As the number of children affected by obesity increases in the United States, it is necessary to intervene with preventative and intervention techniques that will enact change. Since children spend a significant portion of their time in school, it is of particular interest to target strategies during the school day. Given recommendations for the…

Transformers are simple movement experiences for the classroom that engage the mind and body, focus energy, and help children transition to the next activity. Teachers can use them throughout the day, every day. The author explains the basic movements and suggests ways to build on them. They range from deep breathing to gentle wake-up movements to…

The focus of research into the use of the interactive whiteboard (IWB) in the classroom has been largely in relation to teacher-pupil interaction, with very little consideration of its possible use as a tool for pupils' collaborative endeavour. This paper is based upon an ESRC-funded project, which considers how pupils use the interactive…

Among the most common cognitive abilities that social studies teachers value and want students to master is that of comparing. While students are frequently given things to compare, they are less likely to be taught a set of procedural steps for "how to compare," steps that they can use to compare any two or more things. This article provides some…

Within the field of Mobile Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (mCSCL), we are interested in exploring the space of collaborative activities that enable students to practice communication, negotiation and decision-making skills. Collaboration is via learning activities that circumvent the constraints of fixed seating or locations of…

Reading disorders are a growing concern facing schools. Observational studies have shown that without intervention, the reading issues will be maintained over time. More specifically, phonological processing deficits, the most basic of reading skills, will remain without mediation. Early intervention in the form of individual and group tutoring…

Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) have been widely introduced to English primary schools (5-11 years) in the last decade and this has generated much research interest. In the past, research has focused on IWB-use in teacher-led sessions, attending particularly to the nature of teacher-pupil interaction at the IWB and the apparent motivational…

Implementing a qualitative case study, the researcher explored how a sixth-grade English language learner participated in literature discussions of various groupings in a classroom setting, and how she perceived these interactions about reading and text in the process of learning to read. The participant was struggling with reading in a…

Children have much less experience with transitions than adults. More often than not, they need additional guidance and support from adults to help them figure out what they are supposed to do, as well as when and how they are supposed to do it. This is particularly true for students who are vulnerable for failure in the early grades (Stormont,…

Based on strong research literatures, we conjectured that social processing of feedback by cooperating in a small group setting--with social incentives to ask questions, give explanations and discuss disagreements--would increase learning. We compared group and individual feedback, using two technologies: (1) Technology-mediated, Peer-Assisted…

Teachers are required to provide appropriate science instruction to all students, including children with special needs. However, educators are often left on their own to figure out how to effectively differentiate lessons and activities. This timely, practical guidebook shows general and special educators how to retool science activities and…

This study examined the planning that occurred when children participated in classroom playcrafting with either adult or child leadership. In a first-/second-grade classroom in an innovative public school, we videotaped 11 sessions in which children volunteered to develop a play with small groups of classmates and seven sessions in which adult…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an intergenerational program on children's attitudes toward older people. Four 4th grade classes, one each during the years 2002 through 2005, participated in the study. The elders and school children engaged in meaningful activities over a 5 month period, including the performance of a play…

Generalization refers to the extension of learned behaviours to novel conditions, and it is one of the criteria by which the effectiveness and efficiency of a remediation programme may be judged. This article extracts principles of generalization from the treatment literature, and provides examples of how this information may be used to help guide…

This paper reports a study on children's classroom-based collaborative creative writing. Based on socio-cultural theory, the central aim of the research was to contribute to current understanding of young children's creativity, and describe ways in which peer collaboration can resource, stimulate and enhance classroom-based creative writing. The…