Lower Elementary School Research Articles

The Watcher: Jane Goodall's Life with the Chimps by J. Winter

Winter, Jeanette. The Watcher: Jane Goodall's Life with the Chimps. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books, 2011. Print. Jeanette Winter is a prolific and award winning American children’s author and illustrator. She tells us in her author’s note at the end of this book that, as a child, she wished that she “could have read about someone like Jane Goodall – a brave woman who wasn’t afraid to do something that had never been done before”. So she wrote this book. The picture book format and the Grade 3 reading level make this work appropriate for the lower elementary school target audience, children who are beginning to think about what they want to be when they grow up. While written mostly in poetic line form, the work is not particularly poetic. However the form does seem to give Winter the licence to begin sentences with conjunctions and end them with prepositions. The text reads more like folksy spoken American English than poetry. For example, “She woke at dawn and saw them slowly rise from their nests, sit for a spell, then go off to find food.” Winter’s illustrations are the delight of the book. They are simple, two-dimensional folk art works. In this volume Winter purposefully uses two distinct forms of presentation. In the early part of the book, which traces Goodall’s life from her English childhood until she travels to Gombe, the illustrations are square and centred on a coloured page with the text structured below them. Once Goodall has set up her camp in the forest, the illustrations are as wild and uncontained as the life Goodall led. The paintings splash out across the pages and the text fits in and around them wherever there is space. As an introduction to the life of a remarkable female scientist and role model, this is a work that belongs in every public and elementary school library. However, because the text is not exemplary of well-written English, it should not be used for classroom study. Recommended with reservations: 2 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Sandy Campbell Sandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines. Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.

From learning to teaching? Reconsidering Elisabeth Alander’s educational policy and pedagogical practice

In the 1920s the question of kindergartens was actively discussed in Finnish teachers’ journals. The concern was with social and educational demands that kindergartens and lower elementary schools should be combined in the public educational system. Elisabeth Alander (1859–1940), the grand pioneer of the Finnish kindergarten pedagogy, opposed the demands and the education policy debate ceased. In the debate of early childhood education the event named above is referred to as ‘the favourable moment which passed by’. The assumption has been that the unifying and standardisation of pedagogical institutions and practices is inevitable, in spite of temporary setbacks. This paper investigates Elisabeth Alander’s educational policy and pedagogical practice, arguing that it is methodologically essential to analyse the course of the events of the 1920s also as the years when kindergarten pedagogy was at risk. RÉSUMÉ: Dans les années 1920, un vif débat sur la question des jardins d’enfants fut mené par les enseignants finlandais dans la presse professionnelle. Le débat portait, avec des exigences sociales et éducatives, sur la combinaison au sein du système éducatif public des jardins d’enfants et du premier niveau de l’école élémentaire. Elisabeth Alander (1859–1940), grande pionnière de la pédagogie du jardin d’enfants finlandais, s’opposa à ce projet et le débat sur la politique éducative cessa. Dans l’histoire de l’éducation de la petite enfance, on se réfère à cet événement comme à « un moment opportun que l’on n’a pas su saisir ». L’hypothèse était que l’unification et la standardisation des institutions éducatives serait inévitable, et ce malgré les freins temporaires. Cet article examine la politique éducative et la pratique pédagogique d’Elisabeth Alander, montrant la nécessité méthodologique d’analyser le cours des événements des années 1920 également comme les années d’une pédagogie du jardin d’enfants en danger. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: In den 20er Jahren des 20. Jahrhunderts, als das Gesetz zur Schulpflicht erlassen wurde, diskutierte man in der pädagogischen Fachpresse intensiv über das Thema Kindergarten. Gesellschaftliche und pädagogische Umstände schienen zu fordern, dass man den Kindergarten mit in den öffentlichen Bildungsapparat integrierte. Elisabeth Alander (1859–1940), die Pionierin des finnischen Kindergartens, setzte sich für diese Etablierung ein. Die bildungspolitische Debatte in der Fachpresse fand damit einen Abschluss. Diese oben beschriebene Phase in der Geschichte der Vorschulpädagogik wird als “der verpasste günstige Zeitpunkt” bezeichnet. Grundannahme war, dass die Vereinheitlichung und Standardisierung der Bildungsinstitutionen trotz zeitweiliger Rückschläge dennoch unausweichbar sei. Der Artikel befasst sich mit Elisabeth Alanders Bildungspolitik und pädagogische Praxis. Des Weiteren wird begründet, warum es methodologisch notwendig ist, die Geschehnisse der 1920er Jahre auch als, Zeit der Bedrohung des Kindergartens’ zu begreifen. RESUMEN: Al regularse la Ley de enseñanza obligatoria en la década de 1920, se abrió un animado debate en la prensa profesional de los docentes sobre la cuestión de las guarderías. Se consideraba que había razones sociales y educacionales que defendían la integración de las guarderías al ámbito del sistema escolar público. Elisabeth Alander (1859–1940), pionera en trazar las líneas del trabajo en guarderías en Finlandia, estaba en contra de esta propuesta.. Esto cerró el debate político‐educacional en la prensa del gremio docente. En la bibliografía histórica en materia de educación preescolar se denomina al suceso descrito como el “momento de búsqueda que se fue”. No se dejaba de suponer que avanzaría sin cesar la integración y homogenización de las instituciones educacionales y escolares, a pesar de los contratiempos que pudiera sufrir temporalmente el proceso. En el presente artículo estudiamos la política educacional de Elisabeth Alander y su repercusión en las prácticas pedagógicas e intentaremos demostrar la necesidad metodológica de analizar los sucesos de la década de 1920 considerándolos también como ‘años de peligro para el sistema de guarderías’.

The Effects of Cooperative Learning on Students with Learning Difficulties in the Lower Elementary School

This study investigated the behaviors, interactions, and learning outcomes of children with learning difficulties who participated in structured and unstructured group activities. Of the 152 Grade 3 children who worked in four-person, gender-balanced groups, 22 children were identified as having learning difficulties requiring up to 3 hours of specialist teacher support for their learning each week. The children worked in their groups for one 6-week social studies unit of work each term for three school terms. The results showed that the children in the structured groups were more involved in group activities and provided more directions and help to other group members than their peers in the unstructured groups. Furthermore, children in the structured groups obtained a significantly higher performance on the comprehension questionnaire than children in the unstructured groups (effect size = +1.43 standard deviations). Reasons for these differences are discussed.

Socio-medical background of leprosy in the Northern India. I. Influence of leprosy to the number of children in the patient family

A survey was conducted by direct interview of patients visiting the Leprosy Patients Welfare Society Old Mahapalika Building in Agra city, U. P. State, India, from the end of July to mid-August, in both 1984 and 1985, for a total of 6 weeks.The purpose of the survey was to observe and analyze the extent to which difference in religion, education, and location of residence influenced individual attitudes toward leprosy.Interviewed were a total of 705 people. The male-to-female ratio was 4:1, with both males and females being predominantly of productive age. The Hindu-to-Muslim ratio was 3.1:1.Among those interviewed, 77.0%; were residents of rural areas. The illiteracy rate was 71.6%; this ratio was especially high in those from rural areas. The ratio of those with higher education was greater in those from urban areas.About half the subjects believed the cause of leprosy to be uncleanness of the blood; this was especially so among young children of elementary school. The next most common belief was that curse was the cause, followed by fate. Fate was high in propotion of believers among junior high and high school students. There were few multiple responses among children below elementary school age and among college students, but a high number of multiple responses among the lower elementary school and high school groups, suggesting that the latter group was greatly influenced by various attitudes as to the cause of leprosy.Among Hindus, uncleanness of the blood was rated the highest, followed by fate and then curse, all of there showing a high rate in urban areas.Among Muslims, curse was rated the highest, and the rate was higher than that for Hindus. Next rated was uncleanness of the blood, then fate; the latter two, however, rated were significantly lower than in Hindu group.Both Hinduism and Muslim strongly influence lifestyles and consciousness from birth to death, and beliefe in the after-life.Especially in the field of public education concerning leprosy, general, health and hygiene education are the basis of all hygienic activities, however, adequate consideration must also be given to such factors in leprosy as traditional customs and prejudices.

Cognitive Style, Operativity, and Mathematics Achievement

Previous investigations of the effects of field dependence-independence or the level of operational development on the mathematics achievement of children in the lower elementary school grades have involved the administration of concrete operational tasks (e.g., classification, conservation, and seriation). The present study was designed to examine the influence of these factors on the mathematics achievement of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders by using formal operational tasks (i.e., combinations, propositional logic, and proportionality). Results were analyzed using total mathematics achievement test scores as well as scores on subtests of computation, concepts, and problem solving. Field-independent students scored significantly higher than field-dependent students on the total mathematics, concepts, and problem-solving tests. High-operational students scored significantly higher than their low-operational peers on all tests. Educational implications of the findings are discussed.

Communication apprehension of elementary and secondary students and teachers

A series of studies are reported that indicate a substantial increase in the average communication apprehension level of children occurs between kindergarten and grade 5 and that a disproportionately greater number of teachers with high communication apprehension teach at the lower elementary school level as compared to the upper levels. Suggestions for needed research are outlined and discussed. The development of two new scales designed to measure the communication orientations of children in grades K‐12, the Personal Report of Communication Fear (PRCF) and the Shyness Scale (SS), is also reported.

THE EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT OF GIFTED CHILDREN

Annual cumulative achievement records obtained with the Stanford Achievement Test at the Lincoln School of Teachers College since 1922 afford an opportunity to study achievement growth in gifted children. There are records for fifty-one children who measured between 130 and 140 I.Q. on the Stanford-Binet 1916 Scale who have had three or more annual Stanford Achievement Test records since the end of the second or third grade. There are 36 pupils who have tested 140 I.Q. or higher who have had three or more annual Stanford Achievement Tests. Similar records are also available for average children in the same population testing below 110 I.Q. who serve as controls for the gifted pupil groups. Records for fifty such cases are included in this report. The achievement tests were administered uniformly in May of each year. The data presented here include every case of a child in the school testing over 130 I.Q. or below 110 whose Stanford Achievement records were adequate for our purpose according to the criteria already stated. The Binet tests were administered by well-trained examiners, in most cases shortly after the child's admission to the school or during the lower elementary school years. The age at which the child was tested varied somewhat with the different cases.

Changing Concepts of Art in Lower Elementary School

Changing Concepts of Art in Lower Elementary School