Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

A Progressive Philippine School For Children: Proposal And Presentation For Prospective Parents, Severina M. Santos

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Presents a philosophical framework for a proposed elementary school in the Philippines, the Philippine School for Children (PSC). It summarizes the major contributions of a family of theorists: Piaget, Dewey, and Vygotsky and applies their theories to the development of PSC. The study also includes a description of several features of a progressive classroom for kindergarten and grade one.

The content of the study serves as a basis for the presentation of a progressive approach to education to prospective parents. Possible questions from prospective parents are raised and addressed at the conclusion of the study.

Mirror Of Memory: A Novel About The Great Depression: Original Work And Curriculum Guide For Early Adolescents, Marina Moskey

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Mirror of Memory: A Novel About the Great Depression is a project which contains original historical fiction work for early adolescent readers and a curriculum guide for American history teachers about the Great Depression. This project includes lesson plans centered upon documentary photography, oral history, and historical information about the Great Depression. In addition, an examination of early adolescent development in conjunction with a critique of existing literature can be found within this project.

Reflections On A Third Grade Social Studies Curriculum, Laura E. Gerrity

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This curriculum study is a narrative account of a teacher and the social studies curriculum she uses with her third grade class. The curriculum is divided into two main parts. One is a study of the students' culture and family history which involves interviews with the children's parents, an examination of maps and literature from those cultures, and a description of the way the students experience the study through their writings, drawings, and conversation.

The second part of the study is an investigation of the students' neighborhood and community. Through interviews with community members, neighborhood walks, and their own observations, …

The Experiencing Of Democracy And Progressive Education: A Constructivist Approach To Mathematics, A Workshop For Teachers, Preminda Langer

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Chronicles the history of schooling in India, discusses the development of the constructivist classroom, and shares a series of math workshops for teachers for nursery and kindergarten classrooms in India.

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 …

A Call To Movement: Reflections Of An Activist As Educator, Frances Lucerna

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Transformation or reform of public schools may be seen as a product of dual divergent forces - one rooted in the ideology of provider and the other arising from collective self-help initiatives for community self-determination. This paper explores, from a personal as well as community perspective, the socio-political underpinnings of creating a public school focused on human rights and the development of the community that gave it birth. It reveals the influences and principles that shaped my life as a community activist as well as the critical events in the history of El Puente ( a community-based organization ) that …

The Hudson River Museum And The Foxfire School : A Museum/School Collaboration, Leslie K. Butler

Graduate Student Independent Studies

I was hired by the Hudson River Museum during December, 1995 to develop a museum component for a brand new school in Yonkers, New York. This new school was named the Firefox School. It was given this name because of the method of teaching which is based on the Firefox Program, a method of teaching developed 30 years ago in a small community located in the Appalachian Mountains.

From Bulbs To Flowers, Elizabeth Vazquez

Graduate Student Independent Studies

In this thesis, I first developed the notion of a bulb as a means of introducing science to young children (ages five to eight).

First, bulb experiments were implemented. After a literature search, it was discovered that few books introduce scientific concepts with a storyline for young children. Therefore, I developed such a book in the process of writing the thesis. Lesson plans on bulbs for teachers were also developed and can be used in conjunction with the book or independently.

Lenape Yesterday & Today: A Traveling Artifact Box For The National Museum Of The American Indian, Heloisa Sisla Cinquetti

Graduate Student Independent Studies

An artifact box project designed for the National Museum of the American Indian to educate students in the New York City area about the Lenape or Delaware Native Americans. Addresses the need to offer handling objects with interpretive activities for the teacher and students in the classroom.

Reducing, Reusing And Recycling: An Integrated Social Studies Curriculum For Six And Seven Year Olds, Richard Lee

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This curriculum actively engages children in reducing, reusing, recycling and composting. Children are an integral part of in the decision making and promulgation of recycling in the classroom as well as throughout the school. There are numerous opportunities for children to become empowered and activist within the school and community. This curriculum uses experiential education through the use of trips and recreation of these trips. This curriculum is developed over an eight week period as part of a larger study of the neighborhood.

Peds Path: A Journey From Home To The Hospital And Back Home: A Game To Orient Preschool Children To The Hospital Settings, Leslie May

Graduate Student Independent Studies

With all of the cutbacks in the health care system children entering hospitals today have very few planned admissions, with an increasing large number of patients entering the hospital through the emergency room. As a result of this there are many children today who are entering the hospital with absolutely no preparation. This lack of preparation leads children to develop their own ideas and notions about just what the hospital experience will be like. These misconceptions or fears regarding illness or treatment may develop into incredible anxieties which often end up making the hospital experience much more difficult and scary …

The National Mall: Becoming Correspondents, Chronologers, Autobiographers, And Biographers, Marion Mccorkle Bradford

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The National Mall curriculum for seven and eight-year-olds is a child-centered, literacy and social studies-based series of units.Recognizing the need to connect reading and writing with the students'real life experiences, this study utilizes the prior knowledge which students bring to the curriculum and extends that information with activities which build a common experience for all of the children. Developed for inner-city students in Washington, D.C., the study incorporates teaching and learning about letter­ writing, timelines, autobiographies, and biographies with history, geography, economics, and political science which is pertinent to the National Mall.

The Founding Of A School: An Oral History Of The Abraham Joshua Heschel School, Joan Yotive Berland

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The Abraham Joshua Heschel School was founded in the early 1980's by Peter Geffen and other Jewish professionals and laypersons who were committed to a school that was independent of any synagogue or organization. A school where a wide range of Jewish beliefs and practices along with secular studies could be integrated through intellectual, academic, ethical, artistic, social and emotional realms.

By conducting interviews with 4 or the 8 people who taught or worked at the Heschel school when it opened in 1983, it was possible to collect an oral history that revealed aspects which were significant in founding and …

Educational Programs For School Groups Visiting The Cathedral Church Of St. John The Divine, New York City, Nancy S. Kovaleff

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This paper outlines three educational programs for the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City. The vast setting of the Cathedral and the variety of its contents suggest a wide range of possibilities for educational programming. The programs described here are designed to meet the developmental stages and curricular needs of the three different age groups: 5-7, 6-9, and 10-13. Each program includes pre-visit and post visit activities as well as material for the actual visit to the Cathedral/ Appendices include a needs assessment for middle school groups and a resource guide for students and teachers.

The Post Office : A Social Studies Curriculum For Seven And Eight Year Olds, Carol Ribner

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This paper presents a curriculum that I have developed and used with my class of second graders over the past three years. The curriculum is the study of the Post Office as part of a study of the neighborhood, and the subsequent planning and running of a schoolwide post office.

The Pre-Columbian Maya: An Integrated Social Studies Curriculum For Sixth Graders, Susan Westover

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This curriculum guide documents activities and discussion topics in an investigation of the pre-Columbian Maya.

Teaching Third Grade Math : A Learning Experience, Emily Terte

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This study was based on my experience as a new teacher, teaching math to a group of third graders. The purpose was to examine my methods of planning and teaching in order to better understand how I was learning and changing my views on teaching math. I gathered information by reading educational theorists, observing the children in my group, recording anecdotes and writing about my planning process. I gained inspiration from readings of Piaget's and other cognitive theorists, I gained insights from the ways my children responded to my lessons and I discovered that using manipulatives, examples that the children …

Young Geographers: How They Explore The World And How They Map The World [4th Ed.], Lucy Sprague Mitchell

Books

"Lucy Sprague Mitchell's thesis is that through their own experiences children can learn geography, and that through geography children can learn about the human world."-- Foreward.

Composing Math Education In The Information Age: A Song Of Change, Camille Baker

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This research describes what happened when a teacher implemented change directed toward a relevant math curriculum and effective pedagogy which address present day needs. The assessment of these needs includes an investigation of today's reform literature and the nature of mathematics, along with the history of education and cognitive theory of the 1900's.

The Use Of Corrective Emotional Experience In Therapeutic Intervention With An Elective Mute Child, Marilyn N. Bisberg

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The purpose of this thesis is to present a case study demonstrating the use of corrective emotional experience in therapeutic intervention with an elective mute child.

There are two portions to this presentation. The first portion of this paper includes review of past and present literature on elective mutism, review of Margaret Mahler's theory of separation-individuation and review of relational/structure theory of object relations. Following the review of the literature is the hypothesis that suggests a correlation between elective mutism and object relations theory.

The second portion of this thesis presents a case based upon this hypothesis, beginning with a …

The Effect Of Diet And Nutrition On Learning And Behavior With A Guide To Nutrition Curricula, Stephen Weinstock

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This paper seeks to provide information to teachers on the effects of diet and nutrition on children's learning and behavior.

The Development Of A Computer Program For The Elementary School, Nora Groban

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This work discusses the development, introduction and integration of computer assisted instruction into the second, third and fourth grade math curriculum at The Adler School.

Approaches To Assessment [V.2], Bank Street College Of Education

Books

"The following papers describe the more comprehensive components of the Bank Street analysis system [within the developmental-interaction approach]." -- p.3

Approaches To Teaching And Learning [V.1], Bank Street College Of Education

Books

"In 1968, Bank Street College was invited, under the leadership of Elizabeth Gilkeson and Gordon Klopf, to join in the creation of the National Follow Through Program, an effort intended to sustain and extend the gains of Head Start for low income children. Bank Street's subsequent role as a sponsor offered an opportunity to extend knowledge, develop new tools for implementation and serve a diverse children population in many distant sites. The materials in the present volume grew out of Bank Street's efforts in this challenging program." -- Historical note, [p.2]

A Math Program For The Third Grade, Dolores Gitlin

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This is a study of a math curriculum designed for a third grade class in a departmentalized setting. The children in the class were below average in math skills for this school and had little or no enjoyment from math. This paper shows the methods used to give the children a more positive outlook towards math while also building their skills. The paper includes descriptions of games and extensive samples of work sheets used.

A Study Of The River : Social Studies As The Core Of The Curriculum For Five And Six Year Olds, Carol Yahr Tucker

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Using social studies as the core of the curriculum is an effective educational framework for five and six year olds. When this curriculum starts with the children's life experiences and goes on to study some aspect of their community or environment, children can begin to understand the interconnectedness of the adult world. Young children feel the excitement of learning when they immerse themselves in a study; they find that learning can be a vital process related to their needs and experiences, rather than a dry transfer of skills and pre-existing bodies of knowledge.

Learning Through Expressive And Representational Experiences In Social Studies : Eight-And-Nine-Year-Olds Study The Netsilik Eskimos, Joan Cenedella

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The following paper is the record of a study of the Netsilik Eskimos that took place in a group of twenty-five eight and nine-year-olds in 1973. Included in the paper are a description of the school, the classroom, and the children involved; a brief discussion of the overarching concepts inherent in the content of the study; a record of the ways in which the study was presented to children; and finally, a detailed description of the children's work. The point is made throughout the paper that the children learned through expressive experience in the study and that this expressive experience …

Beginning An Open Classroom In A Public School: A Personal Experience, Donna C. Degaetani

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This paper describes the author's interest in the concept of open education. The author includes background information on the history of the open classroom program's inception and development.

Designing And Implementing Open Workshop Education At Bank Street College Of Education, Stanley Chu

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Bank Street College of Education needs to design and implement an expanded program of open workshop education. Increased input of staff, scheduled time, and equipment is necessary for this implementation.

Open workshop education offers help, time and facilities where a teacher can be involved with learning concepts using a combination of materials and skills. In addition, it can also function as an opportunity to continue and further develop ideas and skills initiated in other classes or from one's own school or classroom.

The African Child In The Curriculum: A Resource Kit For Elementary School Teachers, Betsy Grob

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This curriculum kit for elementary school teach­ers focuses on the West African child and how he lives, what he eats, how he works and plays. The thesis consists of  an  introduction and background to the project, as well as slides and their accompanying narrative, several recipes that can be used in class, and some typical African crafts for students to make.