4th Grade Children Research Articles

Online pair-programming: elementary school children learning scratch together online

The COVID-19 pandemic raised the need to examine online learning methods also in young children. This study examined elementary school children’s performance and attitudes during and toward an online programming learning activity utilizing the pair-programming Agile method that may foster 21st-century skills, including collaboration and computational thinking. Forty 4th–6th grade children with basic programming knowledge of Scratch were randomly assigned to either a pair-programming or solo-programming condition. Overall, children in both conditions enjoyed the online learning activity and completed it successfully. In particular, pair-programming seemed to entail an extra benefit to girls who generally preferred working in pairs. Nevertheless, children in the pair condition took longer to complete all tasks, perceived the third task, which was completed individually, as more difficult, and were less active when their partner was more competent. Implications for post-COVID-19 learning are discussed.

Participation in Intervention Programmes of Children with Poor Reading Skills in Hungary

In this century, the value of information has become more significant; reflecting this change, focus has shifted to preparing pupils for the functional use of reading. Therefore, the latest international assessments of reading literacy are set up to address this kind of knowledge. Significant numbers of individuals are performing below the minimum level in these assessments in Hungary, signalling lower capacity for participation in the community. When attempting to eliminate functional illiteracy, it is crucial to analyse the present support system, and the efficiency of recognising reading problems in the early stages, in order to improve the provision of education systematically. When examining the probable causes of the struggle to comprehend texts, one of the prerequisites of understanding written language is appropriate decoding. This research focuses on investigating the access to intervention programmes of 5th-grade children with poor reading skills. The speed and accuracy of the aloud reading of 957 pupils attending mainstream classrooms were measured and compared to the data regarding the participation in rehabilitation programmes. The most relevant finding of the research was that only less than half of the children with poor reading skills receive help to improve their performance; 55% of slow readers and 60% of non-accurate readers were left without support, even though their performance is significantly worse than that of their peers. This finding indicates the need to revise the screening system and necessitates more extensive and less diagnosis-based access to intervention programmes.

A contribuição da nomeação automatizada rápida para a velocidade e compreensão de leitura textual em crianças brasileiras do ensino fundamental

ABSTRACT Purpose The main objective of the present study was to examine the contribution of rapid automatized naming (RAN) to reading rate and text comprehension. We also analyzed whether the performance on a rapid automatized naming task in the first year of schooling could be a predictor of the future skill in reading speed and text comprehension. Methods Forty protocols with phonological processing skills assessments were analyzed, namely: rapid automatized naming, phonological awareness and phonological working memory, as well as assessment of reading rate and comprehension, carried out in 2008 and 2011, when children were respectively, in the 2nd and 5th grades of Elementary School I. Results For children in 2nd grade, the RAN of objects was able to predict their performance in reading speed, whereas for children in 5th grade, the performance of RAN of letters plays such a role. In the 2nd grade, RAN contributes indirectly, through reading speed, to the performance of children in reading comprehension. In the 5th grade, among the phonological processing skills, working memory stands out for correlating significantly with reading comprehension. The reading speed of the 2nd grade was able to predict the performance of the reading speed in the 5th. grade. Conclusion Such findings are important for clinical and educational practice, reinforcing that RAN is an important skill which contributes to reading rate which in turn, is important for reading comprehension

Handwashing Practice among Elementary Schoolchildren in Urban Setting, Mongolia: A School-Based Cross-Sectional Survey.

Objectives Handwashing with soap is the simplest, most affordable, and cost-effective preventative intervention for reducing the burden of communicable diseases, including the COVID-19. This study was aimed at investigating elementary schoolchildren's handwashing practice at two critical moments, namely, before eating and after using the toilet and its associated factors. Methods The cross-sectional study was conducted at ten public secondary schools in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, between February and March 2019. Data were collected from all fifth-grade children's parents at the selected schools by using a self-reported questionnaire. Descriptive and multiple regression analyses were conducted using STATA/MP version 13.0. Results A total of 1507 parents/guardians of 5th-grade school children participated. Reported schoolchildren's handwashing practice for both critical moments was 50.1%. It was significantly associated with female gender (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.56 (95%CI = 0.45, 0.70)), number of siblings (AOR = 0.72 (95%CI = 0.61, 0.80)), and availability of handwashing amenity at school (AOR = 1.1595%CI = 0.86, 1.42)). Only 34% of children wash their hands with soap at school, and the most common reasons for skipping handwashing were an absence of soap (23.9%), lack of sink (14.5%), and the use of hand sanitizer (19.7%). Conclusions The school children's handwashing practice at two critical moments is considerably low. The main disabling factors of regular handwashing at school included insufficient handwashing facility and soap. Therefore, promoting HW facilities and innovative and participatory education for elementary schoolchildren should be prioritized.

Mediating Effects of Online-Based Leisure Between Parenting Attitudes and Children’s Smartphone Dependency

Objectives: This study investigated the impact of positive and negative parenting attitudes on smartphone dependency in children to examine the mediating effects of online-based leisure such as computer usage, game, and smartphone usage.Methods: Data of 714 children scoring above the top 30% of smartphone dependency among the children in 5th grade in elementary school were collected through the 2nd wave of the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey (KCYPS 2018). Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was applied to analyze the mediating effects with the Bootstrapping method by SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 20.0.Results: In the model, online-based leisure significantly mediated the relationship between positive parenting attitudes such as warmth, autonomy support and structure provision, and smartphone dependency showing complete mediation. Also, negative parenting attitudes such as rejection, coercion, and chaos directly negatively affected smartphone dependency, not showing a mediating effect. Results indicate that increased positive parenting attitudes lead to reduced smartphone dependency through decreasing online-based leisure, while negative parenting attitudes lead to increase dependence on the smartphone.Conclusion: While positive parenting attitudes do not directly affect smartphone dependency, they lead to a decrease in online-based leisure. Consequently, as online-based leisure lessens, smartphone dependency subsequently may also be diminished. In addition, although negative parenting attitudes have no mediating effect, they directly influence the growing smartphone dependency. Results confirm that positive parenting mediate the effects of online-based activities in relation to smartphone dependency when parents provide the most structure, autonomy support, and warmth to their children. Practical implications are discussed, and relevant interventions offered for children and parents.

Myopia and Myopic Astigmatism in school-children

Worldwide, there is an epidemic increase in myopia. In children, the evidence points to a lack of ex posure to natural light. In Chile, the population situation of myopia in children is unknown. Objec tive: To estimate the tendency of myopia and myopic astigmatism in 1st- and 6th-grade students from the public education system in Chile. Ecological study based on diagnostic confirmations of the JUNAEB Medical Services Program, between 2012 and 2018. Annual country prevalence of myopia and astigmatism was estimated by region and sex. The screening evaluation included visual acuity using Snellen Eye Abbreviated chart, red reflex, Hirschberg test, Titmus test, Cover test, ocular motility, and anterior segment examination. Chi2 and logistic regression were used to assess differences and linear regression to estimate average annual change. Between 2012 and 2018, myopia and myopic astigmatism had a heterogeneous geographical presentation. Myopia and myopic astigmatism ≥ 3 dioptres increased by an annual average of 0.11% (R2 0.67) and 1.21% (R2 0.90), respectively, in 1st-grade children and by 0.2% (R2 0.65) and 8.7% (R2 0.79), respectively, in 6th-grade children. Myopia < 3 dioptres decreased by 0.13% annual average (R2 0.45) in 1st-grade children and myopic astigmatism < 3 dioptres by 0.5% (R2 0.53) in 6th-grade children. High myopic astigmatism affected men more than women and myopia < 3 dioptres affected more 6th-grade females. In schoolchildren of the public education system, myopia and myopic astigmatism > 3 dioptres tend to increase. The protective effect of natural light against myopia has been demonstrated in longitudinal and experimental studies. This evidence is to be considered in promoting children's time spent outdoors.

The abc of the b and c in Spanish: inconsistent and context dependent letter errors and the development of orthographic knowledge in primary school children

This study presents the results of a cross-sectional reading and spelling assessment conducted among 118 Spanish children in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade. The first aim was to explore whether children´s use of orthographic knowledge was modulated by lexical variables—word frequency and orthographic neighborhood—or sublexical variables—context-dependent, inconsistent or neutral letters- as well as the developmental pathway of such knowledge in both tasks. The second aim was to provide insight into the type of errors committed by children in order to detect the words and structures that convey most difficulties. Data showed that children rely on sublexical processes more than on lexical ones in reading and writing. Persistent errors in context-dependent and inconsistent letters were evident even in 5th grade, and writing involved greater difficulty in all grades. The presence of other type of errors such as substitutions, omissions or lexicalizations was negligible. Finally, an item analysis revealed that errors were located in low-frequency syllables, particularly in the first position. Data point to specific and persistent difficulties in context-dependent and inconsistent letters that may hinder the consolidation of accurate orthographic word representations in Spanish.

Eye Movements During Reading and Cognitive Skills in 4th Grade Children

Children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds have poorer learning outcomes. These inequities are a significant public health issue, tracking forward to adverse health outcomes in adulthood. We examined the potential to reduce socioeconomic gaps in children's reading skills through increasing home reading and preschool attendance among disadvantaged children.We drew on data from the nationally representative birth cohort of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (N = 5107) to examine the impact of socioeconomic disadvantage (0–1 year) on children's reading skills (8–9 years). An interventional effects approach was applied to estimate the extent to which improving the levels of home reading (2–5 years) and preschool attendance (4–5 years) of socioeconomically disadvantaged children to be commensurate with their advantaged peers, could potentially reduce socioeconomic gaps in children's reading skills.Socioeconomically disadvantaged children had a higher risk of poor reading outcomes compared to more advantaged peers: absolute risk difference = 20.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 16.0%–24.2%). Results suggest that improving disadvantaged children's home reading and preschool attendance to the level of their advantaged peers could eliminate 6.5% and 2.1% of socioeconomic gaps in reading skills, respectively. However, large socioeconomic gaps would remain, with disadvantaged children maintaining an 18.3% (95% CI: 14.0%–22.7%) higher risk of poor reading outcomes in absolute terms.There are clear socioeconomic disparities in children's reading skills by late childhood. Findings suggest that interventions that improve home reading and preschool attendance may contribute to reducing these inequities, but alone are unlikely to be sufficient to close the equity gap.

Physical Activity Levels of 1053 Omani 4th Grade Children: The Importance of Gender and Sport Team Participation in Achieving 60 Minutes of Daily Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity

Sufficient daily physical activity is associated with many positive mental, physical, and societal benefits in children. Unfortunately, most children worldwide do not achieve recommended levels of daily physical activity (PA), and a majority of evidence is from Western countries and based on subjective measures. This study examined the prevalence and correlates of objectively measured PA levels among Omani children in 2017 (pre-pandemic). A two-stage cluster sampling was used to recruit the 4th grade children across five regions of Oman. A final analytic sample included 1053 children (504 boys, 549 girls) with a mean age of 9.21 years old. PA was objectively measured using a wrist-worn Polar Active Watch during three consecutive school days. Screen-based sedentary behaviors and other PA-related behaviors were subjectively measured. On average, boys were less sedentary and more active, with a greater likelihood of meeting current recommendations when compared with girls. The self-reported time spent in screen-based sedentary behaviors was relatively low for both boys and girls and was not associated with PA; however, sports team participation was associated with a greater likelihood of meeting the current recommendation. The present study provides empirical data on objectively measured PA in Omani children. The gender disparities concerning daily PA, including sports team participation, should receive further attention.

Camp Bioscience: Developing a Biology Summer Camp for Upper Elementary Students

Informal outreach programs can provide authentic science experiences for elementary school students, who may not have these experiences in formal school settings. Research indicates that students lose interest in science in middle school, so it’s important to reach them early. To address this need, we designed a summer camp focused on exposing children in 5th grade to current research projects being conducted by STEM faculty and graduate students at the university, to increase their understanding of science practices, and interest in STEM. This paper describes the outreach model focused on authentic science research projects and direct exposure to scientists and their work. We investigated the influence of participating in the camp on students’ understanding of the nature of science, and their interest in science. Data collection included pre-and post-student surveys, observation data, and artifacts. Students reported gains in understanding of authentic science practices on the surveys (p = 0.0055), while observation data exhibited a progression of learning throughout the week. Additional data were collected to monitor student engagement with the activities to improve future iterations of the camp as a summer program.

The Simple View of Reading in Children Acquiring a Regular Orthography (Italian): A Network Analysis Approach.

In the present study, we explored the unique contribution of reading accuracy, reading fluency and linguistic comprehension within the frame of Simple View of Reading (SVR). The experimental sample included 118 3rd to 5th grade children learning Italian, a language with a highly regular orthography. We adopted a flexible method of analysis, i.e., the Network Analysis (NA), particularly suited for exploring relations among different domains and where the direct relations between a set of intercorrelated variables is the main interest. Results indicated an independent and unique contribution of syntactic comprehension skills as well as reading fluency and reading accuracy in the comprehension of a written text. The decoding measures were not directly associated with non-verbal reasoning and the latter was not directly associated with reading comprehension but was strongly related to oral syntactic comprehension. Overall, the pattern of findings is broadly consistent with the predictions of SVR and underscores how, in an orthographically regular language, reading fluency and reading accuracy as well as oral comprehension skills directly influence reading comprehension. Data are discussed in a cross-linguistic perspective. Implications for education and rehabilitation are also presented.

THE COMPARISON OF THE IMPERFECT JAVANESE LANGUAGE ABILITY IN THE 10 – 11 YEARS OLD BOYS AND GIRLS IN KENDAL CENTRAL JAVA

The use of Javanese language by 10 - 11 years old children in Kendal Central Java experienced some imperfection especially from the diction, grammatical, and semantic aspects. This research took the sample from 5th grade children in SDN 3 Kutoarjo, Kendal Central Java. This research used qualititave method by describing the language aspects which were resulted by the 5th grade children in oral story by using pictorial media. The analytical technique in use was direct method which was the direct analysis on language aspects such as vocabularies, grammatical, and its meaning. The data collection was collected by recording, listening, and taking note in order to collect the representative data. According to some analysis , it could be known that in javanese language ability by the 10 to 11 years old children frequently did the imperfection, especially in vocabulary, grammatical, and meaning aspects.

Isn’t all about trash... Children’s conceptions about ecology and their implications for biology education in Colombia

ABSTRACT The article presents the results of an exploratory-qualitative study about children´s conceptions of ecology in relation to media messages. The objective of the study has been to identify the role of ecologism and environmental campaigns on ecology conceptions of 105 6th grade children, age 10–12, from an educational institution in Bogotá, Colombia. A multi-method study, with an open-ended questionnaire and the use of drawings, has been conducted to explore students’ conceptions about ecology and its role; the concept of ecosystem and systemic thinking; and the identification of the sources of information. A content analysis, with theoretical categories based on the theory of social representation, has been applied. Results indicate that participants often relate ecology to recycling, separation of solid residues, and the care and conservation of the environment. Children do not refer to ecology as scientific theory probably because of the general discourse circulating in the media. The authors suggest that results have strong implications for biology education, especially about the ecology process, requiring the teacher's intervention to expand the children´s conceptual profile and scientific knowledge.

Bias and noise in proportion estimation: A mixture psychophysical model

The importance of proportional reasoning has long been recognized by psychologists and educators, yet we still do not have a good understanding of how humans mentally represent proportions. In this paper we present a psychophysical model of proportion estimation, extending previous approaches. We assumed that proportion representations are formed by representing each magnitude of a proportion stimuli (the part and its complement) as Gaussian activations in the mind, which are then mentally combined in the form of a proportion. We next derived the internal representation of proportions, including bias and internal noise parameters -capturing respectively how our estimations depart from true values and how variable estimations are. Methodologically, we introduced a mixture of components to account for contaminating behaviors (guessing and reversal of responses) and framed the model in a hierarchical way. We found empirical support for the model by testing a group of 4th grade children in a spatial proportion estimation task. In particular, the internal density reproduced the asymmetries (skewedness) seen in this and in previous reports of estimation tasks, and the model accurately described wide variations between subjects in behavior. Bias estimates were in general smaller than by using previous approaches, due to the model's capacity to absorb contaminating behaviors. This property of the model can be of especial relevance for studies aimed at linking psychophysical measures with broader cognitive abilities. We also recovered higher levels of noise than those reported in discrimination of spatial magnitudes and discuss possible explanations for it. We conclude by illustrating a concrete application of our model to study the effects of scaling in proportional reasoning, highlighting the value of quantitative models in this field of research.

ProVoc: An app to train vocabulary depth in order to foster children's reading comprehension

AbstractMany studies have demonstrated the crucial role of vocabulary in predicting reading performance in general. More recent work has indicated that one particular facet of vocabulary (its depth) is more closely related to language comprehension, especially inferential comprehension. On this basis, we developed a training application to specifically improve vocabulary depth. The objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of a mobile application designed to improve vocabulary depth. The effectiveness of this training was examined on 3rd and 4th grade children's vocabulary (breadth and depth), decoding and comprehension performances. A randomized waiting‐list control paradigm was used in which an experimental group first received the intervention during the first 4 weeks (between pretest and post‐test1), thereafter, a waiting control group received the training for the next 4 weeks (between postest1 and posttest2). Results showed that the developed application led to significant improvements in terms of vocabulary depth performance, as well as a significant transfer effect to reading comprehension. However, we did not observe such a beneficial effect on either vocabulary breadth or written word identification. These results are discussed in terms of the links between vocabulary depth and comprehension, and the opportunities the app presents for remedying language comprehension deficits in children.

Boys Are More Likely Than Girls to Participate in Summer Programming: Results From the Project SWEAT Study

Abstract Objectives There are no published data on which children are at risk for not engaging in programming during the summer window of risk. The objective of this study was to compare the demographic characteristics of children who do (“attenders”) and do not (“non-attenders”) participate in summer programming. Methods Project SWEAT was a prospective observational study of pre-K through 5th grade children residing in low-income, urban neighborhoods. Caregivers were texted weekly during the summer (10 weeks) by the research team to gather information on their child's attendance in programming. Text messages stated, “Hello from Project SWEAT! How many days this week did [Child Name] attend a summer program? Please respond with a number from 0–5, where 0 – no days, 2 – 2 days, etc.” Attenders were defined as having attended ≥1 day of programming during the summer and non-attenders as 0 days. Chi-square was conducted to determine differences in demographic characteristics according to attender status. Results Attendance data were collected from 88.50% of the study sample (n = 100 out of 113). Mean age was 7.03 ± 0.23 years; 52.00% (n = 52), 70.10% (n = 68), and 80.00% (n = 80) were female, low-income, and Black, respectively. Almost one-third (32.99%, n = 32) were classified as overweight (19.59%, n = 19) or obese (13.40%, n = 13) at baseline. Fifty-one % (n = 51) of study participants were classified as attenders, and 49.00% (n = 49) were non-attenders. Mean attendance was 10.40 ± 1.43 days. Attenders were more likely to be male (62.75% [n = 32] vs. 37.25% [n = 19], P &amp;lt; 0.01). Conclusions Children who are female are significantly less likely to attend summer programming than male participants. Given that summertime is a window of risk for child health (e.g., inappropriate weight gain) and food security, further research needs to be conducted to understand who and why certain children are attending summer programming. Funding Sources USDA North Central Nutrition Education Center for Excellence.

Does learning to code influence cognitive skills of elementary school children? Findings from a randomized experiment.

Coding has been added to school curricula in several countries, being one of the necessary competencies of the 21st century. Although it has also been suggested to foster the development of several cognitive skills such as computational thinking and problem-solving, studies on the effects of coding are very limited, provide mixed results, and lack causal evidence. This study aims to evaluate the impact of a learn-to-code programme on three cognitive skills in children: computational thinking, fluid intelligence, and spatial orientation, using a randomized trial. One hundred seventy-four (n = 81 girls) 4th-grade children participated in the study. Children were randomly assigned to one of the three 10-week learning programmes: learn-to-code (treatment of interest), mathematics (another STEM-related comparison treatment), and reading (control). Children responded to paper-pencil computational thinking, and spatial orientation measurements, and face-to-face matrix reasoning task at pre- and post-tests. Results showed that children's computational thinking scores increased significantly only in the learn-to-code condition. Fluid intelligence significantly increased in all conditions, possibly due to a practice effect. The spatial orientation did not improve in any of the conditions. These findings suggested that learning to code can be selectively beneficial for the development of computational thinking skills while not effective for spatial reasoning and fluid intelligence.

The Relationship between Cardiovascular Fitness and Body Mass Index to Student Achievement in 5th Grade Hispanic Children of the Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between cardiovascular fitness, body mass index and academic performance in 547 Hispanic children in 5th grade from a Rio Grande Valley school district. The dependent variable, academic performance, was measured by children’s gain score on the STAAR Progress Measure for Reading and Math assessments. The independent variables of physical fitness were measured by scores on cardiovascular fitness and body mass index from the FITNESSGRAM assessment. The statistical and data analysis method used by this study utilized multiple regression. The results revealed that body mass index was correlated with academic performance. Body mass index accounted for a statistically significant variance in math gains while time did not explain any significant variance in math. There was no correlation between reading gains and time and body mass index. The results by weight group revealed a significant correlation between time and reading gains for the normal weight group and a significant correlation between body mass index and math gains for the obese group. These results suggest that at grade 5, consideration be given to body mass index levels of Hispanic children from low-income backgrounds.

부정적 양육방식, 자아존중감, 친구와의 관계, 교사와의 관계가 공격성에 미치는 영향

Children’s aggression has been recognized as a social problem, and the need for its countermeasures is increasing. Based on previous studies, it is assumed that a negative parenting style can lead to aggression and that self-esteem, the relationships with friends and teachers, could mediate the pathway. Negative parenting is defined as rejecting, coercive, and chaotic parenting in this study. The responses of 2,607 4th grade children (49.6% female), extracted from the 2018 Child&amp;#8901;Adolescent Panel Survey, were used. Negative parenting was positively associated with aggression, and it showed a negative relationship with self-esteem. The higher the self-esteem, the better the relationship with friends or teachers. Furthermore, the relationship with friends or teachers presented a negative association with aggression retrospectively. Self-esteem did not mediate the pathway. However, it was found that negative parenting led to aggression through self-esteem and relationships with friends or through self-esteem and relationships with teachers. Practical measures to intervene in children’s aggression were discussed based on the findings.

Breaking Barriers: Evaluating a Pilot STEM Intervention for Latinx Children of Spanish-Speaking Families

STEM achievement gaps between Latinx and their non-Hispanic White (NHW) counterparts emerge in early childhood and persist through adulthood. Culturally relevant STEM interventions can help counter some of the Latinx higher attrition rates in STEM, especially if they are initiated in elementary school. This study assesses the feasibility, acceptability, and impact on STEM Career Interest of an evidence-based, after-school STEM Program for elementary school Latinx children from Spanish-speaking families. Twenty-three 3rd to 5th grade children in a dual-language school in Colorado participated in 8 weekly STEM lessons, a field trip, and a culturally relevant fair with Latinx STEM professional role models. The following measures were used: (1) attendance rates, (2) changes in a STEM Career Interest Survey, and (3) children and caregivers’ reported satisfaction with the program. Attendance and satisfaction with the program were high. Students’ STEM Career Interest showed a statistically significant increase between pre- and post-program; however, the subscales of the STEM Career Interest Survey did not show a significant increase. It was feasible to implement the STEM interest program at the center of this study with elementary school Latinx students, and the program demonstrated success in increasing students’ STEM Career Interest. Moreover, the program is novel in that it addresses a significant barrier to economic mobility in the Spanish-speaking Latinx community (i.e., the high attrition rates in STEM participation). With some adaptations (e.g., longer duration), this program can serve as a model for interventions in other schools or academic settings.