Third-grade Classroom Research Articles

Post-It® Notes Art: Area and Perimeter

When children in this third-grade classroom used twenty-five square sticky notes to design artwork, they predicted that all the perimeters would be the same. Surprise!

The Big Glamorous Monster (or Lady Gaga’s Adventures at Sea): Improving Student Writing Through Dramatic Approaches in Schools

Drawing on assets-oriented, sociocultural theories of imagination and learning, the authors argue that the improvisational qualities and expanded resources of dramatic approaches to teaching make a positive difference in the quality of and persistence in students’ story writing. The authors describe findings from a controlled quasi-experimental study examining the outcomes of an 8-week story-writing and drama-based program, Literacy to Life, implemented in 29 third-grade classrooms in elementary schools with and without Title I funding located within the same urban school district in Texas. Pre- and post-measures of writing self-efficacy, story building, and generating and revising ideas showed significant positive results, especially for students in schools that receive Title I funding. Research findings and the sociocultural theoretical framework argue for increased resources in support of opportunities for students to practice combinatorial imagination and use cultural knowledge for creative writing, as was made possible through the Literacy to Life program.

A Study of Teachers’ Discourse Moves That Support Text-Based Discussions

In theory, engaging students in discussion helps them learn how to understand and think critically about texts. Researchers have sought to identify effective features of teacher-led text-based discussions by designing specific discussion-group programs and investigating their influence on students’ comprehension in upper elementary classrooms. However, little is known about how early elementary teachers guide students’ participation in and learning from whole-group text-based discussions. Because of the potential value of such instruction for developing reading comprehension, this study examines how early elementary teachers used effective discourse moves to support students’ engagement with and understanding of texts. We developed and examined the validity of a measure comprising 10 research-based discourse moves called Support for Students’ Learning from Text (SSLT). It was used to code text-based comprehension lessons in second- and third-grade classrooms. Findings indicated significant associations between teachers’ everyday use of SSLT discourse moves and students’ comprehension and vocabulary achievement.

A critical discourse analysis of teacher-student relationships in a third-grade literacy lesson: Dynamics of microaggression

AbstractThis study focuses on a recording from a week of third-grade classroom sessions. The recording was used to train new teachers in a certification program and provided data for a learning community that was studying classroom discourse. The third-grade teacher was described as being “outstanding” and “culturally responsive” by the university professor who had been using the recording to train teacher candidates. The teacher was indeed innovative in supporting cultural diversity and was responsive to all students throughout the week, except during a particular literacy lesson, the subject of this study. Critical discourse analysis revealed prioritizing White males, disrespecting a Mexican-American boy and neglecting females. The recording was later withdrawn from the certification program because it did not reflect exemplary teaching, yet its initial use points to an urgent educational problem: even experienced teachers exhibit microaggressions toward students of color and female students, and expert...

Eat Your Way to Better Health: Evaluating a Garden-based Nutrition Program for Youth

Eat Your Way to Better Health (EYWTBH) is a garden-based nutrition education program that was conducted and evaluated for 3 years in Indiana third-grade classrooms. Program participants started and maintained their own school gardens as a part of an authentic experiential learning curriculum designed to reconnect youth with where their food comes from and educate about healthy eating habits. Implementation lasted between 8 and 12 weeks and outcomes were evaluated using pre- and postprogram questionnaires. Results showed that upon completion of the EYWTBH program, youth reported a higher healthy food choice self-efficacy, as well as a higher variety of fruit and vegetable consumption. Relationships among the variables were identified and discussed in the context of improving future school garden nutrition programs.

Variables in Elementary Mathematics Education

AbstractIn this article, I analyze episodes from two third-grade classrooms drawn from a larger classroom teaching experiment to explore how these students began to incorporate nonnumerical symbols in their mathematical expressions when asked to represent indeterminate quantities. The article addresses two research questions: What understandings did these third-grade students construct when they used nonnumerical symbols to represent indeterminate quantities, and how did these understandings vary during the course of working on a single task? What were some of the challenges these third-grade students faced when they first used nonnumerical symbols to represent indeterminate quantities, and how did these challenges vary while working on the Candy Boxes task? Using the constructs of semantic space and form/function relationships, I argue that teaching and learning environments that encourage children’s use of nonnumerical symbols, such as variable notation, to represent indeterminate quantities can support...

The Role of Children's Adaptability in Classrooms Characterized by Low or High Teacher Emotional Support Consistency

.Teachers' social interactions with children are a salient aspect of the classroom environment. An emerging line of research suggests teachers' emotional support consistency is an important predictor of children's academic and social outcomes. Yet individual differences determine the contribution of classroom affordances to children's adjustment. Adaptability describes a child's propensity to perceive and respond to changes in the social environment. Less adaptable children experience change as stressful and tend to be at risk for poor classroom functioning, perhaps more so in classrooms characterized by low levels of emotional support consistency. Multigroup analyses were performed in a structural equation modeling framework to assess the contribution of adaptability assessed in infancy to third-grade achievement and social skills in low- and high-consistency classrooms. Observations of 959 children in 805 third-grade classrooms, direct child assessment, and teacher ratings revealed that adaptability predicted a range of social skill and achievement measures in third-grade classrooms that offered low levels of emotional support consistency. Findings are situated in a goodness-of-fit model.

An Empirical Comparison of the Words Spelled Correctly and Correct Letter Sequence Spelling Scoring Methods in Third- and Fourth-Grade Classrooms

ABSTRACTSpelling words can be scored using a wide variety of scoring methods that vary in prerequisite phonological knowledge required by the scorer, as well as the complexity of scoring rules used in assigning scores. Two of the simpler spelling word scoring methods (i.e., Words Spelled Correctly and Correct Letter Sequence) typically used by most teachers, school psychologists, and educational diagnosticians were used to score weekly spelling word lists administered to 6 third-grade classrooms, two fourth-grade classrooms, and one combined third-/fourth-grade classrooms in two elementary schools throughout the academic year. Results indicated a high degree of association between scores produced by the scoring methods, as well as significant correlations with annual group achievement test results in the communication arts. Tests for the sensitivity of the Correct Letter Sequence scoring method in detecting improvement across consecutive incorrectly spelled words revealed no significant improvement trend over a 9-week scoring interval, but a significant improvement trend over a 21-week scoring interval. Results suggest that both methods adequately predict achievement in language arts skills; however, the more complex Correct Letter Sequence scoring method is most useful when words to be spelled are slightly more difficult than the speller's current level of competence, and progress can be tracked throughout the academic year.

Dealing with the contradiction of agency and control during dialogic teaching

Abstract This study investigated the contradiction between student agency and teacher control in classroom interactions during dialogic teaching. The study focused on interactional moments when the students opposed or questioned the instructional activity, because it was hypothesized that the agency-control contradiction (Rainio, 2008) becomes particularly evident in these moments. The video data were collected in a heterogeneous Finnish third-grade classroom and analyzed with interaction analysis. The results show how promoting student agency is a contradictory endeavor that requires balancing between the aspirations of dialogic teaching and institutional demands. The results showed that the students' criticism and questioning of instructional activity were targeted at the contents, procedures, and purpose of the instructional activity. We found inconsistency in the teacher's responses to the students' opposition according to the type of opposition. Providing space for negotiation created opportunities for achieving student agency. Conversely, the teacher also silenced students' opposition by enforcing his institutional authority or disregarding student opposition, resulting in interactions that suppressed student agency. This study adds to the understanding of what is at stake when students' agency is promoted in classroom interactions.

Investigación sobre literatura: Conversaciones que involucran el translenguar y temas de immigración en una clase dual/A Literature Inquiry: Discussions Involving Translanguaging and Immigration Issues in a Dual Language Classroom

The article analyzes bilingual students’ uses of their two languages, Spanish and English, in literacy discussions in a third-grade bilingual classroom in the Southwest of the United States. With a teacher action research (TAR) approach, I show a commitment of doing research with the participants in social classroom situations toward action. I analyzed data sources consisting of focus group interviews, transcripts of discussions, and writings looking for empirical evidence and co-occurrences. I show emergent bilinguals’ divergent thinking in interpreting and discussing a linguistically and multiculturally diverse book and use of translanguaging practices for communicative purposes, drawing from their complete linguistic repertoire. The results of the study are related to a critical multicultural analysis of the text, language acquisition, identity, and immigration issues. I end with a conclusion and implications for future research in the field of biliteracy while viewing research as transformative for the participants.

An analysis of student engagement patterns in language learning facilitated by Web 2.0 technologies

AbstractRecent research indicates that Web 2.0 applications contribute to supporting a social constructivist approach for language learning. However, students encounter different types of barrier associated with technologies and learning tasks, which can cause disengagement during different phases of learning. Thus, based on flow theory and the strategic motivation framework, this study aims to investigate students’ motivation and their engagement patterns while participating in Web 2.0 digital storytelling activities. The participants are 24 elementary school students of a suburban school in northern Taiwan. Over 19 weeks of observations on students aged 9–10 years in a third-grade classroom, data were collected through three sources: surveys, students’ digital stories, and English tests. The analysis of the data showed that motivation was a dynamic process, initially low but increasing in later phases. A dynamic pattern was also identified in the students’ flow perceptions, which included two cycles of disengagement and reengagement. Students encountered different challenges that led to disengagement phases, which highlighted the need for specific types of learning support in elementary school contexts. In addition, the participants’ vocabulary and oral fluency were found to have been enhanced by the end of the study. The implications for educational practice are discussed and the direction for future studies addressed.

Using Family-Focused Garden, Nutrition, and Physical Activity Programs To Reduce Childhood Obesity: The Texas! Go! Eat! Grow! Pilot Study.

The TEXAS! GROW! EAT! GO! (TGEG) randomized, control trial is a 5-year study to measure the impact of a nutrition and gardening intervention and/or physical activity (PA) intervention on the weight status of third-grade students. This article describes the results of the pilot study to test the feasibility of two interventions and test the measures to be used in the main trial. The pilot study was conducted in one school with third-grade students and their parents or guardians. The Junior Master Gardner (JMG) and Walk Across Texas (WAT) interventions were implemented over a 5-month period in three third-grade classrooms during spring 2012. The respective interventions focused on improving healthy eating and PA behaviors of children and their families. Baseline and immediate post-test data were collected from students and parents/guardians to measure four child, four parent, and four parent-child interaction behaviors. Process data regarding implementation were also collected from teachers and school administration. Forty-four students and 34 parents or guardians provided both pre- and post-test data. Paired-sample t-tests showed statistically significant changes in student knowledge, vegetable preferences, vegetable consumption, and home food availability (all p < 0.05). At baseline, participants' weight status categories included 57% obese, 10% overweight, and 31% normal weight. Postintervention, weight status categories included 39% obese, 16% overweight, and normal 45%. Data collected from teachers indicated high levels of implementation fidelity. Implementation of both interventions occurred at a very high fidelity level, which led to positive changes in BMI status, and several dietary and PA behaviors. Although the pilot study indicated feasibility of the two interventions for school implementation, results guided revisions to the TGEG program and its survey instruments.

The Use of eReaders in the Classroom and at Home to Help Third-grade Students Improve their Reading and English/ Language Arts Standardized Test Scores

This study explored the effects of a portable technology intervention, the Nook Simple Touch eReader, on student performance in Reading and English/Language Arts when included as an integral part of the teaching and learning process in an elementary third-grade classroom. This study used the participating students’ end-of-year second-grade scores from the 2012 Georgia Online Assessment System (OAS) and end-of-year third-grade Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) as primary data sources. Findings indicate that a portable technology intervention, or in this case the Nook eReader, helped to demonstrate student responsibility and portable technology durability. Improved student achievement was observed during classroom activities in the 2012–2013 academic year.

Comparing Two Classwide Interventions: Implications of Using Technology for Increasing Multiplication Fact Fluency

An adapted alternating treatments design with initial baseline and final best treatment phase was used to evaluate and compare the effects of two classwide interventions, detect–practice–repair (DPR), and self-mediated iPad instruction, on the multiplication math facts fluency in an inclusive third-grade classroom. Twelve students participated in both interventions over a 3-week treatment phase. Results showed that although both interventions were effective, in general, students showed greater gains during the iPad intervention compared to the DPR intervention. Intervention acceptability results also revealed that students, teachers, and parents preferred the iPad intervention. The discussion focuses on the benefits and implications of using technology to differentiate instruction in inclusive settings.

Explorations of the structure-agency dialectic as a tool for framing equity in science education

Explorations of the structure-agency dialectic as a tool for framing equity in science education

Effects of a classroom-based yoga intervention on cortisol and behavior in second- and third-grade students: a pilot study.

This uncontrolled pilot study examined the effects of a classroom-based yoga intervention on cortisol concentrations and perceived behavior in children. A 10-week Yoga 4 Classrooms intervention was implemented in one second-grade and one third-grade classroom. Students' salivary cortisol responses were assessed at 3 time points. Classroom teachers also documented their perceptions of the effects of the intervention on students' cognitive, social, and emotional skills. Second, but not third, graders showed a significant decrease in baseline cortisol from before to after the intervention. Second and third graders both showed significant decreases in cortisol from before to after a cognitive task, but neither grade showed additional decreases from before to after a single yoga class. The second-grade teacher perceived significant improvements in several aspects his/her students' behavior. The third-grade teacher perceived some, but fewer, improvements in his/her students' behavior. Results suggest that school-based yoga may be advantageous for stress management and behavior.

Developing Singing in Third-Grade Music Classrooms

The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of concurrent visual feedback on pitch-matching skill development in third-grade students. Participants played a computer game, SingingCoach, which scored the accuracy of their singing of the song “America.” They followed the contour of the melody on the screen as the computer displayed a line representing their real-time vocal response. Participants could adjust their singing based on the feedback and improve their score. Music teachers ( n = 30) tested their students ( N = 2,021) in the fall and spring semesters and reported their scores. A correlated samples t-test showed a significant difference between students’ pretest and posttest scores, with a mean increase of more than 10 percentage points. Computer programs that offer immediate, concurrent singing feedback may help young students experience musical growth over a relatively short period of time even, perhaps, when formal musical instruction time is limited.

The Influence of Classroom Drama on English Learners’ Academic Language Use During English Language Arts Lessons

Teacher and student academic discourse was examined in an urban arts-integrated school to better understand facilitation of students’ English language learning. Participants’ discourse was compared across English language arts (ELA) lessons with and without classroom drama in a third-grade classroom of English learning (EL) students (N = 18) with Spanish as their home language (L1) and English as their second language (L2). Students used significantly higher rates of L2 academic language forms as measured by linguistically specific and complex literate language features and language-facilitative speech acts during classroom drama, as compared with conventional ELA lessons. The classroom teacher used more dialogic discourse, as measured by increased rates of requestive and responsive speech acts during drama, as compared with conventional ELA lessons. The findings indicate that the contextualization of ELA content through classroom drama contributed to participants’ dialogic use of specific and complex academic discourse forms over a conventional ELA setting. The implications of arts-integrated instruction for education practice, research, and policy are discussed.

Critical Democracy Through Digital Media Production in a Third-Grade Classroom

This article explores the ways that alternative digital media production by elementary students can support education for critical democracy. The article centers on a collaborative, qualitative study in which students in a 3rd-grade class at a Title One school created and disseminated podcasts about issues of historical injustice rooted in the key tenets of critical literacy. Producing this counter-hegemonic digital media supported students becoming a community of active citizens dedicated to promoting social justice. The students used their podcasts as a public forum to educate others about historical injustice and take action for social change.

Winners and Learners: Classroom Discourse Surrounding Educational Game-Play

Teacher mediation has been shown to be a key factor in the successful implementation of educational games, particularly with respect to lower-performing students. There has been little previous research, however, that has described teacher mediation during educational game-play. This qualitative study used discourse analysis methods to examine classroom interaction during educational game-play, observing the classroom-conversation between teachers and differentiated student groups in four third-grade classrooms. Results from this study revealed that discourse in the educational gaming context was overwhelming focused on the procedural aspects of game-play, rather than on the learning objectives of the game. This “procedural pull” of the gaming context was pervasive and appeared to result from several factors, including the level of procedure inherent in the game itself, teachers’ varying instructional approaches, and from the students themselves. Results from this study also demonstrated that, contrary to previous findings in the teacher expectations literature, the lowest-performing student groups received a disproportionate amount of teacher time, attention, and content support in each of the classrooms. However, the additional teacher time and attention paid to these lowest-performing student groups appeared to come at the expense of other relatively lower-performing groups in the classes. The results of this study increase our understanding of how teachers implement educational games and may have relevance for other educational games and game-playing contexts.