Early Childhood Education Commons^™

Embedding Transformative Social Emotional Learning Into Writing Instruction, Kristen Holsomback

Masters Projects

In order for students to succeed in writing tasks they must have social emotional competencies in self-regulation, engagement, and relationship skills. Many teachers are unprepared to teach these SEL competencies embedded in writing instruction. This project explores the need to embed Transformative SEL within writing instruction with a framework in culturally sustaining pedagogies. With a background in sociocognitive theory and sociocultural theory, this project seeks to equip teachers with the skills necessary to address students SEL competencies of: self-regulation, self-awareness, and relationship skills. Self-regulation skills comprise goal setting, self-instructions, self-monitoring, and self-reinforcement. Self-awareness skills include self-efficacy and student engagement. Relationship …

Self-Regulation For Early Childhood Classrooms, Emily Fox

Masters Projects

The ability to self-regulate is essential for young children's social, emotional, behavioral, and academic development. However, growing exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), toxic stress, family instability, and other social and environmental stressors has contributed to challenges in the development of these skills. Children with underdeveloped self-regulation skills are more likely to experience difficulties with executive functioning, peer relationships, classroom behavior, and school readiness, demonstrating the need for early intervention. The purpose of this master's project was to investigate the major social and environmental stressors affecting young children's self-regulation and to develop a research-based intervention to support self-regulation development in …

Beyond The Pencil: Creating Early Writers, Pamela L. Gernaat

Masters Projects

“Schools in many countries are faced with the challenge of developing student writing proficiency. Identifying and implementing effective writing instruction for young, beginning writers play important roles in improving student writing performance. Providing effective writing instruction to beginning writers can promote writing development and minimize the number of children who encounter challenges in learning to write” (Finlayson & McCrudden, 2022, p. 1). Despite the amount of research that has been done on the importance of early writing instruction, many lower elementary students struggle with the ability to write and cannot keep up with the cognitive demands of written instruction. Many …

Use Of Technology May Negatively Impact Learners, Dajsha A. Avery

Masters Projects

Integration of technology has changed classrooms vastly in the 21^st century. The research evaluates if the use of technology may negatively impact young learners. The Theory of Constructivism developed by Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky encourages the integration of technology in the classrooms because it allows the students to lead their educational journey. It is discovered that using technology allows students to be more engaged, self-paced and work on specific skills. Additionally, educational apps are helpful to build confidence and are an incentive for students while practicing skills. Yet, it is recommended to only allow up to 7 hours …

Supporting Oral Language Development Through Family Partnerships: A Family-Centered Toolkit For Children Enrolled In Pre-K, Celeste Baird

Masters Projects

Oral language development during early childhood serves as a critical foundation for later literacy achievement, communication, and preparation for kindergarten. Research indicates that children’s early language experiences are influenced by interactions with families, educators, and community environments, and that differences in access to language-rich experiences may contribute to variation in vocabulary, listening comprehension, and expressive communication prior to school entry. This capstone project examines the role of Pre-K participation and family engagement in supporting oral language development through the lenses of sociolinguistic theory, sociocultural theory, and an educational equity framework. Guided by current research, the project addresses the need for …

The Impact Of Play-Based Learning In Early Education, Stefani Merchant

Masters Projects

The increasing emphasis on academic achievement in early childhood education has contributed to a decline in play-based learning. This decline has raised concerns about its impact on children’s overall development. This project examines play-based learning as a developmentally appropriate approach that supports cognitive, social-emotional, language, and self-regulation skills in preschool and kindergarten students. Supported by the theories of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, the project explores play as a continuum consisting of free play, guided play, and playful learning. With each form of play, there are varying levels of teacher involvement. A review of current research highlights both the benefits …

Reducing Challenging Behavior Through Classroom Management Techniques In The Early Childhood Classroom, Mayra Moreno

Masters Projects

This literature-based project examines the impact of challenging behavior on student learning and evaluates the effectiveness of preventative classroom management strategies. Challenging behaviors include aggression, disruption and withdrawal, negatively affect the learning environment by decreasing student engagement, increasing teacher stress and burnout, and contributing to a less supportive classroom climate. Grounded in Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development and Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, this project emphasizes the importance of developmentally appropriate practices that support both cognitive and social-emotional growth. Included are preventative classroom management techniques aimed at reducing challenging behaviors. Key strategies include maintaining a 5:1 ratio of positive to …

Spelling With Tears: (Re)Thinking The Phonics-Spelling Connection, Meghan K. Block, Kristen L. White

Michigan Reading Journal

Many elementary students perform well on weekly spelling tests but struggle to apply those same words in their everyday reading and writing. This article explores why spelling and phonics instruction often feel disconnected in classrooms and how that disconnect affects children’s literacy development. Using a classroom vignette, teacher perspectives, and research, we argue for integrating spelling into meaningful reading and writing experiences. We share practical, classroom-ready recommendations—including word study, morphology instruction, games, and authentic writing—to help teachers make spelling purposeful, engaging, and transferable.

Play-Based Curriculum, Marina E. Prawdzik

Masters Projects

This project addresses the drastic decline of play and play-based learning in public education early childhood settings. Kindergarten classrooms have shifted their focus more to academics in the form of lecture based learning and lessons, rather than play based learning techniques. Because of this, children are lacking in cognitive development, physical development and social and emotional development and growth. This project includes research from within the state of Michigan, research within the United States as a whole, and research about play based learning from other countries such as Nigeria, Mexico, South Africa, Kenya, Finland, and Germany.

Welcoming Spaces: Parent Leadership And Early Literacy As Community-Based Co-Regulation Supports, Lauren S. Dake

Masters Projects

Many young children exhibit challenging behavior in early childhood settings, often as a response to high levels of stress in their home and community environments. This applied master’s project presents Welcoming Spaces, a parent-led initiative developed to support children’s emotional development, caregiver well-being, and early literacy through informal, community-based experiences. In response to concerns about rising dysregulation and reduced access to supportive environments, the project offers portable play areas hosted by parents at events such as school functions, library gatherings, and local festivals. These spaces include calming sensory activities and opportunities for shared reading, while also providing caregivers with …

Expressive Language And Behavior, Bethany J. Butler

Masters Projects

Research has revealed the importance of language and its correlation with behavior. Although language and behavior are both forms of communication, this project explores young children and their relationship with society. Honing in on the essential importance of efficient expressive language to be able to participate in society. Looking at common barriers that may hinder the language process. Exploring Maslow and his hierarchy of needs, and understanding that the basic needs have to be met before having the ability to learn. In summary, the project focused on how to support the increase in language in different stages.

The Impact Of Social-Emotional Development In Early Childhood On Academic Success, Chelsea Bassett

Masters Projects

Research consistently shows that social-emotional competencies such as emotional regulation, empathy, interpersonal skills and self-awareness play a foundational role in a student’s ability to engage in learning, collaborate with peers, persist through struggles and achieve academically. Deficits in these skills are associated with decreased motivation, disruptive behavior, poor relationships with peers and teachers and diminished academic performance. Grounded in Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory and supported by evidence-based frameworks, this project explores how intentionally targeting social-emotional learning can strengthen both student well-being and academic outcomes. This project examines the relationship between social-emotional development and academic achievement in early childhood and elementary education. …

A Community-Based After-School Wellness Camp’S Effect On Healthy Habit Beliefs, Staci A. O'Brien, Ranelle Brew, Madeline Krawciw, Jodie Seese, Tess Scheidel

Michigan Journal of Public Health

Introduction: Children in the United States face declining physical activity, poor nutrition, and increasing mental health concerns. As school time for wellness declines, out-of-school programs offer an alternative to promote healthy habits to students. A community-driven, multi-component after-school wellness camp was developed in response to a small-town needs assessment and implemented at a local elementary school to determine whether it would change participants’ beliefs held towards healthy habits.

Methods: Third to fifth graders at a local elementary school in Lowell, Michigan, participated in an after-school wellness camp for four weeks through education and hands-on activities focused on physical …

Supporting Young Learners With Disabilities In Inclusive Classrooms: A Toolkit For General Education Teachers, Emily M. Raleigh

Masters Projects

Many young elementary students with disabilities often experience difficulty maintaining engagement in their learning and managing their emotions in general education classrooms. These challenges can have a negative influence on their ability to interact with their peers, develop foundational academic skills, and feel a sense of belonging. At the same time, many general educators report a lack of effective training, strategies, and confidence in implementing supports to students with disabilities, particularly in the areas of self-regulation and engagement. This project responds to this issue through the creation of a visual support toolkit developed for use in inclusive early elementary classrooms. …

Explicit Instruction’S Role In Phonemic Awareness And Phonics In Early Childhood Education, Sydney J. Fisher

Masters Projects

Research consistently demonstrated the impact that explicit instruction has on young children’s acquisition of phonemic awareness and phonics skills, critical foundations for later reading success. These skills are linked to achievement in reading in the upper elementary grades and beyond. Children reading below often face challenges across subject areas, and low literacy levels can limit meaningful participation in the community. This project examines research on developing phonemic awareness and phonics skills. With proper training and knowledge, teachers can improve student outcomes in these areas. However, teacher preparation programs and professional development does not adequately address these skills and how to …

Reflection And Reimagination As Resistance: Towards Humanizing Critical Writing Pedagogy, Grace Y. Kang, Sonia M. Kline

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

Given the pressures, demands, and standardization teachers face in our sociopolitically charged times, teachers need opportunities to reflect and reimagine their instruction. Drawing on critical and related scholarship, we conceptualize critical humanizing writing pedagogy. We share our instructional moves as teacher educators for enacting humanizing writing pedagogy in a graduate course and supporting teachers to enact humanizing writing pedagogy in their K-12 classrooms. Specifically, we show how a graduate student and practicing teacher found ways to shift toward critical orientations as she navigated her school’s curriculum and state standards. We argue that sociocultural and critical lenses provide powerful tools for …

Foundations Of Quality: A Toolkit For Professional Growth In Infant/Toddler Classrooms, Amber A. Hulin

Masters Projects

This project aims to tackle the issue of inconsistencies in the educational experiences provided by many early childhood programs. This project focuses primarily on the infant/toddler age group. Chapter 1 identifies a key contributing factor in these inconsistencies: a shortage of high-quality teachers due to lack of infant/toddler focused content in teacher preparation programs and further professional development. Chapter 2 reviews the literature including what a high-quality educator is and how a high-quality educator impacts a child’s development. It also identifies the various teacher preparation programs and highlights the lack of infant/toddler content in professional development. Chapter 3 presents a …

An Examination Of Inclusive Education Programs For Children With Disabilities, Haley Misiewicz

Masters Projects

This project addresses the ongoing need for high-quality professional development that equips early childhood educators with effective strategies for inclusive education. Research consistently demonstrates that inclusive settings benefit both students with disabilities and their typically developing peers, yet many educators report a lack of confidence, training, and support when implementing inclusive practices. Grounded in the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and informed by federal legislation such as IDEA and ADA, this project presents a professional development toolkit designed to support preschool through second-grade teachers in creating accessible, responsive classroom environments.

The toolkit consists of a 90-minute training session, …

Challenging Behavior In The Early Childhood Classroom, Ashley L. Hoag

Masters Projects

In early childhood classrooms, it is becoming increasingly common for students to exhibit challenging behaviors. These behaviors present as either internalizing behaviors, such as anxiety, or as externalizing behaviors, such as defiance and aggression. These behaviors are impacting student learning and contributing to an increase in teacher stress and burnout. Early childhood educators feel underprepared to address these behaviors effectively. The project is grounded in Behaviorist Theory and Constructivist Theory. These theories inform Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), which is an evidence-based approach to managing challenging behaviors by focusing on reinforcement, the structure of the environment, and building important …

Supporting Teachers In Social Emotional Learning, Olivia Radley

Masters Projects

The development of social emotional skills in children is crucial, yet many teachers lack the necessary training and support to effectively implement social emotional learning (SEL) in the classroom. SEL focuses on essential competencies such as self-regulation, relationship-building, and responsible decision-making that are vital not only for classroom success, but for long-term wellbeing. While teachers have always played a significant role in fostering children’s social and emotional development, research explores the gap in teacher training and preparation for social emotional learning implementation. Effective SEL instruction depends on intentional strategies such as strong classroom management, meaningful relationships with students and families, …

Enhancing Kindergarten Readiness, Alexander J. Smith

Masters Projects

This project aims to tackle the issue of kindergarten readiness. Chapter 1 focuses on the significant gap in kindergarten preparedness, with many children lacking the academic, social, and emotional skills needed for a successful kindergarten transition. Socioeconomic disparities, lack of access to good early childhood education, and the compounded effect of the COVID-19 pandemic that disrupted early learning opportunities and parental engagement have widened this gap. As such, the project presents a Kindergarten Readiness Toolkit that aims to promote young learners' academic and social-emotional skills by providing targeted interventions. The second chapter thoroughly reviews the literature, including the use of …

The Importance Of Developing Social-Emotional Skills In Early Childhood, Jaren Whitney Phillips

Masters Projects

Abstract

This proposal explores the importance of developing social-emotional skills at a young age and the impact it can have on a child’s short-term and long-term success. Social-emotional skills can be developed in the classroom on a daily basis. Teachers can do this by providing a supportive, safe, and caring classroom environment that influences learning and providing opportunities for students to practice and apply their social emotional skills in different settings and situations (Zins et al., 2007; McClelland et al., 2017). Teachers need the proper training on how to effectively implement and embed social-emotional skills in the classroom in all …

Mentoring And Supporting All Writers: Strengthening Writing Instruction In Pk To 5th Grade With Halpern’S “Interactive Writing” And Anderson’S “Mentor Texts”, Chad H. Waldron, Meghan K. Block, Alicia D. Fluker, Mariah C. Schepak, Michelle R. Snyder

Michigan Reading Journal

Shared, co-authored book review by educators and researchers of Matt Halpern’s (2023) A Teacher’s Guide to Interactive Writing, Grades PreK-2 and Carl Anderson’s (2022) A Teacher’s Guide to Mentor Texts, Grades K-5 (Heinemann)

Social Emotional Learning Unit Plan For Kindergarten Students, Aubrey Groenhof

Masters Projects

Younger grades are beginning to look different as time goes by. With new laws in place, like No Child Left Behind, there is a higher demand for rigorous academics. Teachers have assessments and district provided curriculum to make sure to achieve within their school days. This push for academic rigor has led to less free-play in the younger grades resulting in more disruptive behaviors. Research has revealed the importance of Social-Emotional Learning within the classroom setting to reduce the disruptive behaviors and emotions. This project focuses on the impact of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) on disruptive behaviors. The author investigated different …

Developing Literacy Through Play, Molli Vanderjagt

Masters Projects

The loss of play in the classroom has had a significant impact on children’s foundational literacy skills. It has hindered children’s language development by reducing their verbal skills and language comprehension and decreasing vocabulary. Child development has not changed, and yet we continue to put more academic pressure on our youngest students. This project addresses the need for play in early education classrooms. It then provides research why play is important in developing foundational literacy skills, such as oral language and vocabulary, comprehension and recall and higher-level thinking, and possible classroom applications. The project concludes with a presentation for administrators, …

Shifting Educators' Perspectives On The Purpose Of Play And Play-Based Learning, Emily Mueller

Masters Projects

Play is a research-based, developmentally appropriate practice for children, supporting both their social-emotional development and academic learning, but there exists differences between Early Childhood Education (ECE) teachers in how play is viewed and used. ECE teachers’ perspectives on the purpose of play affects the practices they implement in their classrooms. If educators have limited perspectives on the purpose of play, they are not likely to implement or advocate for certain, necessary types of play and play-based learning in their classrooms. This is especially pertinent when the pressure to teach standards through formal instruction is present in many ECE classrooms. This …

The Effect Of Augmentative And Alternative Communication Devices On Preschool-Aged Children With Disabilities, Jocelyn N. Fox

Masters Projects

Speech and language needs are not being met effectively in preschool-aged children. These skills are incredibly important, as speech and language skills affect all other areas of development (Greenwood et al., 2013). To help solve this problem, professionals who work with this population of students need to have effective practices in place to address the needs of these students. This project aims to provide preschool-aged children who have speech and language needs the access to communication they deserve. Through Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices, many speech and language needs can be addressed. This project will provide training on AAC …

Effective Vocabulary Instructions In Kindergarten Through Third Grade, Allison Ericksen

Masters Projects

This project proposal explains the lack of research and emphasis put on vocabulary instruction in kindergarten through third grade. There is a vocabulary gap between students who come from low SES and high SES that puts students at a disadvantage when it comes to reading, since 60% of comprehension is tied to vocabulary (Stahl and Nagy, 2005). However, the gap is often not addressed until later grades when it starts to be more necessary to comprehend what they read in order to learn. Teaching vocabulary in the younger grades will help prevent the gap from growing too large for those …

Helping Early Readers With Dyslexia, Jessica Kathleen Klooster

Masters Projects

Dyslexia is a common learning disability that is difficult for educators to understand. Misconceptions and misinformation have led to teachers and schools lacking in identification, resources, and support that can be provided to children with dyslexia – specifically young children. This project examines the research of the adverse effects of dyslexia, lack of teacher knowledge regarding dyslexia, the identification of young children who may have dyslexia, and the best intervention practices for these children. In general, many teachers hold misconceptions about dyslexia, which prevents children who have the disability from receiving early intervention. The purpose of this project was to …

Students’ Traumas Impact On Academic Achievement, Taylor L. Lincoln

Masters Projects

The purpose of this project is to provide a curriculum on trauma informed teaching that can be used within all classrooms. With the trauma increase teachers have seen in students; it is important for schools to understand what trauma is and how to handle it in the classroom settings. The research will help determine the most common reasons that students have trauma and find beneficial ideas and solutions to help students and teachers dealing with trauma in the classroom. The data collected will then be used to create a professional development that will be used to help educate all school …