A lot of good elementary science involves studying solids, liquids, and gases, and some inquiry-based activities that are easy to set up and do. In this article, the author presents activities pertaining to simple phase change. Using water as the example, these activities introduce upper-grade students to the idea of the arrangement of molecules…

Using primarily online interaction, we worked with a grade one teacher to help her develop an understanding of community in her own classroom. Using an interpretive interactionist methodology, we theorized four domains in her view of classroom community: trust, membership, power, and capacity. The teacher's perceived success in creating community…

This report describes district-level results from the 2007-2008 AISD Student Climate Survey.

That young children need space seems an unsurprising statement. So unsurprising that it scarcely needs further examination, to say nothing of further thought. But what is really meant by "space" when considered in the context of young children in school and their developing needs? Various studies have mostly described the actual physical…

Adopting a sociocultural theoretical framework and based on ethnographic data from two primary schools, this article seeks to answer the question: what meanings about inclusion and exclusion are encoded in school and classroom practices? It documents the (inclusionary and) exclusionary pedagogic processes that influence learning and children's…

There are many ways for children to engage in learning and experiencing mathematics and posters are one of them. From the author's observation of many classrooms the most common mathematical poster to be seen was the faithful multiplication times-tables. The purpose of this article is to encourage the use of effective posters and other visual…

This article critically examines classroom walls from four perspectives: (1) reading the environment; (2) walls that silence; (3) the purpose of display; and (4) aesthetics. The author offers some suggestions for teachers to consider when purchasing materials and in planning how to use classroom walls to enhance the educational setting. She…

This paper is part of an investigation into 11-year-old students' interpretations of events in the environment. In particular, we analyse the use of a scale model constructed and manipulated by students when simulating a forest fire. We consider that their explanations involve the interrelation of three levels of organisation: the level at which…

Reduction in the size of classes from Kindergarten to Grade 3 was a major Liberal Party campaign promise in Ontario's 2003 provincial election. It was intended to demonstrate a new government's commitment to improving public education. By the 2008-09 school year, the provincial government's goals had been achieved: over 90% of all primary classes…

The adversities that today's families face are well-documented and staggering. Even in the midst of tough times, however, many families are able to display resilience. Family resilience refers to the coping mechanisms the family uses as a functional unit to recover from life's setbacks. In this article, the authors present guidelines for creating…

When students set off for school each day how many of them or their caregivers consider for a moment that they will spend the day at a potentially dangerous place? On the contrary, students and caregivers probably view schools as safe havens, and official research suggests that this is the case for the majority of teachers and pupils. However,…

The report by the Ombudsman on violence in schools--bullying--served to highlight that there are instances of abuse and violent behavior among schoolchildren at the majority of educational institutions (AA.VV., 2000). From contacts with experts in teaching, we know that this phenomenon is frequently only made known to the educational community…

There has been an increasing effort to integrate use of self-reports and a more profile-oriented approach with observations and interviews conducted during the actual learning process. The purpose of the present study was to investigate how students with different goal orientation profiles involve themselves in actual learning situations over four…

This article focuses on a teaching method developed by Maria Montessori, starting with activities in the primary classroom, which are continued through the elementary years. The author discusses a few child-centered techniques in preparing children for their work within a larger community--the whole human family. In the Montessori environment, the…

This paper reports on a project-based learning (PBL) environment targeted towards introducing student teachers to the design and development of educational web sites. The participants were 46 student teachers who constructed 16 web sites for primary school. A survey of their views, before and after the projects, and an evaluation of the web sites…