A Study of Motivation and Problem Solving Using LEGO® Education BuildToExpress™ in Elementary Social Studies Lessons
Cindy Little, Ph.D.
BuildToExpress™ is a process that focuses on developing academic, social, and cognitive skills in individuals from ages six to adult. The process uses LEGO® Education Expressions Sets that allow for the building of thoughts and ideas and contains the following four core elements:
- The Challenge: A facilitator asks participants to build something.
- The Building Phase: Participants build their responses using their individual LEGO sets.
- The Sharing Phase: Participants share their model with others.
- The Recap: The facilitator and participants summarize what was learned.
The main purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate whether or not this process impacted motivation and problem-solving skills in fourth-grade students during social studies lessons at an elementary school in central Texas.
The research design encompassed the following three primary objectives:
- To find out if students experience flow while using BuildToExpress
- To find out if using BuildToExpress increases intrinsic motivation
- To explore teacher and student perceptions of using BuildToExpress while solving problems
To ensure the validity of the study, the following steps were built into the research design: Choosing three classrooms (two experimental and one control) with similar student populations; triangulation of data collected on flow (two trained observers comparing observed flow behaviors with student self-reports); the use of a standardized, psychometrically valid and reliable instrument to measure intrinsic motivation (the Children’s Academic Intrinsic Motivation Inventory) in an ABA modified time series experimental design; and a list of interview questions used across all group interviews.
The results of the study were very favorable:
- All students experienced mid to high levels of flow across every study session.
- Test results supported the idea that BuildToExpress increased intrinsic motivation (see below).
- Student and teacher interviews revealed that BuildToExpress positively impacted problem solving.
A bit about Dr. Little:
Dr. Cindy Little holds a Ph.D. in educational psychology from Baylor University, an M.A.T. in gifted education from Whitworth College, and a BA in elementary education from Northwest University. She is currently an instructor at Baylor’s School of Education where she teaches research methods and child development courses. She also has extensive experience as a senior editor and managing editor of gifted education journals, has more than 16 years experience working in pre-K through university level learning environments, and owns her own research and consulting business (www.innovrecon.com). Her areas of research interest and expertise are the theory of flow, creativity, critical thinking, and qualitative research methods.
A firm believer in constructivist, hands-on approaches to learning, Dr. Little regularly incorporates the use of the BuildToExpress process into her university coursework. She believes that in order for her students to become the best teachers, she needs to model best teaching practices. It is not enough for students to simply hear a lecture about how to use the BuildToExpress process. They need to experience the process and learn through it for themselves. She has found this approach to be very successful with her students as they find the process highly motivating and a new way to learn. It is always fun to watch adult students set their laptops, pencils, and notebooks aside and begin to build such things as their personal paradigms of education or models of best parenting practices. Dr. Little believes the BuildToExpress process holds great potential for learning across all ages of students, and she will continue to use it in both her teaching and research.


Students should be exposed to teaching and learning that significantly differ from a typical high school education – and this exposure should be part of their first-year college experience. To achieve this objective, Furman requires that all new students complete a first-year writing seminar (FYW) that explicitly devotes significant pedagogical attention to improving student writing and developing information fluency. The seminar requires students to assume greater responsibility for their own learning and cultivates within them an excitement about the learning process and an enduring capacity to acquire and analyze knowledge.
To create a stimulating intellectual environment, first-year writing seminars
- foster a dynamic process between faculty and students in which ideas and knowledge are communicated and discussed in a reflective, critical, and engaging manner;
- enhance the intellectual skills necessary for analyzing and solving complex issues and problems in writing;
- inspire a passion for learning and intellectual pursuits;
- limit enrollment to up to twelve students.
The main goal of writing seminars is to teach students how to write more effectively through the following pedagogical practices:
- teaching critical thinking and logical argument through expository and argumentative writing, working from the premise that writing is a form of thinking, and that ideas are inextricable from their written expression.
- encouraging offerings on any topic by faculty members in any department. In keeping with the emphasis on written expression, students will be required to produce a total of twenty pages of graded formal writing appropriate to the topic of each seminar.
- educating students about plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty in accordance with university-wide policy.
- addressing analytical strategies, organizational methods, and grammatical correctness, within the context of the genres and formats of the writing of the course.
- incorporating a composition textbook and reference handbook as teaching texts.
- employing the resources of the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Writing and Media Lab, and the Director of Writing Programs.
A critical part of the writing process, in addition to expressing one’s own ideas clearly and effectively, is locating, evaluating, and incorporating information from scholarly sources, as well as giving proper credit to these sources. With this in mind, each writing seminar includes an information fluency component which culminates in a research project. The research project need not be long or complicated but should be enough for students to get a sense of how the academic literature is structured and to understand the basic types of sources and their uses. Overall, the information fluency component provides students with the foundational skills essential for research in other courses.
To effectuate the information fluency component, a member of the library faculty is paired with each writing seminar. Library faculty understand the objectives of the seminar and assist the instructor as he or she outlines potential research projects. The seminar library faculty serves as a resource for students throughout the semester, and conducts information fluency sessions during class time for students.
New students, both incoming first year and transfer students (when applicable), will be assigned to a seminar during their first year at Furman based on preferences established through the summer orientation process. Enrollment in the FYW is limited to twelve students. Exceptions are permissible however, with instructor consent, on an individual student basis. Participation in first year seminars will typically be limited to new students.
Students may switch seminar assignments through the Add-Drop period early in the semester before the published deadline.
Students who do not successfully complete the first-year writing seminar during their initial semester at Furman will be assigned to an appropriate seminar the following semester in consultation with their academic advisor.
The FYW is a topical course appropriate for incoming first year and transfer students taught in a seminar format. Focused on introducing students to the rigorous academic atmosphere at Furman, the seminars frequently utilize interdisciplinary approaches. For courses completed at other institutions to be considered equivalent to these first year seminar offerings, we would expect students to be able to demonstrate that similar objectives have been met.
Introductory college-level composition courses completed at like institutions will typically be considered equivalent to the FYW only when a student has been enrolled on a degree-seeking basis at another college or university.


Fears have been raised that bilingual pupils will lose out on much-needed support in English after scoring highly in the new phonics test, despite historically performing poorly later in primary school.
The phonics test was introduced for the first time last term, with pupils in Year 1 asked to read a list of 40 words, 20 of which were made-up "nonsense" words.
Results published last week showed that 58 per cent of pupils passed the test, with no difference in the pass rate between native English speakers and those who speak English as an additional language (EAL). All 235,000 children who failed will receive additional support with their reading in Year 2.
But experts have raised concerns that the overriding focus on phonics, championed by the current government, will mean that EAL children miss out on the help they need. While those pupils are as good as their classmates at sounding out words, they lack the wider comprehension needed to develop their literacy.
Nicola Davies of NALDIC, the subject association for EAL, said its biggest concern was that schools may not realise bilingual pupils still need long-term support. "We will need to say explicitly to schools: 'Don't let this fool you - don't forget that there's more to reading than phonics,'" she said. "No one is disputing that phonics is a good way to find out about words, but it is one part of the jigsaw. What we hope is that none of this means comprehension gets squashed out by phonics."
A pilot study of the phonics test also highlighted fears that the test may skew the assessment of bilingual children's abilities. It found that fewer than half of teachers felt the test gave an accurate picture of the ability of bilingual children. Some teachers even said that EAL pupils, particularly those with higher ability, "tended to flourish" when freed from the barriers of putting words in context; having a smaller vocabulary meant they were less likely to correct nonsense words into actual words.
For the past seven years, since the current system of teacher assessment at key stage 1 was introduced, results have shown that English-speaking children are more likely to achieve the expected level in reading at the end of Year 2 than bilingual pupils. The children who took the first phonics test this year will take their KS1 tests next year.
Russell Hobby, general secretary of heads' union the NAHT, said the issues surrounding EAL pupils showed that literacy was about more than "decoding" words.
"The government is focused on only one half of literacy," he said. "If children are weak at decoding, this test could reveal that. But comprehension is just as important and it shows nothing about that. Decoding is important, but the most important thing is to like reading."
The NAHT and other unions have renewed calls for the government to make the phonics test optional. Synthetic phonics was made a compulsory part of the curriculum in 2008 and the pressure on schools to ensure they are providing quality phonics instruction has increased since the coalition government took power in 2010. The government introduced the test and has offered every primary school matched funding of up to #163;3,000 for approved phonics products and training.
But Paul Jackson, head of Gallions Primary School in Beckton, East London, said he thought heads who were already supporting EAL children would not allow that to slip.
"There has been a concern about the nonsense words in the test and its meaningfulness for EAL children after we have worked so hard to make sure they put things in context," he said. "But I am quite pleasantly surprised to hear EAL children are doing as well as other children. We won't let phonics distract from the wider work with EAL."
Mark my words
- A total of 592,000 children took the phonics test.
- Overall, 58 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard.
- Girls performed better than boys: 62 per cent reached the pass mark compared with 54 per cent of boys.
- Just 44 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals passed the test.
- 58 per cent of pupils who speak English as an additional language passed - the same proportion as native English speakers.


*Filter this list of courses by Course ID, Title, or Credits.
Provides a comprehensive picture of Earth and its unique place in the universe by examining major concepts from geology, oceanography, meteorology, and astronomy. Topics include Earth- Sun relationships, plate tectonics, rock cycle, evolution of stars, composition and structure of atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere, characteristics of oceans, solar systems, and stars.
Presents a holistic view of Earth (our environments) as a system with emphasis on understanding the relationships of humans, atmosphere, hydrosphere, solid Earth, and biosphere. Major concepts are drawn from astronomy, meteorology, oceanography, geography, geology, biology, and ecology.Human?s part, effects, and relationships within the global ecosystem and Earth Systems are analyzed, as well as our dependence and interconnections with natural resources. Includes lab.
Earth science is an explanation of the earth system and the energy that powers its subsystems. Concepts are from astronomy, meteorology, oceanography, geology, physical geography and ecology. Students will gain an understanding of the natural world and science, as well as develop skills to apply and teach how scientifc principles apply to everyday life. Intended primarily for elementary education and early childhood education majors. Part of a three quarter sequence; students are not required to take entire sequence. Includes lab. Prerequiste: None.


Spelling 2 - Instead of students using their spelling words in a sentence for homework. This Spelling Menu gives students more freedom and options in their spelling homework. Students must choose a different menu item every night of the week for homework.
reading comprehension strategies poster Standard Knowledge of Literacy. Standard = The teacher has demonstrated the ability to develop reading comprehension and promotion of independent reading including COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES FOR A VARIETY OF GENRES.
Idioms: 5 Common and Simple English Idioms Poster. It think this would be a great poster to have displayed in the classroom while working with idioms. The students could even make their own version of this poster to display at the end of our unit.


Elementary Education (B.S.)
Why Study Elementary Education at NIU?
Ready to become the elementary school teacher you loved as a child? Our bachelor’s degree in elementary education prepares you to teach in all subject areas to children in first- through sixth-grades. You’ll learn about child development, curriculum and instruction, classroom management, educational technology, special education, assessment, educational philosophy and psychology and more. Our how-to classes equip you to provide instruction in specific subject areas including reading and writing, mathematics, language arts, social studies and science. And you’re almost assured of acing the edTPA: 100 percent of Elementary Education undergraduates in Fall 2016 passed the mandatory assessment required to obtain teacher licensure in Illinois and several other states.
Careers with an Elementary Education Degree
Your degree in elementary education provides you with the unique opportunity to make a difference by helping students to succeed in school, careers and life.
Elementary Education Occupational Outlook
Elementary Education Faculty
We provide an inclusive, engaging and supportive environment that inspires excellence. Our faculty prepare students to succeed and lead in their careers and communities through programs grounded in engaged learning experiences. Our innovative and effective instruction addresses the changing educational and professional needs of our students. Elementary Education faculty research include Black-Latino relations in public schools, literacy instruction of immigrant and non-native English speakers, the educational needs of English language learners, representations of diversity in picture books and motivation and strategy instruction in writing.
Hands-on Learning Opportunities
You’ll complete a series of hands-on clinical experiences that concludes with a semester-long student-teaching experience in a public elementary school. You’ll also enter the teaching field a step ahead of your peers: Three new emphases – Bilingual/ESL, Reading Teacher and Special Education – provide automatic endorsements in areas that previously required additional coursework. You also can minor in Math Education.
For unparalleled exposure to the classroom, check out our “Educate” series: Our Educate Local, Educate U.S. and Educate Global programs transport students throughout the northern Illinois region, across the country and around the world to observe, learn, teach and participate. You can apply what you have learned while we support your transition from student to professional.
Our Teacher Education and Certification House (TEACH House) residence hall floors helps build your career through activities, conferences, seminars and leadership skill development. You can learn professional skills, such as planning a field trip to the Brookfield Zoo.


Lucky Pups Weekly News
This week we will be learning about long e. It can be spelled: e, e_e, ee, and ea.
Students will be solving subtraction problems. Students will practice their math skills with math games and daily word problems in their math journal.
Here is the link to the parent tip sheet for our new math module:
Reading Literature: RL. 1, 2, 3, 7, 8
Foundational Skills: RF, 1, 2, 3, 4
Writing: W. 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.5
Speaking and Listening: SL. 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5
Language: L, 1.1, 1. 2, 1.5
Math: 1.OA. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Number and Operations: NBT.1
11/16 - Report Cards go home
11/17 - Field Trip to Imagination Place
11/22 - 11/26 - Thanksgiving break
Trussville City Schools
Educators, staff, parents, and the community will work together to help students move forward on a positive path toward college and career readiness.
The Mission of Trussville City Schools is to educate all students using high standards in a safe, nurturing environment fostering academic and career competencies that prepare them to be productive citizens.


Learning Outcomes of the Diploma
- Discuss the life of Maria Montessori and how her philosophy contributed to early childhood learning, today.
- Describe the stages of child development, as defined by Dr Montessori, with special emphasis on her theories on learning in the first stage (0 - 6 years).
- Describe the role, tasks, and desired qualities of the teacher.
- Describe the importance of the Montessori prepared environment, and be able to assist in setting up and maintaining such an environment, and the Montessori teaching materials.
- Describe the Montessori Curriculum for early childhood education from 3 to 6 years, and demonstrate activities from all areas of the Curriculum.
- Within the Module: Ministerial Requirements and Expectations, ‘Aspirations for the Child and the Teacher’ - teachers can explore and investigate to discover the coalescent value of:
(i) Present day scientific research suggestions
(ii) The Philosophy of Dr Maria Montessori
(iii) The Early Childhood Education Curriculum Framework expectations
(iv) The Ministerial Requirements and Expectations
Aims of the Diploma
- To provide a quality Aperfield Montessori Diploma in Early Childhood Education.
- To ensure Aperfield Montessori teacher training is consistent across New Zealand.
- To provide teachers with an opportunity to connect the Montessori philosophy with the ECE Ministerial requirements, and current neuroscience research.
- To ensure New Zealand’s bicultural heritage is explicit throughout Aperfield Montessori training.


Eugene Delacroix was a French painter who is said to have had a passion for the exotic and chose to travel to North Africa to study art instead of traveling to Italy to study classical Roman and Greek art. However, he was inspired by Rubens and other Venetian Renaissance painters and was attracted to English painting. Because Delacroix was inspired by Rubens, he was drawn to tradition, but found a way of expressing traditional painting in his own unique way. He was also trained by the neo-classical painter Pierre Guerin from 1816 to about 1823 and held his first exhibit at the Salon of 1822, a great accomplishment of the time. Delacroix liked to use expressive brushstrokes and showed the importance of movement and color in his pieces rather than clarity of outline and carefully modeled form. As well as painting this portrait of Frederic Chopin, Delacroix also illustrated many works of Shakespeare.
Frederic Chopin was a Polish composer and pianist during the Romantic Era and was also a child prodigy who finished his musical education and composed many great works by the young age of 20. He left Poland shortly after completing his music education and after having a failed engagement with a Polish girl. Thereafter he maintained a troubled relationship with the French writer George Sand. Sand was the author of daring novels and six years older than Chopin. She was also the mutual friend between Delacroix and Chopin, which is how the two came to know one another. The two men became close friends and Delacroix kept this portrait in his studio until his death.
An interesting feature of this portrait is that it was originally a double portrait of George Sand and Eugene Delacroix, see below. The owner of the painting thought that the portraits would garner more value separately and were therefore cut apart. In the original portrait, Chopin is playing the piano and George Sand is sewing, which was a favorite pass time of the writer. From this portrait, the viewer can see the loose brushstrokes that were common with Delacroix as well as the emphasis on color. Just in Chopin’s hair alone one can see hints of yellow and oranges that add depth to the overall portrait. From Chopin’s facial expression it seems as though he is confident and focused, he knows he has extraordinary talent and intends to show the world this. He is passionate about his craft and wants the viewer to know that. This portrait is a great example of Romantic characteristics particularly in regards to color and emotion. The colors are moody and dark, and the face is showing the emotions behind the man, which is what Romantic artist aimed to do. The fuzzy outline instead of crisp lines is also characteristic of Romanticism and although Delacroix was inspired by the traditional, this portrait is very much Romantic. Baudelaire said of Delacroix, “Delacroix was passionately in love with passion, but coldly determined to express passion as clearly as possible.”
Smolenska-Zielinska, Barbara. “Chopin : Biography.” Chopin : Biography. Official Chopin Homepage, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2014.
“Delacroix – The Complete Works.” Delacroix – The Complete Works. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.
Neret, Giles. “Eugene Delacroix.” Eugene Delacroix. Artchive, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.
“Eugène Delacroix.” The National Gallery, London. The National Gallery, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.


For more information visit the Teacher Education Department Website.
The Elementary Education bachelor of science degree program has been approved by the North Dakota Education Standards and Practices Board and is designed as a teacher licensure program. This means students who are accepted into and complete this program of study, as well as meet the other criteria, are eligible to apply for an Educator’s Professional License through the State of North Dakota.
The conceptual framework of the UTTC Teacher Education program is based on the philosophy that a competent, caring teacher is prepared to teach all children. We believe that teaching from what was traditionally a Native perspective is the best way for all children to learn. A Native perspective begins with recognizing the child in the context of family, community, and culture. Learning is a natural part of human growth, development, and socialization in all cultures. In many cultures, particularly Native American, the learning experiences that constitute education are based in cultural values of relevance, relatedness, respect, and responsibility - referred to in this framework as the “4 Rs”.
Relevance is demonstrated through meaningful and authentic learning experiences tied directly to state and national standards. Candidates learn and experience reflective practice through engaged field placements in the classroom under mentor and instructor guidance. They are provided the opportunity meaningful engagement and experiences relevant to one’s life and interests.
Relatedness is believing and behaving as if you are a relative to another person or thing. It is demonstrated and reinforced through collaborations with children and families.
Respect is a very important traditional Native value. Respect is demonstrated through student contributions and their respect of others’ contributions. The disposition of respect is demonstrated through courtesy, kindness, and acceptance of individuals and their contributions.
Responsibility is a core value of Native cultures as well as the teaching culture. Candidates are expected to demonstrate accountability for their actions and decisions as they engage in their general education and teacher education curriculum.
The 4Rs are integrated throughout the UTTC Teacher Education unit and program(s) and are placed in the context of a holistic worldview and global interconnectedness. These and other values will prepare teacher candidates, and in turn the children they will teach, to be productive members of society and have a good quality of life.
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE PROGRAM(S):
Elementary Education - (68 CORE Credits Required)
Additional Required Courses - (13 Credits Required)


Part of a $6 million milestone gallery redevelopment at Scienceworks, Ground Up is a new permanent exhibition created to immerse children in an imaginative world of sensory discovery and construction-play and ignite engagement with science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).
Building on the early childhood learn through play standard set by the Pauline Gandel Childrens Gallery at Melbourne Museum
, it is part of a suite of new experiences being developed at Scienceworks. Each is aimed at engaging and preparing the next generation for a future in which an increasing number of jobs will rely on STEM skills of problem solving, hypothesising, experimenting and investigating.
Research shows girls as young as four already have a gender bias in thinking about future careers, with girls less likely to want to aspire to science and technology-based careers. So while the exhibition welcomes both boys and girls, a key part of its development was trying to combat this trend and ensure that the space made science accessible to girls.
To combat this Ground Up has placed emphasis on collaboration, used gender-neutral colours and has a female ambassador Dot who will pop up throughout the space.
Lynley Marshall, CEO, Museums Victoria said Ground Up is a cutting-edge fusion of early learning education and design:
Ground Up: Building Big Ideas, Together is the first of a suite of new initiatives at Scienceworks aimed at igniting a passion for science, technology, engineering and maths in young Victorians. Children are innate problem solvers, so were thrilled to be opening a space that will encourage and build foundational STEM skills from such an early age.
So what will children experience in the new gallery?
Upon entry, young children and adults will encounter a space that is entirely screen-free. In a world where more and more technology means digital, this space will allow children to build foundational skills in engineering and coding using simple machines and real materials, rather than devices or touch screens.
Theyll be greeted by a stunning 7m tall Kinetic Sculpture which introduces the concept of working machines.
By testing and tinkering, this is a space with open-ended and instruction-free experiences that encourage the development of problem-solving skills (not rote learning), emphasising that there is no one right way of doing something.
Ground Up is divided into three broad age and activity zones, which each develop skills and provide experiences designed for targeted stages of development.
Baby Landscape: enclosed with a rolling mount to create a safe area for babies and crawlers, it features nooks and mounds for climbing, a moving overhead light display and spinners to enable our youngest scientists to investigate how different materials move
Tinkering Zone: for toddlers to 3 year-olds to engage in open-ended activities which encourage them to experiment and test their ideas.
Foundational Coding: a screen-free activity that develops skills such as cause and effect, sequencing and pattern making
Flight Tubes: where children can create contraptions to fly in huge wind tubes
Light-up Switch Wall: a wall featuring 1,376 light switches which children can turn on and off to develop deductive thinking.
Collaborative Zone: designed for 3 to 5 year-olds is an active, physical space where children use communication and social skills to solve problems and achieve goals
Car Wash: where children use gears to activate giant blue car wash brushes, learning that small movements can have a big effect in a large environment.
The Hub: a large climbing challenge, with an interactive ball run.
Build: based on the much loved exhibit from Nitty-Gritty, children can work collaboratively to build walls with foam blocks using conveyor belts, pulley-systems and wheelbarrows.
The new gallery has been created with close community and sector consultation. For two years Museums Victoria collaborated with over 5,000 children and adults, including early childhood education specialists, additional needs experts, teachers and visitors to Little Kids Day In events at Scienceworks.
Ground Up: Building Big Ideas, Together will be part of Museums Victorias autism-friendly museum project, with social stories available online in early 2018.


ERIC Number: ED064415
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1966
Reference Count: 0
Educating Disadvantaged Children in the Elementary School (An Annotated Bibliography). Disadvantaged Children Series, Number 5.
Lewis, Gertrude M.; Murow, Esther
This annotated bibliography presents the views of writers concerned with the many aspects of educating the disadvantaged. Books and journal articles which appeared principally between January 1960 and June 1965 are listed, the Wilson Company "Education Index" having been used as a basic guide. The list is designed particularly for educational leaders at state and local levels who are providing or improving programs for disadvantaged children at the elementary level. Many of the references are purported to be of interest also to teachers, teacher-educators, parents, and concerned others. The citations are grouped in the following categories: overview of the problem; research studies; early childhood education; school programs and methods; cultivating language skills; teacher education; library services; administering school programs; parents and the school; and, legislation. (RJ)
Descriptors: Annotated Bibliographies, Early Childhood Education, Educational Legislation, Educational Programs, Educational Research, Educationally Disadvantaged, Elementary Education, Language Skills, Library Services, Parent School Relationship, Program Administration, School Organization, Teacher Education, Teaching Methods
Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 ($0.20)
Publication Type: N/A
Education Level: N/A
Authoring Institution: Office of Education (DHEW), Washington, DC.


ERIC Number: ED339612
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1991-Apr
Reference Count: N/A
Back to Square One: Interrelationships among Problem Solving, Attitudes toward Mathematics, and SQUARE ONE TV.
Fisch, Shalom M.; Hall, Eve R.
Proponents of mathematics education reform have emphasized both cognitive and attitudinal goals, seeking improvement in children's problem-solving skills and in their attitudes toward mathematics. A pretest/posttest experimental design study examined the effects of SQUARE ONE TV, a television series about mathematics aimed at 8- to 12-year-old children, on the problem-solving behavior and attitudes toward mathematics of 240 fifth graders from 4 public schools in Corpus Christi, Texas. Attitude data was collected from a subgroup of 24 students exposed to 30 SQUARE ONE TV programs and from 24 students in a control group having no SQUARE ONE TV contact. Presented in this paper are the analyses of the relationships between problem solving and attitudes toward mathematics prior to and after contact with SQUARE ONE TV. Models are presented to describe these relationships as suggested by results of the study. Among the implications of the research were the following: (1) specifically designed materials can impact on children's problem-solving behavior and aspects of their attitudes toward mathematics; (2) future research on children's attitudes toward mathematics should employ methods of assessment supplemental to paper-and-pencil scales and study other populations of children; and (3) further questions examining the effects of SQUARE ONE TV on problem solving and attitude change should be studied. (MDH)
Descriptors: Attitude Change, Attitude Measures, Childrens Television, Cognitive Structures, Cognitive Tests, Educational Television, Elementary Education, Elementary School Mathematics, Enrichment Activities, Mathematical Concepts, Mathematical Enrichment, Mathematics Education, Problem Solving, Student Attitudes, Television Curriculum, Thinking Skills
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Sponsor: Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Washington, DC.; Department of Education, Washington, DC.; National Science Foundation, Washington, DC.; Carnegie Corp. of New York, NY.
Authoring Institution: Children's Television Workshop, New York, NY.


Gifted and Unserved: Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Promise Scholar Program on Reducing the Racial Segregation of Gifted Education
- Publication Year:
- Repository URL:
- gifted education; highly capable; critical race theory; african american; hispanic; gifted minority; Curriculum and Instruction; Curriculum and Social Inquiry; Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research; Educational Leadership; Educational Methods; Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration; Elementary Education and Teaching; Gifted Education; Other Education; Other Educational Administration and Supervision
There is a crisis in gifted education across our nation. Gifted programs are disproportionally identifying and servicing middle-class White students while systematically ignoring minority students. The Promise Scholar Program was developed by the Kent School District as a method to tackle the underrepresentation of minority students in their gifted education program. This elementary talent development model places promising minority students into gifted classrooms, exposing the participants to advanced and accelerated curriculum. This study sought to determine the effectiveness of this program as way to increase the identification of minority students for gifted education. Through the analysis and comparison of student achievement major finings include that the Promise Scholar students made similar academic growth in reading as compared to identified gifted students. Additionally, 37.4% of all Hispanic Promise Scholar students were identified for gifted services after one year of participation. More research needs to be conducted on elementary talent development models that impact the disproportionate representation of minority students in gifted education.


A friend of mine (http://carlknerr.com/) posted a link today to this Wired magazine article — http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/09/ap_code/ — about teaching computer programming to young children, and asked for thoughts. I had a few. It started looking like a blog post, so I thought I’d post it here, too, trying not to edit too much so as not to feel too inhibited about blogging!
My first reaction was that the headline was overstated, which they always have to be to drive up clicks, right? “Forget Foreign Languages and Music. Teach Our Kids to Code.” Yeah. But the body of the article wasn’t as dismissive of foreign languages and music as the title implies, and was in fact using what we know about the advantages of learning those at an early age to support also learning to code young.
As described in the article, I was one of those kids in the mid-1980s who used Logo! My 4th grade teacher was getting her PhD in computers in elementary education, and did a computer programming unit with us (Apple IIc‘s and Apple IIe‘s, baby! it was 1984). I was 8 or 9, and I have to say this was one of the best things I did in all my K-12 schooling. My first experience with computers was as a programmer — I was in control, the master of the machine, not the other way around. From then on I had a sense of what was going on behind the curtains of all those pretty Mac programs I used in my teen years, and then the WWW and so forth. I knew computers programs were only as good and smart as the human-coded instructions that built them, so I could be a critical consumer and a power user.
Now, as a Waldorf parent, I’m 100% behind delaying technology use so that my children get a wholistic education that engages all their senses and their bodies in a healthy way… but when they do start using computers I want them to feel this mastery, too, and I feel like this age of 8 or 9 is about where it should come. I am actually at quite a milestone today in this journey – my son is 8, turning 9 in December, and today I got his Snap Circuits kit hooked in to my iPhone with an oscilloscope app, so that for the first time he’s using a computer/mobile device for something other than entertainment (which we kept really limited before now). he’s been building snap circuits and following the circuit diagrams since before he could read, so he already has that hacker attitude 😉 He taught himself how to construct all the logic circuits and can build them on demand without reference to instructions. so he’s totally primed for computer programming — I just still hesitate to plonk him in front of a computer when he could be out digging in the dirt!! In fact today he was just oriented to the farm chores he’ll be doing at school for years to come now.
I think music and languages are critically important to brain development, and what is more, can and should be taught with more human interaction than computer programming affords. But unless you’re planning to isolate a kid forever, they are going to grow up in a world that’s increasingly managed by computer programs, and giving them this mastery at the dawn of their computing years is very empowering whether or not they will become computer programmers. Of course in my ideal world children aren’t weaned onto iPads from infancy, but instead come to computers once they are ready to have mastery over them instead of being passive consumers.


What is Title 1?
Title I is a program funded by an annual grant from the federal government through the No Child Left Behind Act. The program is designed to provide children an enriched educational program that increases the amount and quality of instructional time, increasing student’s self confidence and academic skills.
Title I support enables all children to have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging state academic achievement standards and state academic assessments. This can be accomplished by ensuring that high-quality academic assessments, accountability systems, teacher preparation and training, curriculum, and instructional materials are aligned with challenging state academic standards so that students, teachers, parents, and administrators can measure progress against common expectations for student academic achievement; closing the achievement gap between high and low performing children and between disadvantaged children and their more advantaged peers.
Title I instruction is intended to be supplemental to regular classroom instruction and is not intended to replace the regular classroom experience. The goal of the additional support provided is to target areas of weakness, bringing students up to the level of their peers. Therefore, supplementary instruction is coordinated with classroom instruction. It is designed for reinforcement, reteaching, remediation and/or pre-teaching of a skill.
In order for Title I instruction to be a success, communication must be frequent. Communication between classroom teachers, the Title I Tutor, specialists and parents must occur regularly. In addition, classroom teachers, the Title I Tutor, and specialists must collaborate to ensure the student receives beneficial instruction. Parental involvement is an important element of student success. Parents will receive progress reports containing suggestions for helping their child and be made aware of resources available including on-line support and school-based activities.
Parent Support Links
Educational Websites for Parents, Book Recommendations, Research Articles
Education World provides a month of fun literacy and math activities for you and your child, just a click away.
This link brings you to a host of great reading sites for kids, including PBS.org.
Find out how your involvement benefits children in the long and short term.
Specific sites also for English Language Learners
A site packed full of spelling activities to support students in learning 500 high-frequency words.
Parents can view brief videos about literacy development, strategies for supporting children and reading resources.
Link to the NH Department of Education, Title I Part A
Link to NH Department of Education Title I Resource Page
In classrooms, on mobile devices, and at home, BrainPOP engages students through animated movies, learning games, interactive quizzes, primary source activities, concept mapping, and more.
With unlimited questions in more than 4,500 math and English language arts skills, there is always something new and exciting to learn on IXL. Thanks to vibrant images, colorful illustrations, and meaningful content at every turn, learning has never been just so much fun.
Go Math for grades K-6.
Sumdog motivates children to work on mathematics, reading and writing. As children play, they answer questions – each one personalized to that child’s needs. Meanwhile, Sumdog’s adaptive learning engine guides their progress.


A number of our students have been working with the Everyman Theatre on literacy development and artistry through the theatre’s current production ‘The Story Giant’.
The story has been adapted by Lindsay Rodden from a book by Brian Patten, a local Liverpool poet and author, and is a family adventure into the magic of storytelling. The play follows the Story Giant, who has gathered all but one of the world’s stories in a library in his castle tower. If he doesn’t find the last missing story his castle will crumble and he will die.
He is helped by 4 students from around the world to try and find this story, before he disappears. In preparing for the show, the students worked with theatre practitioners from the Everyman on Drama and Art work.
The final pieces of art were put into a giant 6-foot tall book which is currently on display at the Everyman Theatre. A number of the students involved, with family members, went to see the play and their book and everyone was impressed by the scale of the book and the impact of the play. The book will be donated to the Liverpool Museum, on the Pier head, and will form part of their future displays.


A former primary school teacher has re-written New Zealand and Maori history in a series of books aimed to better reflect the nation's past.
Tamsin Hanly, who mortgaged her house to fund her writing project, is set to release her six volume history series next month.
She spent four years writing the six volumes, 'A critical guide to Maori and Pakeha histories', after finding the primary school curriculum failed to reflect an accurate version of events.
"There are primary schools in this country who for the first eight years don't teach any history of New Zealand," Ms Hanly, a primary school teacher for 25 years, said.
Others stick to the "standard" or colonial version of history, she said.
"There is no mention of the Treaty, no mention of the two peoples that created it and no history of what happened after."
So she quit teaching and went back to school to complete her masters.
Taking inspiration and insight from the work of historians Dr Ranginui Walker, Michael King, and Professor James Belich, along with University of Auckland academics Professor Anne Salmond and Professor Alison Jones, she developed the six book series.
They form a new Curriculum Programme Resource (CPR) which can be purchased by schools or teachers to form lessons and activities in history and social studies in primary, secondary or early childhood education.
"Its primary job is to update the staff on accurate historical information about what happened in this country so they are then able to teach it accurately to students."
The CPR helps schools meet all the Treaty obligations set by the Ministry of Education and the New Zealand Curriculum, she said.
The books take kids through pre-colonisation Maori in New Zealand, British history, the arrival of European settlers to New Zealand, the treaty and both Maori and Pakeha responses to history.
The books will be launched at the University of Auckland's Faculty of Education and Social Work on Friday April 1 at 5pm at the Te Puna Wananga Department.
1. Te Ao Maori o Nehera, covers Maori world views, history and knowledge before their encounters with Pakeha.
2. British Isles, covers European history from the Celts in 50BC through the centuries including the Magna Carta and the history of Abel Tasman and James Cook and the rise in European immigration.
3. Two Worlds Meet, brings the two worlds together in New Zealand. It explains the creation of the names 'Pakeha' and 'Maori' and the rise of European sealers and whalers and the problems in order they caused. The book outlines the Maori declaration of independence in 1835.
4. Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the book explains the Maori and Pakeha pros and cons around a treaty with each other, the agreements, rights and responsibilities made in each Article by the two sovereign groups, the later introduction of a non-literal English version with some different meanings and what happened as a result.
5. In Maori Responses a historical range of Maori civil actions made in response to Tiriti transgressions is covered, from Hone Heke in the 1840s to the Foreshore March in the 2000s and the effects of these on the nation.
6. In Pakeha Responses, there is a comparison to the 'colonial standard story' of history with an honouring Te Tiriti story. The book also critically explores and celebrates the complex aspects of Pakeha culture and histories.


science experiments for preschool kids ERROR The request could not be satisfied. Science for kids doesn’t need special equipment or a PhD.
We’ve rounded up 27 classic concoctions, perfect for your curious crew. So get ready to make lightning, grow crystals and make slime. Plus, we’ve rated each experiment from one to five sponges so you know the messiness factor ahead of time. Black has the greatest heat absorbing capacity, which results in ice melting quicker than on white, which reflects the most light. Learn how to observe and report on which colors affect ice’s melting rates here, on Green Planet Solar Energy.
No, you don’t need to be a wizard or a witch. You don’t need to cast a spell. There’s nothing magic about it at all, in fact. You can make water float using good, ol’ fashioned, awesome science. Used by permission of the publisher. With just a spoonful of sugar and some food coloring, you can make water more or less dense, and with a little practice, you can make a rainbow in a jar! Check out how to do it here!
If you like rainbows, click here for five other ways to make one in your own home. This static electricity science experiment couldn’t be any easier. In fact, other than a balloon or going down the slide, it might be the easiest way to teach kids about electrical currents. And, you can impress them with your wizarding skills once before you reveal the science behind it. If you’ve ever wondered how elephants keep their tusks clean, we’ve got the answer.
Asia Citro at Fun at Home With Kids. This grow-your-own experiment that lets you grow crystals inside an egg shell. Be sure to get alum powder that contains potassium, or else you won’t get any crystal growth. Adding drops of food dye to the growing solution yields some super cool crystals.
A perfectly formed geode takes about 12-15 hours to grow, making this a great weekend project. When a substance passes directly from a solid phase to a gas phase without ever becoming a liquid, it sublimates. Add a little dry ice to bubble solution and the contents of an activated glow stick and get ready to rock the glow-in-the-dark scene in your neighborhood. Insert a little plant science into the mix by re-growing food from scraps. Get the low down on all that recycled goodness at Mrs.
Schooling a Monkey takes the idea to a new level with these Salt Crystal Feathers. This awe-inspiring project is deceptively simple and inexpensive to achieve, and requires just a wee bit of patience to see the results—kids will love checking in on the progress. Is there enough to cause a magnetic reaction? Is it a liquid or solid?
And it’s all thanks to borax, which acts as a binder to prevent the glue from going completely liquid. Check out Explorable’s recipe on mixing the ingredients. It happens to the Statue of Liberty and it happens to the change in your pocket! It’s also a chemical reaction with very non-toxic ingredients, so it’s safe and fascinating even for young kids. Click over to Buggy and Buddy to get the simple how-to.
Like the popular baking soda and vinegar experiments, this film canister rocket literally takes it to the next level by using that creation of gas and energy to jet off into the sky. If your explorer has seen videos of mountain tops getting blown off during a volcanic eruption, this science project is pretty much any space lover’s version. But with some potato magic, the properties of the nail and copper stay separated, allowing the heat to become the electric energy needed to power up your devices. Can you and the kiddos solve the mysterious case of the disappearing egg shell? Following the simple how-to at Go Science Girls, you’ll learn the step-by-step and talking points about the process along the way.


Nadunggay was one of the exceptional examples I saw in operation where educational activity was supported and extended in many ways by appropriate strategies and software.
The project grew out of work being done by me in relation to educational uses of database and multimedia technology when I was working at the NT Technology Education Centre as a Lecturer and Educational adviser. Gapuwiyak school was one of the pilot locations. The project at Gapuwiyak grew and progressed from its start in 1990-91 and became known locally as Nadunggay .
Key people in the development of this project were:
Graeme Sawyer ( firstname.lastname@example.org), Ian Morris ( email@example.com)
Dr Jeremey Russell-Smith (Botanist), Shirley Nirrpurranydji (Principal of Gapuwiyak School), Peter Blundell (Teacher and key facilitator), Gapuwiyak Council and Community, Teachers at Gapuwiyak School.
Curriculum issues and planning
The curriculum models behind this project are based on an educational philosophy that includes elements of curriculum integration, environmental education models, the school’s learning models, the importance of students constructing knowledge, starting with current knowledge, and a process which is now referred to a constructive multimedia
The basic model of the project was to build literacy and numeracy skills from a base in local information and knowledge and to expand the scope to a wider world view. The initial content focus was on the people and the local environment and expanded to the region and beyond with excursions and visits.
The initial focus of the project was to develop a process that facilitated the development of an information system for use in the school, which has a local perspective on the environment of the area and its importance to people. It was the process of building the system, or adding the content to it that developed the skills and understandings of the students. The technology was of primary importance in holding the information in a manner that allowed the students to construct knowledge.
The project has established connections between the education system, the scientific community and the traditional knowledge of aboriginal communities. A key part of the planning was to build bridges between the knowledge sets of the community and the school.
It is the educational processes involved in generating and recording information that have led to many successful activities, ranging from large camps, to visits to special places, to having people from the community come into the classrooms to talk to and do activities with the students.
Technology was a key factor in this project in that it provided for several essential elements of the project. Specifically Information Technology is of critical importance in the way it enables experiences from field trips and excursions to be brought back to the school to allow the learning outcomes to be developed. Information Technology also has a pivotal role in the learning process because of the way it allows students to work with information and to “build knowledge”.
Information Technology has played a major facilitation role in the tying together of all the different strands of information. Information Technology has provided a mechanism for accessing information within the school that normally would not be available within school resources. Information Technology has also made educational processes feasible within the school that could not be done as readily without the use of computers.
Information Technology has provided key elements of support to teachers that have been of great benefit. This includes the role of email in providing contact beyond the confines of the community.
The project began with the NT Animals Information system and progressed to the building of “Me Stacks” and an integrated set of “stacks” containing aspects of aboriginal knowledge. As this process was achieved the project progressed through a series of field trips, camps, excursions, mini projects and lots of hard work.


The purpose of the Developing Talkers curriculum supplement and training materials is to explain and put into action the evidence-based practices that boost children’s oral language skills and conceptual knowledge. The curriculum uses a series of instructional routines that are repeated across all units. These routines use interactive, whole-class read-alouds and brisk small-group lessons as the core of the curriculum.
Meet the Authors:
Tricia Zucker, Ph.D., is a reading specialist with expertise in early language and literacy development. She is an Associate Professor at CLI where she has been involved in curriculum development projects. She has studied effective practices during shared reading in ongoing studies within Texas school districts. She has extensive experience developing observational coding schemes of academic language quality/quantity, administering child assessments, and developing teacher training videos/materials.
Maria Carlo is a psychologist that studies bilingual and biliteracy development in children and adults. She is an associate professor at the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth’s Children’s Learning Institute. Her research focuses on the cross language transfer of academically-mediated skills and on the development of educational interventions to support dual-language learners’ vocabulary and oral language development.
Susan H. Landry, Ph.D., is the director and founder of the Children’s Learning Institute. Her research covers examinations of biological and environmental influences on children’s development from infancy through adolescence as well as numerous federally funded parent-child and early childhood classroom intervention studies.
Danielle H. Leuschen de Pico is an educator with 11 years of elementary classroom-teaching experience serving bilingual and English language learners in grades pre-kindergarten through fourth grade. She has developed and given trainings on the Developing Talkers curriculum supplement to classroom teachers and collaborated in the developmement of online training courses.
Hilary B. Kallin has been involved in educational research for five years, working on math, language, and literacy interventions for at-risk preschoolers. She has written curriculum, filmed and edited classroom instructional videos, designed presentations and curriculum materials, and trained teachers.
Meet the Mascots:
Scout the Squirrel is “nuts for words” and wants students to help him collect hundreds of new vocabulary words. He loves all types of books, but especially narratives because they tell such entertaining stories!
Luz the Ladybug is a curious observer who encourages students to build their world knowledge and be successful in school. Luz also loves to read, especially informational books because they teach true facts. Luz loves learning new things!


As we've reported, a large body of research has noted a link between music education and higher test scores. But precisely why learning an instrument would have a positive impact on academic achievement has never been clear.
A new study from Boston Children's Hospital provides a possible answer. It reports musical training may promote the development and maintenance of a key set of mental skills.
These executive functions, which are coordinated in the brain's frontal lobe, "allow for planned, controlled behavior," writes a research team led by Harvard University scholar Nadine Gaab. They enable us to manage our time and attention, organize our thoughts, and regulate our behavior—abilities that are crucial to success in school, as well as later life.
In an experiment featuring two separate groups of test subjects—one consisting of children, the other of adults—Gaab and her colleagues discovered a link between early musical training and heightened executive functioning. This, they argue, could explain "the previously reported links between musical training and enhanced cognitive skills."
In the online journal PLoS One, they describe a study featuring 30 adults between the ages of 18 and 35 (15 working musicians, and 15 non-musicians), and 27 children between the ages of nine and 12 (15 of whom had at least two years of musical training).
All performed a series of tasks to measure various facets of cognitive ability, including verbal fluency, mental processing speed, and working memory—the crucial ability to hold several ideas in your mind at the same time. In addition, the children performed a separate mental task while their brains were scanned using fMRI technology.
The key result: "Children and adults with extensive musical training show enhanced performance on a number of executive-function constructs compared to non-musicians," the researchers write, "especially for cognitive flexibility, working memory, and processing speed."
The musically trained children showed "heightened activation in traditional executive-function regions" of the brain during a task-switching exercise, they report, along with "enhanced performance on measures of verbal fluency."
Gaab and her colleagues caution that more research will be needed to show causation. The chicken-and-egg question has been raised in the past in regard to music and the brain, and these results don't definitively answer it: It's possible that kids with higher levels of executive functioning are more likely to be drawn to studying music.
Longitudinal studies, measuring executive functioning before music training begins, will presumably be required to definitively answer that question. But the very real possibility that music training boosts executive functioning provides another argument for the importance of music education.
"Replacing music programs with reading or math instruction in our nation's school curricula in order to boost standardized test scores," the researchers warn, "may actually lead to deficient skills in other cognitive areas."


Ramsay MacDonald, in full James Ramsay MacDonald, (born Oct. 12, 1866, Lossiemouth, Moray, Scot.—died Nov. 9, 1937, at sea en route to South America), first Labour Party prime minister of Great Britain, in the Labour governments of 1924 and 1929–31 and in the national coalition government of 1931–35.
MacDonald was the son of an unmarried maidservant. He ended his elementary education at the age of 12 but continued at school for another six years, working as a pupil-teacher.
In 1885 he went to work in Bristol, where the activities of the Social Democratic Federation acquainted him with left-wing ideas. Traveling to London the following year, he joined the Fabian Society, was employed in menial office jobs, and worked for a science degree in his spare time until his health broke down. In 1894 he joined the newly founded Independent Labour Party, and the next year he was defeated as a candidate of that party for the House of Commons.
In 1900 he became the first secretary of the Labour Representation Committee (LRC), the true predecessor of the Labour Party. In 1906 he was one of 29 LRC members to win election to the Commons; the LRC thereupon transformed itself into the Labour Party. Five years later he succeeded Keir Hardie as parliamentary leader of the party. He was forced to resign in favour of Arthur Henderson in 1914 after stating that Great Britain was morally wrong in declaring war on Germany. Although he nonetheless insisted that the nation should make every effort to win the war, he lost much of his popularity and was defeated for reelection in 1918. On returning to Parliament in 1922, he was chosen to lead the Labour opposition.
After the election of 1923 the Conservatives remained the largest party in Parliament, but for the first time they were outnumbered by the Labourites and the Liberals combined. H.H. Asquith, leader of the Liberals and a former prime minister, offered to support MacDonald. On Jan. 22, 1924, MacDonald became prime minister and also foreign secretary. Under his leadership that year, Great Britain granted recognition to the Soviet regime in Russia; the Geneva Protocol for security and disarmament (approved by the League of Nations Assembly on Oct. 2, 1924) was initiated; and the threat of violence in Ireland was averted when the British government agreed to cancel the debt owed by the Irish Free State, in return for the Free State’s abandonment of its demand for the six northern counties.
A bungled prosecution of J.R. Campbell, a communist newspaper editor, led to an adverse vote in the Commons. Because of that rebuff and various other factors, the Conservatives regained a majority, and MacDonald resigned Nov. 4, 1924. At the general election of 1929, however, Labour for the first time achieved the largest number of seats, and MacDonald returned as prime minister on June 5. He negotiated an Anglo–U.S. naval limitation treaty (1930), while his foreign secretary, Arthur Henderson, was organizing the World Disarmament Conference at Geneva. At home, the effects of the worldwide economic depression proved beyond the understanding of MacDonald and most of his Cabinet. On Aug. 24, 1931, he offered his resignation, but the next day his Labour colleagues were dismayed to learn that he was remaining in office as head of a coalition, with Conservative and Liberal support. His ability to lead the government was waning, however, and the lord president of the council, Stanley Baldwin, a former Conservative prime minister, became effective head of the government. Finally, on June 7, 1935, MacDonald exchanged offices with Baldwin. He resigned the lord presidency on May 28, 1937, and died later that year on a voyage to South America.
The first volume of Lord Elton’s Life of James Ramsay MacDonald, covering his career until 1919, appeared in 1939; the second volume was never published. L. MacNeill Weir wrote The Tragedy of Ramsay MacDonald (1938). A major biography is David Marquand’s Ramsay MacDonald (1977).


The Wyland Foundation was founded in 1993 by marine life artist Wyland. Since then, Wyland Foundation has become a leader in sharing environmental knowledge and inspiring action in the world's youth.
Here is a partial list of our Programs:
Wyland Clean Water Mobile Learning Center - This program provides an innovative solution for schools that need an affordable way to increase student knowledge of the function of watersheds and increases understanding of the impact that children, their families, and communities have on these systems and on the ocean.
Water's Extreme Journey Maze - Through exploration, scientific inquiry, artistic expression, and action, visitors experience the water cycle, understand the science behind water purity, and realize the power each individual has to make a difference. The 1,000-square-foot, Wyland-themed maze transforms each visitor into a drop of water that allows the visitor to travel through different watershed habitats, including lakes, streams, rivers, wetlands, estuaries, bays, and oceans.
Wyland Clean Water Challenge: Exploring Aquatic Ecosystems - This nationwide classroom program instructs and inspires young people everywhere about marine science and the preservation of water quality on our planet. The program uses an art and science based, interdisciplinary approach to environmental education and conservation. The lessons and activities align with national science and art education standards, targets grades 5-8 and has adapatations for K-12 use.
Wyland Clean Water Challenge: Newspaper-in-Education (NIE) Programs - Five supplemental NIE programs devoted to environmental science provides additional activities to classroom programs based on current events.
Mission: The Wyland Foundation is dedicated to promoting, protecting, and preserving the world's ocean, waterways, and marine life. The foundation encourages environmental awareness through education programs, public arts projects, and community events.
|Causes||Arts & Culture Children & Youth Community Environment|


ERIC Number: ED264124
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1985
Reference Count: N/A
Life on Rocky Shores. Grades K-6.
New England Aquarium, Boston, MA.
Activities in the ecology of New England's tidepools are provided in this field trip guide for elementary school teachers. Resources, curriculum materials, and services are identified that are available through the New England Aquarium's Department of Education. This packet contains: (1) pre-trip activities (offering a vocabulary list, illustrations, and coloring sheets of tidepool animals and seaweeds); (2) trip activities (including trip guidelines, a floor plan of the aquarium, and a lab exercise on animal behavior); and (3) post-trip activities (suggesting projects and activity options for home and classroom use). Resource publications for students and teachers are also provided. (ML)
Descriptors: Animal Behavior, Ecology, Elementary Education, Elementary School Science, Experiential Learning, Field Trips, Marine Biology, Science Activities, Science Education, Science Teaching Centers
New England Aquarium, Central Wharf, Boston, MA 02110 ($3.00).
Publication Type: Guides - Classroom - Teacher
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Teachers; Practitioners
Authoring Institution: New England Aquarium, Boston, MA.


|(L-R) Dr. Elizabeth Murphy, Trudy Morgan-Cole, a graduate student assistant, and Stephen Keats.
"Although technology has the potential to support enhanced learning, all of this promise is wasted unless the tools are used properly," explained Dr. Elizabeth Murphy, an assistant professor in Memorial’s Faculty of Education.
Intrigued by the possibilities afforded to learning through the use of technology, Dr. Murphy focuses much of her research on examining and enhancing how this learning occurs.
"As of late, I’ve been involved with the evaluation of two national projects – the benefits of Telesat's satellite technologies for schools, and MusicGrid, which pioneers large-scale broadband music education. I also just finished two other projects: one investigated the role of video in Web-based learning and the other looked at the use of synchronous or real-time communication tools," she said. "A study for which I am currently co-investigator looks at the role of discussion forums in Web-based courses. Specifically, we want to know how we can measure or find evidence of collaboration and problem-solving in asynchronous discussions in Web-based courses."
Backed by a Social Science and Humanities Research council of Canada (SSHRC) grant to the tune of $110,000 over the next three years, Dr. Murphy, along with researchers from two other Canadian universities, is working toward the realization of such instruments.
"There is a limited amount of empirical evidence available on what discussion forums actually ‘do’ for learning. The research tells us that asynchronous discussion forums provide support for more effective learning. However, it does not tell us how to use these tools in such a way that we can actually achieve that goal. We need to move to a point where research actually drives our teaching practices."
Educational practices at Memorial University are becoming increasingly technical, as Web-based distance courses garner greater numbers of students from a wide variety of disciplines. This technological movement offers unlimited possibilities for learning, according to Dr. Murphy, for those both near and far.
"Distance learning allows freedom from temporal and spatial constraints. So really it’s learning without distance," she explained. "That’s why I prefer to use the term ‘Web-based’ learning as opposed to ‘distance education’, because it focuses more on the sophisticated cognitive tools that support these new forms of learning."
The physical layout of a traditional classroom provides support for the instructor to play the role of "sage on the stage," said Dr. Murphy. "Web-based learning in general, and discussion forums in particular, however, provide support for the role of ‘guide on the side’. If we know how to manage the tools and exploit their potential, then we can more easily adapt to this new role."
Dr. Murphy’s study aims to address both the possibilities and the limitations of this advanced technology in the context of how discussion forums function.
"With the permission of course instructors and students," she said, "we will look closely at communication patterns and interactions in a given forum, as they relate to collaboration and problem solving in a Web-based course. Through the development of instruments that can identify and measure collaboration and problem-solving, we hope to gain a deeper understanding of how to manage the technology in ways that will be advantageous for students."
With plans well underway for her latest research, this education enthusiast recognizes the invaluable nature of collaboration in her own work.
"I work with some very supportive and knowledgeable people," acknowledged Dr. Murphy. "From the support of research assistants to the help I receive from the faculty, and from Distant Education and Learning Technologies (DELT), I really have a lot of people I can rely on."
This network of assistance will soon be broadened as Dr. Murphy continues to recruit instructors for her research on Web-based discussion forums, linking empirical study to the actual practices of students and professors. This connection is essential to "understanding and improving current practices," Dr. Murphy added.
When asked about the underlying message in all of her technology-based research, Dr. Murphy conceded that it all comes down to how we use the tools. "You cannot build a house with tools you don’t know how to use, no matter how powerful or sophisticated those tools might be," she said. "My research therefore places emphasis on understanding how the tools can be used to improve teaching and learning."
For more information, or to get involved, please contact Dr. Murphy at email@example.com.


Negotiated Education Plans (NEP) are organized with individual students in order to adapt their education and place priority on supporting their learning through individualised strategies. Levels of support vary for individual students depending on their educational assessment conducted by DECD and outside agencies. These reports assist educators to tailor modifications either in mainstream classes or complete a modified SACE.
Tailored support for student wellbeing, combined with adjusting individualised assessment and lesson structures, ensures that an NEP is focused on the direct strengths and needs of the student.
An NEP allows students a more flexible approach to developing critical knowledge and skills vital to their success. Educational aspects of course content, use of materials, assessment structures, SSO / in-class support or alternate SACE pathways are all areas that can be negotiated as part of the NEP process.
NEP students are partnered with year level coordinators and meet regularly to assess individual successes and to target areas for development. Throughout the course of an NEP student’s time at Edward John Eyre High School, communication is paramount with teachers, students and parents all working together to engage a comprehensive plan and review strategy.
Indigenous Learning Plans (ILP)
At Edward John Eyre High School, we value the contribution that our Indigenous students make to school life. We acknowledge their personal journey and their leadership in the school community in relation to reconciliation.
The Indigenous Education Officer (IEO) at Edward John Eyre High School works with Indigenous students and the community to improve literacy and numeracy skills as well as assist students in completing the essential requirements of their SACE program. Indigenous Learning Plans (ILP) are organized with ATSI students in order to adapt their education and place priority on supporting their learning. Tailoring class schedules, negotiating SSO / in-class support and adjusting assessment and lesson structures are designed to support their individual ILP needs and encourage success in all students.


The Grammy Music Education Coalition or the GMEC aims to increase the number of students playing, performing and creating music in public schools throughout the US
The GMEC is a nonprofit organization consisting of over 30 organizations dedicated to music education, including VH1’s Save the Music, NAMM Foundation, and more.
Neil Portnow, the CEO of Recording Academy stated that the idea behind the GMEC began by the dream that every student had a chance early in their educational careers to learn more about music and participate in creating and performing different types of music.
Portnow said that if key players throughout the music industry – such as the foundations, institutions, and organizations that have chosen to become a part of the GMEC – pooled their resources and efforts, a big change in music education could occur across communities throughout the nation.
The Executive Director of the GMEC, Lee Whitmore (Ph.D.), said that music education has benefits both inside and outside of the classroom, encouraging the development of social and cognitive skills too.
The program will target communities and school districts that are struggling, offering funding and services to enhance music education based on the school’s needs, with the aim to produce long-term sustainable musical education.
GMEC partners with Pixar to introduce musical education to students and teachers
Pixar, in conjunction with GMEC, will release a short film entitled “Coco”, about a young boy who plays guitar and wishes he was a famous musician. The film aims to introduce the importance of musical education to students and teachers.
The team behind Coco will donate 300 guitars to the first school to partner with GMEC, and the Guitar Center will add an additional 300 guitars to the team’s donation.


I once worked for an administrator that said to me, “reading aloud to kids and self-selected reading is a complete waste of time!” He wanted me to abandon a read-aloud project with some middle school ELA teachers and focus on an online diagnostic reading program instead.
I know what you are thinking. He must be joking, right? Unfortunately, no. I think he was pretty serious considering the redness of his face and the smoke emanating from his ears. I wanted to respond and refute his theory with decades of research that proved otherwise; however, I was so taken aback that I didn’t. Luckily he moved on to greener pastures not long after and we parted ways.
Just the other day this memory resurfaced. I had been asked to read aloud from a Beverly Cleary book to kindergarten students in honor of D.E.A.R. Day. It had been a couple of years since I’d been so up close and personal to some kinders so I jumped at the chance. Having read all of the Cleary books as a youngster several times over, I easily settled on Henry Huggins. I shared that like Henry, I had rescued an unwanted dog that turned out to be my best friend too. After giving them a little background of the story and sharing a picture of my little dog those kinders were hooked and couldn’t wait to hear more. So I started reading… 15 minutes later every student was actively listening, well behaved and laughing at all the appropriate parts. A group of 5-6 year old emerging readers. “A waste of time?” I thought. Hardly.
I wish at the time my administrator confronted me that I had been armed with an elevator speech that would have supported my read-aloud project with middle school students. Since then, I’ve become a little more prepared to defend reading aloud to students, particularly older ones.
Why should we read aloud to students? Don’t take my word for it. Let’s see what the experts say:
- Reading aloud is the foundation for literacy development. It is the single most important activity for reading success (Bredekamp, Copple, & Neuman, 2000).
- It provides children with a demonstration of phrased, fluent reading (Fountas & Pinnell, 1996).
- It reveals the rewards of reading, and develops the listener’s interest in books and desire to be a reader (Mooney, 1990).
- Listening to others read develops key understanding and skills, such as an appreciation for how a story is written and familiarity with book conventions, such as “once upon a time” and “happily ever after” (Bredekamp et al., 2000).
- Reading aloud to children helps them develop and improve literacy skills — reading, writing, speaking, and listening. And since children listen on a higher level than they read, listening to other readers stimulates growth and understanding of vocabulary and language patterns. (www.educationworld.com, 2017).
Interested in promoting some reading aloud to students in your school?
- Scholastic 100 Best Read-Alouds: http://www.scholastic.com/100BestReadAloudBooks/
- Read aloud book lists from Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/read-aloud
Feeling a little more ambitious?
- One School, One Book: Read to Them is a 501C(3) non-profit organization promoting family literacy. Their programs encourage and enable reading together at home by providing every school with tools, resources, guidance, and support.
- The Global Read Aloud: Beginning in 2010 with just one book and a few teachers to now more than 200,000 students connected through read-alouds. The project has grown to include titles for middle and high school as well. Read aloud one book over a 6-week period in the fall and connect with teachers and students from around the world digitally.
- ReadAloudAmerica.org: Founded in 1995 by Jed Gaines, Read Aloud America puts out a list each year for recommended read aloud titles divided by age group. It even includes lists for adults!
If you have more ideas about reading aloud with students, please share you comments below.
Author: Sedley Abercrombie
Sedley Abercrombie is the current past president for the North Carolina School Library Media Association. She is also the lead library media coordinator for 32 school libraries in Davidson County, NC as well as an adjunct instructor at East Carolina University.


Sandstorms – How They Form
Most storms bring rain or snow, but how about sand? A sandstorm happens when great gusts of wind pick up sand and carry it for miles and miles. The clouds carrying the sand can be miles long. When the sandstorm hits, you’re engulfed in sand and debris. You can’t see anything and your eyes, mouth and nose are coated with sand.
Sandstorms are most common in dry, hot regions like the Sahara desert. They can happen in the United States, though, especially in dry, flat regions like Kansas and Oklahoma. Lots of people farm in these places so there is more bare earth to blow around.
Fun Facts about Sandstorms for Kids
- Sandstorms can destroy property and hurt people.
- Sandstorms lift the topsoil off the land. This topsoil is needed to grow crops.
- Sandstorms happen most often in the summer.
Learn More All About Sandstorms and What Causes Them
Watch this video to learn how to keep safe from sandstorms:
Question: What should I do in a sandstorm?
Answer: Sandstorms are slow moving so you might be able to outrun it in a car. Otherwise, go in a house and close all the windows and doors. Make sure you have water. Cover your eyes and nose with a mask or filter. If you’re outside, hide behind a rock.
Enjoyed the Easy Science for Kids Website all about Sandstorms info? Take the FREE & fun all about Sandstorms quiz and download FREE Sandstorms worksheet for kids. For more lengthy info click here.
Cite This Page
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MLA Style Citation
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Fanny Cäcilia Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg in 1805, the eldest of four children. The family moved to Berlin in 1811. Here, Fanny and her brother Felix embarked on an intense music education which included composition lessons with Carl Friedrich Zelter and piano lessons with Ludwig Berger. Fanny showed a precocious talent, for example, memorising all the preludes from Book I of Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier at the age of thirteen as a present for her father Abraham. In 1820 she joined the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin (a famous mixed-voice choir) as an alto. The following year she met her future husband, the artist Wilhelm Hensel. It appears to have been love at first sight, but Fanny’s parents were opposed to the match. Wilhelm went on a five-year study trip to Italy, during which the young couple were forbidden contact with each other. Upon Wilhelm’s return to Berlin in 1828, however, the Mendelssohns because convinced of his honourable intentions and the couple married in 1829. In the intervening years, Fanny herself had travelled in Europe, including to Weimar, where she met the poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. She had also had six songs published under her brother’s name. Her composing output in the 1820s were considerable, encompassing solo Lieder, part-songs, piano music, two concert arias, a piano quartet and an Adagio for violin and piano.
The Hensels’ marriage was a happy one. The only son Sebastian was born in 1830. The early 1830s were a time in which Hensel expanded her oeuvre large-scale works, including cantatas and a string quartet. She also took over running the Sunday musicales for which the Mendelssohn residence had become famous. These blossomed under her direction. Many famous artists and even full orchestras performed at these fortnightly concerts.
In 1838, Hensel gave her only recorded ‘public’ performance, playing her brother Felix’s G minor piano concerto. Two years later, the Hensels made a year-long trip to Italy, where Fanny’s musical gifts were widely fêted. This validation of her creativity appears to have given her the confidence to take control of even more of her own music-making, particularly in the area of publishing. A few of her Lieder had appeared in varying publications over the past years, but it was not until 1846 that Hensel took the decision to publish a larger number of her works. Unfortunately, her enjoyment of this was to be short-lived. While rehearsing her Szene aus Faust on 14 May 1847, she suffered a stroke and died that afternoon. Her family published more of her Lieder and piano pieces, including the D minor trio. A line from her last song “Bergeslust”, the manuscript of which was on her piano on the day of her death, adorns her headstone: “Gedanken gehen und Lieder, fort bis ins Himmelsreich” (Thoughts and songs go forth into the kingdom of heaven).


A previously published article in The Independent newspaper details the effects this can have on school going children. It highlights a study that was carried out by researchers from the UK Institute Of Education and the Institute of Acoustics which took two age groups of secondary-school students and exposed them to low and high levels of noise while being taught. Tests on their working memory, reading and numeracy skills showed that, in noisy conditions, 14 to 16 years olds performed at levels no better than 11 to 13 years olds did in the quiet noise environment.
Further articles covering this topic include an article published in the ASHRAE Journal written by Jerry G. Lilly, P.E. titled “Noise in the classroom” which details increasing noise sources and the effects it has on children.


The infant classroom is designed for children 6 weeks- 18 months. Our teacher to child ratio is 1:4. We believe that the beginning years of a child's life are essential to their development. In order to help infants develop accordingly, our lesson plans include activities that align with the Ohio Early Learning and Development Standards. In the Ohio Early Learning and Development Standards there are six domains: Physical Well- Being & Motor Development, Social- Emotional Development, Cognitive Development and General Knowledge, Approaches Towards Learning, and Language and Literacy Development. The teachers conduct informal daily observations on the children and use them to tailor their daily lesson planning. The classroom is divided into sections in order to accommodate the various development stages that infants go through. During a typical day, younger infants will be rotated to the various pieces of learning equipment in order to help them develop particular skills. The teachers will begin to do artwork with them, sing songs, read books, and take them for walks in our buggy. We will work with the child's family in order to develop a schedule that is customized to their needs. As your infant gets older and more mobile, they will be able to move to the other section of the room that allows them more space to move around, play with toys, dance, and read books.Older infants receive instruction on learning new words, making gestures, recognizing objects and colors, and basic care tasks such as, feeding themselves. The older infants also take walks and play on the playground. Our teachers ensure that your child receives individual and small group instruction.Infants are assessed formally several times a year in order to track your child's development. The teachers then use these results to incorporate activities into their lesson plans to help the infants further their development. Parents receive a detailed daily report on what their children did throughout the day. When your child is picked up, one of the teachers is available to discuss your child's day in further detail.


In a recent study, researchers in Massachusetts found that changers are more pronounced in children who practice music more frequently. These changes did not correlate with improved performance in mathematics, spatial skills, or phonological ability. The study consisted of comparing two groups of six and seven year olds; one with musical training and one without. After three months the children who received musical instruction showed improvements in the following areas: the motor area, the corpus callosum, and the right primary auditory region.
Additionally, the changes became more pronounced over time and the musically trained students also performed better on motor sequencing tests involving patterning. The study did not detect any difference in performance in select academic areas between the two groups. The author makes a point that although the correlation between arts and other subjects is important, it does not justify music education. The arts are crucial in themselves, not because there may be a positive relationship between them and success in mathematical patterning.
What I liked most about this article was the author’s stance on arts education advocacy. Too often we see music educators advocating for their program because musical training may benefit other subject areas (hence the “music makes you smarter” theory). But we need to support arts education as it’s own entity and promote the benefits on its own.
I think we should promote aesthetic education and the social connections inherent in music making while supporting these claims with scientific evidence. If we are going to make the claim that there is a positive correlation between playing music and success in math, then we must ensure that music stands out on its own instead of being dependent on another subject area.


I am drawn toward a pluralist perspective on the purpose, importance, and placement of music in our public and private lives. Music education sits at an intersection of interpretive and critical epistemologies. I understand music to be an opportunity that goes beyond the task of rudimentary mechanics of operating a manipulative (instrument); isolated, that is a mechanistic task. Music is a process-oriented experience, not to be solely defined by its measured outcome; in fact, in some cases, the outcome is irrelevant. Eisner (1991) asks whether or not everything can be measured, and suggests that researchers who are looking for a true measurement mistake the measurement for adequate subject matter; or, that the outcome is greater than the process. More than a half-century earlier, Dewey (1934) similarly stated that the artistic process, an esthetic experience, is itself a “mode of knowledge” (p. 302). Music, as one of the arts, is open to individual and collective interpretation, and qualifies as an interpretive approach to knowledge, one that is individual, collaborative, and with objects (Hesse-Biber & Leavy, 2011). Of course, in this example, objects can refer to instruments, beaters, and other music making devices.
Music education encompasses a powerful term of social justice: education. At this juncture at the intersection of multiple perspectives of knowledge, public education exists as a “construction and reconstruction by people within evolving power-laden environments” (Hesse-Biber & Leavy, 2011, p. 20). Education constantly dances through ideology, ideas, and values of a current power structure. As an educator, I see (music) education fitting within the framework of the critical strand of epistemology, especially the social justice-oriented strands of postmodernism. Legislation enacted to address the achievement gap between historically marginalized student constituents, especially African American, Latino, and students identified as requiring special education services, has been met with appropriate public intention but with mixed results. Arts, music, and instrumental music specifically have been under attack in California, especially since the implementation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act revision of 2001. Even though “the arts” are identified as a part of the core curriculum, the reduction or elimination of the courses is regularly identified as a result of the need to address NCLB-guided proficiency issues (Music For All Foundation, 2004).
The business of education, and the inclusion of music education, is messy. Music education can stand as the great equalizer of people, as suggested in Csikszentmihalyi’s (1990) and Lisk’s (1987) theories of flow and peak experience.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
Dewey, J. (1934). Art as experience. New York: The Berkeley Publishing Group, 2005.
Eisner, E. (1991). The enlightened eye. New York: MacMillan.
Hesse-Biber, S., & Leavy, P. (2011). The practice of qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Lisk, E. (1987). The creative director: alternative rehearsal techniques. Galesville, MD: Meredith Music Publications.
Music For All Foundation. (2004). The Sound of Silence: The Unprecedented Decline of Music Education in California Public Schools. Retrieved from http://music-for-all.org/sos.html


Experienced Elementary School Teacher at NYC Board of Education Salary
An Experienced Elementary School Teacher at NYC Board of Education earns an average salary of $79,800 per year.
Job Description for Elementary School Teacher
An elementary school teacher is a person whose career involves educating students, typically those in grades one through six. Teachers at this level normally do not specialize in particular branches of education. Rather, they work to teach fundamentals and lay down educational foundations across a variety of disciplines, including reading comprehension, writing, arithmetic, science, and history.Read More...
Elementary school teachers must possess outstanding patience and an aptitude and enjoyment for working with children. It is important for elementary school teachers to not only educate; it is also important to provide detailed feedback on students to parents to help them best understand the future needs, opportunities, and challenging areas their respective children will require. The day-to-day work of an elementary school teacher will involve setting up detailed lesson plans across all subjects he or she teaches.
Elementary school teachers have an incredibly important job, and thus must be certified by most states to serve in this capacity. Teachers will typically specialize in elementary education disciplines in college, and they normally intern as student teachers. Most teachers often work long hours, including early mornings to start classes, afternoons to run extracurricular activities, and evenings to grade papers and set lesson plans. They normally work in school environments, including public, private, and parochial schools. (Copyright 2018 PayScale.com)
Elementary School Teacher Tasks
- Evaluate students and communicate progress with parents, guardians, and administrators.
- Plan, assign, and evaluate lessons, projects and tests.
- Maintain classroom discipline.
- Maintain accurate student records as required by laws and administrative regulations.
- Instruct elementary students individually and in groups.
Elementary School Teacher Job Listings
Key Stats for Elementary School Teacher
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