Elementary Education Commons^™

Inclusion: Problems And Potential Solutions In Mathematics Instruction, Lynnea Marie Salscheider

Mathematics Graduate Theses

The purpose of this study was (1) to identify and describe the attitudes and beliefs of general and special education teachers about inclusion and (2) to identify significant recommendations based on teacher attitudes for improving the teaching of mathematics to special needs students using inclusion.

Developing Resilience In The Elementary School Classroom, Ellen Ferrin

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Explores the ways in which elementary school teachers can help their students develop the skills associated with resilience. For this study, an extensive literature review was conducted and surveys were completed by twelve elementary school teachers in Washington, Oregon, California, and New York.

Connecting The Strands Of Wampum, Marissa Corwin

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Documents the development of the author's philosophies and strategies as she formed a methodology for teaching social studies content about Native Americans in New York State.

Addressing Invisibility Of Asian-American History And Cultural Heritage In North American School Curricula : A Curriculum Guide, Kathryn Eliza Harris

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Presents a curriculum guide for upper elementary students (5th grade) including rationale and background research on need for critically informed multicultural education, an overview of the history of Chinese immigrants in the United States, origin and prevalence of Asian-American stereotypes, and underrepresentation of Asian-Americans in curriculum.

Passion And Compassion : Teaching First Graders Reading Comprehension Through Kindness And The Works Of Kevin Henkes, Salvi Muzio

Graduate Student Independent Studies

A literature review in the field of reading comprehension combined with a research-based curriculum created based on the experts and the author's personal experiences both in the classroom as a teacher and a student.

After-School Cooking Curriculum : Fruits & Vegetables, Lauren Cooke

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This thesis is an after-school cooking curriculum for 2nd or 3rd graders focusing on fruits and vegetables. The curriculum's primary goal is to help students discover a love of food as opposed to studying the health benefits of eating well.

"For The First Time, All Over Again" : Reading Classic Children's Literature With Contemporary Children, Julia Hope Martin

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This thesis explores a simple question: what happens when modern children are exposed to the "canon" of great children's literature for the very first time? How will contemporary children process and engage with texts that are over fifty years old? Using qualitative research with her own classroom of second graders, the author sets out to explore student reactions as they discovered a selected set of exemplary children's literature.

An Evaluative Study Of Family Guides And Subsequent Design Of A Multi-Museum Third Grade Explorer's Guide, Katherine Hillman

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The idea for this project began with the evaluative study of a cultural organization's family guide. The results of that study, garnered from interviews with and observations of families, serves as the inspiration for a newly designed family guide intended for third graders and their families. The guide incorporates several museum visits with NY State Social Studies Scope and Sequence criteria and is based on personal teaching experience, age-relevant developmental guidelines, theoretical influences, a literature review of family learning and current family guides, as well as the results of the evaluative study.

Immigration At The Core : A Curriculum For Fourth Grade, Ma'ayan Eckstein

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This curriculum provides educators with a framework for teaching fourth grade students about immigration in the United States between 1880 and 1924. It is designed to align with state-issued curricular guidelines for social studies as of 2012.

Roof Top Garden Play Space, Karolyn Crutchfield

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Throughout this unit, the author's kindergarten and first grade students had hands on experience with growing a variety of plants. As students were exposed to the variety of plants through the garden project, they were able to determine what plants needed to survive and flourish. Additionally, they focused on how plants help people, animals, and insects and explored what effect plants have on the ecological balance of the earth.

Steady Bodies Active Minds : A Resource For Using Yoga And Mindfulness In The Classroom, Clare Murchison

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This paper seeks to provide a resource for teachers to use the practices of yoga and mindfulness effectively in their elementary classrooms.

A Study Of Bridges For Second Graders, Christopher Mera

Graduate Student Independent Studies

A curriculum designed to inform students on the science and uses of bridges and to stimulate investigation into these topics. It contains planned lessons, trips and trip sheets, worksheets, and discussion topics and focus questions that are necessary for teaching this topic.

Sounds In The Neighborhood : A Curriculum For Six And Seven Year Olds, Rachel Rubinow

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This study of the sounds in the neighborhood comes from a larger neighborhood study within the first grade class. Students will have the opportunity to gain more information about the neighborhood by solely listening to the sounds and making sense of these sounds.

Natural Science In Our School Environment : Being Five And Being A Scientist, Danielle L'Heureaux

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This independent master's project is a proposal of an integrated science curriculum for five and six year olds. The curriculum is divided into four units: natural/manmade, living/non-living: animals, living/non-living: plants, and change.

Common Misconceptions And Instructional Best Practices For Teaching Fractions To Students In Grades Three, Four, And Five, Dan Fairchild

Mathematics Graduate Theses

This research paper will identify common misconceptions related to the teaching and learning fractions for students in grades three, four, and five. Different fraction subconstructs will be identified and instructional best practices will be identified for the teaching and learning of comparing fractions, ordering fractions, adding fractions, and subtracting fractions.

Student Centered Mathematics In An Isolated Skill Environment-Constructivist Methods In Mathematics, Amy Katherine Sorenson

Mathematics Graduate Theses

"A research paper submitted to the Faculty of the Department of Mathematics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Elementary and Middle Mathematics Education"

Improving Student Achievement Through Feedback, Jennifer L. Mchlachlan

Mathematics Graduate Theses

This paper reviews the current research that exists on feedback given to students in an educational setting. Questions examined were what characteristics make feedback effective, what are the effects on student achievement if feedback is available to students in a math classroom and does timing of the feedback given play a role in its effectiveness. Results showed that feedback is effective if it is descriptive, including both strengths and weaknesses. Feedback given in small doses throughout the learning process, so as not to overwhelm students, has also proven effective. The research shows that the effect of feedback on student achievement …

Fostering Student Sense Making In Elementary Science Learning Environments: Elementary Teachers’ Use Of Science Curriculum Materials To Promote Explanation Construction, Laura Zangori, Cory Forbes, Mandy Biggers

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

While research has shown that elementary (K-5) students are capable of engaging in the scientific practice of explanation construction, commonly-used elementary science curriculum materials may not always afford them opportunities to do so. As a result, elementary teachers must often adapt their science curriculum materials to better support students’ explanation construction and foster student sense making. However, little research has been conducted to explore if and, if so, how and why, elementary teachers modify science curriculum materials to engage students in explanation construction. We use an embedded mixed methods research design to explore elementary teachers’ (n = 45) curricular adaptations …

Effective Comprehension Strategies In The Elementary Classroom, Melissa Ann Determan

Graduate Research Papers

This paper focuses on key fiction and nonfiction comprehension strategies and different methods for teaching these strategies in the elementary classroom. It is essential to use effective comprehension instruction within the classroom to unlock meaning and to build student success. These strategies include activating background knowledge, questioning, summarizing, and text structures.

Comparison Of Student Achievement, Understanding, Enjoyment, And Motivation In Mathematics Units For High-Achieving Fifth Graders With And Without Creative Problem Solving Games, Kalyn Jon Cody

Graduate Research Papers

Students in our public schools often struggle to create deep, personal meaning regarding mathematical concepts. Perhaps our students do not spend enough time studying mathematics during the day. Perhaps our teachers do not have a deep understanding, which leads to problems in teaching at a deep level. Or perhaps our students simply are not motivated to study the subject at a deep level because it does not seem interesting. In this pretest/post-test repeated measures study of 24 fifth grade students in a grade-accelerated mathematics class, a link between achievement scores and understanding of mathematical concepts through the use of invented …

The Effects Of Peer-Conferencing On Writing Revisions In A Second Grade Classroom, Emily C. Guetzlaff

Graduate Research Papers

Writing has long been known as one of the three "R's" in education. However, many educators lack instructional knowledge on how to teach writing. Revision and conferencing are part of the writing teacher's vocabulary, but little research exists on these topics. This study utilized qualitative and quantitative data to compare the effects of students trained in peer-conferencing and students not trained in peer-conferencing and the effect on their writing. The introduction presents the problem that led to the development of this study. A literature review provides existing research related to writing workshop, instruction in writing, revision, and collaboration through conferring. …

Integrated Curriculum In The Elementary Classroom, Katherine Decker Simpson

Graduate Research Papers

Integrated curriculum can be broadly defined as using a theme to connect standards and objectives from multiple subject areas in a meaningful way to create relevant, student-centered learning tasks that promote social growth and deep comprehension. This type of instruction can promote higher-order thinking skills, cooperative learning, motivate students to engage in their own learning, and many other "intangibles".

The purpose of this project was to create an integrated unit for a first-grade classroom. The outcome will be an actual unit that can be used as a guide for teachers. However, another purpose of the project was to grasp the …

Designing Elementary Engineering Education From The Perspective Of The Child, Beth Dykstra Van Meeteren

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Many concerned leaders of industry and government believe the ability to sustain our quality of life and address the grand challenges of our times is contingent upon the successful engagement of our younger children in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). What STEM curricula, specifically engineering curricula, should address, how the curriculum should be delivered, and how the children construct an understanding of engineering are still unanswered questions. Engineering curriculum is beginning to emerge for elementary students, but does more to teach children about engineering than allowing them to develop engineering habits of mind.

This qualitative study used constant comparative …

Cognitively Guided Instruction (Cgi): Whats The Point? A Look Into Cgi And Cgi’S Potential Role In An 8th Grade Mathematics Class, Bryan C. Anderson

Mathematics Graduate Theses

This study examined the current research that exists on Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) and how it would look when implemented into an 8th grade mathematics classroom. Additional questions examined are if CGI would develop strong student understanding between mathematical concepts and their real world applications; if CGI techniques and questioning impact the interest level of mathematics students; and what type of extra resources would be needed by teachers to implement Cognitively Guided Instruction into their curriculum. Although much of the CGI research has been done on elementary students, by also examining key algebra practices the author was able to synthesize …

Understanding Our Families : A Curriculum For Six-Year-Olds, Sarah Boltz

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Presents a social studies curriculum on families designed for six-year-olds in a New York City charter school. The author designed this curriculum using the "Modified Understanding by Design" format. This format requires the curriculum designer to structure the entire curriculum around a few carefully chosen learning standards. The two standards serving as the basis of this curriculum were selected from the New York State social studies standards for first grade.

How Ipads Can Be Used In The Math Classroom To Improve Student Learning, Katie Ann Garrity Smieja

Mathematics Graduate Theses

This study explores how iPads can be used to enhance student learning in the math classroom. The author reviews current literature to determine how iPads are being used to facilitate communication, formative assessment, and promising practices in math education such as discovery learning and use of spreadsheets, graphing calculators, and manipulatives. Additionally, challenges and drawbacks to using iPads in the classroom are examined. Research supports the use of iPads to provide students access to digital content including online discussion boards and practice activities with instant feedback. iPads can also be used as student response systems to engage students in instruction …

Mathematics Classrooms At The Middle School Level: Does Grouping Make A Difference In Achievement, Adam Smieja

Mathematics Graduate Theses

This paper reviewed related research on student achievement based on how students were grouped, homogeneously or heterogeneously. Questions examined were whether students performed better in heterogeneous or homogenous groupings and to what extent did high-, average-, and low-ability students perform better in a particular group. Results showed that high-ability students in homogeneous groupings had higher gains in achievement when compared to their counterparts in heterogeneous groupings. However, gains for these high-ability students were not statistically significant. On the contrary, average-, and low-ability students did show statistically significant gains in achievement in the heterogeneous groupings. Yet, despite their effectiveness, implementation of …

How To Reach All Types Of Learners Through The Use Of Manupulatives In Grades Three, Four, And Five, Cadie Fairchild

Mathematics Graduate Theses

This paper is an examination of research concerning the use of manipulatives with third, fourth, and fifth grade mathematics instruction. The research discusses the power of child discovery, stages of representation, using manipulatives to support learning, eliminating manipulatives prematurely, and eliminating negative stereotypes linked to manipulative use. A major concern of teaching with manipulatives is the knowledge of the teacher. An educator’s role is to provide the best learning opportunities for students. Research reviewed for this paper indicates frequent hands on activities using manipulatives. They need to be aware of the many learning stages and how to address each individual …

Lesson Study: Restructuring Teacher Professional Development In The United States, Anthony G. Buono

Educational Studies Dissertations

This study reports how teachers at one suburban elementary school in the United States launched, organized, and structured lesson study, as well as how participants interpreted and perceived the lesson study experience. Additionally, it examines how lesson study supports teachers’ professional learning and the development of collaborative teacher teams. In doing so, it attempts to answer the following research questions: What does the lesson study experience look like at one elementary school in the United States? How does lesson study support and influence school based professional learning teams? How does and to what extent does the lesson study experience impact …

Teaching Perfectionism Through Cartoons Compared To Bibliotherapy For Primary Grade Students, Miranda L. Zousel

Graduate Research Papers

Many students, especially high achievers, develop perfectionist tendencies during early childhood. It is important to teach students early to manage their perfectionism to avoid many negative consequences of neurotic perfectionism such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, procrastination , or underachievement, and to avoid entrenchment of behaviors. Traditionally, bibliotherapy and role-play have been used to help students recognize perfectionistic traits and learn strategies for ameliorating negative effects. But cartoon analysis is another potentially useful approach.

This pretest-posttest control group - experimental group design study of first, second and third graders (n = 46) compared concept acquisition and enjoyment of learning about …