early Literacy Interventions For Developing Phonological Awareness, Oral Language, And Print Knowledge In Kindergarten Students, Amy Tye

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Tye, Amy (2020)

Reading And Writing Reciprocity: The Teacher’S Answer To Fostering Accelerated Learning For Striving Students In Small Group Reading Intervention, Leah Wieseler Nowatzki

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Wieseler Nowatzki, L. (2020). Writing: The striving student’s answer to accelerated learning in small group reading intervention.

Reading and writing are reciprocal processes critical to core instruction. Oftentimes students who need additional support outside of the regular classroom receive reading services in small groups facilitated by experts, such as interventionists or specialists. Too often the link between reading and writing is broken or lost and the emphasis is placed solely on reading. Due to the disconnect of the two core practices not being taught together, much learning is lost. Influential names in the literacy world such as Fountas and Pinnell …

Why Is There A Growing Number Of Ell Students With Learning Delays, Being Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Or Qualifying For Special Education?, Heidi Anderson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Anderson, H. Why is there a growing number of ELL students with learning delays, being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, or qualifying for Special Education? (2020)

The research question addressed in this project was why is there a growing number of ELL students with learning delays, being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, or qualifying for Special Education? The research focused on English language learner’s social, emotional and academic needs. The research provides information on cultural and linguistic awareness, and the importance of how cultural and language needs to be recognized in the criteria for assessing or evaluating English language learners …

The Implementation Of The 5e Learning Cycle In Stem Freedom School Curriculum, Natasha Semanko

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The project titled “Implementation of the 5E Learning Cycle in STEM Freedom School Curriculum” was completed by Natasha Semanko in the summer of 2020. For this project, two weeks of new curriculum was created for STEM Freedom School. Each lesson followed the 5E inquiry cycle and focused on topics within the theme of Environmental Studies and Sustainability. Lesson topics included the water cycle, groundwater contamination, pollution in lakes/rivers/oceans, overfishing, and the food chain. In this curriculum, students create a presentation or poster of the material to share with families and visitors at the End of Year Showcase. The key influences …

Writing And Reading Partnership: A Focused First Grade Writing Curriculum That Benefits Ell Readers, Margaret Gorrilla

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Gorrilla, M. (2020). Writing and Reading Partnership: A Focused First Grade Writing Curriculum that Benefits ELL Readers

Research indicates that there is a strong relationship between English Language Learners’ (ELLs) reading and writing skills. Yet, there is a lack of writing curriculum and instruction in many schools. It is evident that reading curriculum and instruction takes precedent. My capstone project research revolved around the following question: How might a first grade writing curriculum benefit English Language Learners’ (ELLs) reading comprehension skills? The curriculum follows the Thematic-Based learning model, and incorporates explicit reading comprehension and writing instruction. The first grade writing …

Increasing Knowledge On Current Global English Theories And Cultural Differences–– A Professional Development Workshop For Assistant Language Teachers In Japan, Megan Lambrecht

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

As English is an increasingly important global commodity, native English speakers are hired in countries around the world to assist with English classes. Japan is an example of a country that does just this. In Japan, these teachers are often hired simply by the qualification of being a native speaker, generally not needing a degree or experience in education. Many of these newfound teachers are given little to no information on relevant global English theories or cultural influences which may impact classroom environments. The project was heavily influenced by the work of Hino (2012), Oshima (2015), Jenkins (2014), Barrantes-Montero (2018), …

A Collaborative Approach At Building Professional Development Around Inclusive Science Classrooms, Erin Lappen

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Lappen, E. (2020). A collaborative approach at building professional development around inclusive science classrooms.

This project examines the best practices to utilize secondary science teachers, special education teachers, and paraprofessionals in a secondary level science classroom. It was developed as a four-hour professional development with supplementary materials, designed to be implemented during August teacher workshop week. This project was created to address the intimidating environment the science class can be for educators and to start a dialogue collaboration that will continue throughout the school year. The professional development is intended for the science department and special education teachers and paraprofessionals …

Missing Narratives: Racial Inequities In Social Studies Curriculum, Amanda Pomerleau

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Pomerleau, A. (2020) Missing Narratives: Racial Inequities in Social Studies Curriculum

The education system in the United States, like the government, is built on inequitable systems, where those in charge of the narratives, policies, and institutions are overwhelmingly White. Traditional textbooks and instructional materials are also White-centric, telling the histories of White men and the systems they created. However, this White-centric education does not support the increasingly diverse set of students in schools today. With this in mind, the research was framed by this question: As a White educator, how can I provide learning opportunities for students to explore alternative …

Incorporating Social And Emotional Learning Into Literacy Instruction Within A Kindergarten Classroom, Kelsey Peterson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

INCORPORATING SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING INTO LITERACY INSTRUCTION WITHIN A KINDERGARTEN CLASSROOM By Kelsey Peterson The research question addressed in this capstone project was: How can social and emotional learning (SEL) be incorporated into literacy instruction in a kindergarten classroom? This capstone project was identified through the author’s professional experience of teaching kindergarten and observing an increase of students having difficulty with self-regulation and attention issues. The author identified a need for explicit instruction in social and emotional learning to better support students with regulating their emotions, communicating their feelings, and problem-solving independently. An interactive read aloud text set was …

How Can Middle School Science Teachers Differentiate Instruction To Support All Learners In An Inclusive Classroom?, Jacqueline Barker

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Barker, J. How Can Middle School Science Teachers Differentiate Instruction To Support All Learners In An Inclusive Classroom? (2020)

The research question addressed in this capstone was, how can middle school science teachers differentiate instruction to support all learners in an inclusive classroom? Research was compiled in regards to the composition of an inclusive classroom, the mindset of teachers, differentiation as a philosophy, and differentiation as a means to modifying instruction. The information obtained was utilized for a culminating project in the form of curriculum for an eighth grade science classroom. The curriculum was envisioned for use in a public …

How Math Educators Can Create A Culturally Inclusive Classroom Environment To Motivate Students, Especially Students Of Color, In Learning And Participation, Giathu Vien

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

In order to create a culturally inclusive environment classroom, there are crucial factors that interaction between teachers and students is the first starting point that educators can build a mutual relationship, trust, and respect with the students. When the teacher-student relationship is established, it is easier for educators to know how to motivate students in an effective way because motivation may come from a student's interest, or it may come out of necessity. Throughout the interaction and motivation, teachers need to be aware of current events that may affect students culturally in both positive and negative ways. Therefore, social justice …

Comprehensible And Engaging: A Study Of The Effects Of Engaging Aural Input On Written Output In Second–Language Acquisition, Tracey Valbuena

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Valbuena, T. (2020). Comprehensible and Engaging: A Study of the Effects of Engaging Aural Input on Written Output in Second–language Acquisition

Modern World Language teachers are moving toward a more communicative approach to teaching. Because this style of teaching requires the students to receive the majority of language instruction in the foreign language, teachers have to be creative in order to maintain the students’ attention. This study takes a look at the research done on student engagement and second–language acquisition. The research on these two topics strongly suggests that student interest is a major factor in student engagement and that …

Integration Of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy In Reading Intervention, Alison Pichel

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Pichel, A. (2020). Integration Of Culturally Sustaining Practices In Reading Intervention

As the achievement gap persists in Minnesota between white students and students of color, many districts seek to accelerate achievement for students performing below grade-level expectations. Reading specialists diagnose and develop instructional plans to accelerate reading achievement. To accelerate reading achievement, teachers and reading interventionists must support culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students through culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP). CSP builds an understanding of students’ cultural assets to inform instructional decisions which consequently reduces stress for students in the classroom allowing increased academic achievement. To support reading achievement, teachers make …

How Can Support And Stability Prevent Teacher Burnout And Support Teacher Retention?, Ahmad Samadi

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Abstract: The challenges facing Somali students developing print literacy skills have led to deficit discourse, teacher frustration, and strained school-family relationships. This capstone seeks to promote positive print literacy instruction for Somali students by asking: how can translanguaging and biliteracy pedagogies inform educators’ print literacy instruction for second-grade Somali emergent bilinguals? What activities and classroom strategies, based on translanguaging and biliteracy pedagogies, encourage second-grade Somali emergent bilinguals to engage with print literacy? A three-part handbook of activities is offered alongside this capstone for teachers of Somali emergent bilinguals to encourage translanguaging through read- alouds, multilingual writing tasks, and the use …

The Importance Of Multicultural Literature In A K-2 Elementary Classroom, Emily Butler

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Butler, E. (2020) The importance of multicultural literature in a K-2 classroom. The goal of this project is to answer the question of how can a professional development be created for K-2 teachers that explains the positive impact of creating a culturally competent classroom by using multicultural literature? The project is designed to explain the benefits of having a culturally competent classroom while also giving K-2 teachers tools to recognize culturally authentic, appropriate and asset-minded literature. K-2 teachers will leave the professional development understanding the importance of creating culturally competent classrooms, being able to distinguish between culturally authentic and culturally …

If You Feel As Though You Don't Fit In This World, Create A New One: Strategies To Motivate Adolescent Males To Participate In The Performing Arts, Gretchen Grunzke

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Why are adolescent males consistently and historically underrepresented in curricular and extracurricular performing arts programs? Research has found that the performing arts are typically considered “feminine” in our modern Western culture, which operates under a framework of toxic masculinity. Consequently, males do not enjoy the host of academic, social/emotional, mental, and even physical benefits performing arts participation bring in adolescence and well into adulthood. To answer the capstone question, Can a TED talk be developed on the strategies that can motivate adolescent males to participate in the performing arts?, research-backed best practices to recruit and retain adolescent males into the …

Ell Teachers Guide To Pronunciation: A Contrastive Analysis Of S'Gaw Karen And American English Phonetics And Phonology, Shana Lee

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Lee, S. ELLTeachers Guide to Pronunciation: A Contrastive Analysis of S’gaw Karen and American English Phonetics and Phonology (2020)

The purpose of this study (Lee, 2020) was to determine the phonological features of English that provide the largest challenge to the pronunciation of S’gaw Karen speaking ELL students in order to inform the development of a curricular resource meant to help educators increase the comprehensible speech output in English. A review of literature revealed a gap of academic work around the S’gaw language especially pertaining to instructional methodologies for language teachers. To guide the development of this resource, the author …

How Does An Instructional Coach Support Elementary Teachers Who Have Students Struggling To Read With Characteristics Similar To Dyslexia?, Lori Felton

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Felton, L. (2020). How Does an Instructional Coach Support Elementary Teachers Who Have Students Struggling to Read with Characteristics Similar to Dyslexia?

The role of an Instructional Coach in an elementary school is one that requires a person to be adept at a variety of skills. The main focus of an Instructional Coach is to improve the highly effective practices of teachers to ensure student growth and achievement. Drawing on Adult Learning Theory, this capstone discusses ways teachers are active participants in helping to solve a problem while providing opportunities to collaborate with peers, engage in meaningful activities and reflect …

How To Distinguish A Barrier Due To Second Language Acquisition Versus A Learning Disability?, Sarah Baude

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Baude, S. Distinguishing a Learning Disability Versus a Barrier to Second Language Acquisition (2020)

The research question addressed in this project was How to Distinguish A Learning Disability Versus A Barrier Due to Second Language Acquisition? Research shows that there is a disproportionate number of English Language Learners (ELLs) in special education. The over and under representation of this population in special education can be linked to the evaluation process. This capstone documents one teachers creation of a professional development to promote better understanding of second language acquisition and acculturation and assimilation along with a tool that can be used …