Field trips have long been a part of the elementary student experience, and through the years a great deal of research and work has been done around how field trips best support and facilitate learning. When new earth science unit was being rolled out across the Burlington (MA) Public Schools' second grades, the opportunity to shake up the…

The purpose of this article is to promote a deeper, more complex understanding of the challenge that "recess time" poses to elementary school educators and to thereby understand the practices in which they are currently engaging. Because teachers are expected to shepherd students through a vast array of learning standards while remaining…

One way to recognize how mathematical lessons can be stimulating for children is to interpret them as stories. If mathematical lessons follow a structure similar to that of a story, they can build anticipation, create surprise, and even generate intrigue (Egan 1988). To support the design of mathematical lessons with these types of aesthetic…

The How Far Do You Think You Can Jump? activity (see EJ1174770) was completed in three different contexts: an after-school mathematics enrichment program at Woodland and Country Schools in Weston, Massachusetts; a small-group pull-out of second graders at Wren Elementary in Piedmont, South Carolina; and a family math night in Lafayette, Indiana.…

The Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time (ELT) initiative is designed to improve academic outcomes by increasing the amount of learning time for students. Schools are expected to provide opportunities to teachers for collaborative planning and professional development as well as add time to the school day or year for instructional and enrichment…

Field trips are wonderful opportunities to expand student learning, but the bus rides can be challenging. Perched in the first row, teachers attempt to guide the driver while tossing repeated reminders of safe bus behavior to the students in back, inevitably arriving at the destination flustered and possibly nauseated. In this article the author…

The digital age has transformed how work is done in science, health care, the law, journalism, international relations, education, environmental conservation, agriculture, and engineering. To prepare students to thrive in today's society, teachers need to know more about how technologies are used in disciplines and workplaces, and--most…

Few studies have focused on practitioners' perspectives on and interpretations of official language policies in schools and how such policies shape their practices. Teachers are an integral part of the process of policy appropriations that occur within and across policy levels (state, district, school, and teacher). Through interviews with…

The study compared the effects of a professional development course delivered in an online and a face-to-face format. The effects examined included changes in teachers' pedagogical beliefs, instructional practices, and understanding of teaching number-sense and related mathematical concepts. The study randomly assigned participants to either the…

Summarizes changes in student achievement and behavior (cross-racial selections) due to the adoption of an activity-based elementary education program (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Classroom Laboratories and Elementary Science Study units) in Springfield, Massachusetts. Emphasis of hands-on experience in mixed-race groups was effective in student…

This comprehensive guide discusses how to design staff development in science and math. It is tailored specifically to the needs of individual schools or departments. Vignettes from real schools illustrate concepts within the book. The book provides 15 strategies for professional development and describes each one with its underlying assumptions…

Social studies programs have not received the attention they deserve in the last decade. This document is meant to help Massachusetts school districts strengthen the teaching of social studies at all grade levels. The rationale section offers direction about the need for and the primary purpose of social studies education, namely citizen…

This teacher's guide supplies information and hands-on activities to teach about trees from several disciplines. Activities are grouped into six areas that cover botany, social studies, arts and literature (aesthetics), and trees as a resource. Sections include: (1) Tree Identification, which defines trees and leaves and presents activities that…

At the request of the school committee of that town, this bureau made last spring a comprehensive survey of the schools of Winchester, Massachusetts, a residential suburban town near the city of Boston. The report of the findings of the committee making the survey, together with constructive criticisms and recommendations for the improvement of…

Education specialists have written volumes on the best ways to help children learn to read and write, but who is helping them navigate the potentially treacherous waters of social interactions? While in school to study, children are also preoccupied with understanding the rules governing social relationships. Issues of trust and loyalty, rivalry…