While once forbidden in classrooms, laughter is increasingly encouraged as contributing to a positive learning environment. However, analyses of laughter in conversation show that laughter performs multiple social functions, some of which are not necessarily positive. Applying this lens, this study investigates the interactional functions of…

The research examined the calculation methods used by pupils in Grades 3-6 when they were presented with problems that could be worked out efficiently and flexibly by applying number sense. The study was conducted with a convenience sample of 179 pupils between the ages 7 years and 10 months to 12 years and 10 months. in mainstream education in…

In this, I examined the differences between two approaches for teaching math to pupils with learning disabilities: active teaching as opposed to traditional teaching, which engages pupils more directly in their own learning process and promotes collaborative learning, and traditional (frontal) teaching. The hypothesis is that active teaching will…

It has been found that participation in informal, year-long STEM programmes for "primary school children" encourages further STEM learning and motivates STEM career aspirations. To date, no previous research has investigated such programmes. The study's goals were to collect and analyse demographic data about the 3rd-6th grade…

Narratives, or stories, are used every day by people as a way of making sense of and communicating events in the world. Narratives can be highly useful as a learning tool in science education. Though research on narrative-based pedagogy in science education and communication is very common, most of that research was done in formal settings. Our…

This study examines the link between phonological and morphological awareness and reading comprehension among special-education children who attend self-contained special education classes in regular Arab elementary schools.The three hypotheses were: First, the higher the level of phonological awareness in Arabic among special education learners,…

Gender differences in mathematics learning outcomes are still evident in many countries participating in large scale international testing, as well as in national testing in Israel, the context in which the study reported here was conducted. The participants were 281 students from three Israeli elementary schools and were in grades 4 and 6. The…

This study describes an action research study conducted by a teacher who used a digital game generator as a tool to develop thinking skills among primary school students with learning difficulties. Ten 4th-grade students participated in the programme. The students met with the teacher twice a week for six months. The meetings included creating…

In recent years, there has been increasing awareness on the benefits of social-emotional competencies (SEC) on Israeli students. A self-report SEL measure tailored to the Israeli context, however, has yet to be developed. This research aims to validate the Social-Emotional Questionnaire for Grades 4-6 (SEQ [G4-6]), a new self-report questionnaire…

While students tend to enjoy their science learning at a young age, as they mature, they tend to distance themselves from science, becoming less motivated to engage with science and holding negative attitudes towards science. In parallel, a career choice in science often begins to develop during early adolescence. To understand how the environment…

This article deals with the card game "We Were Once" featuring the history of Kiryat Tivon. The game's components embody values expected to promote a sense of significance toward history among its young players. It consists of archival photos divided into 10 quartets: founders, mayors, beginnings, significant women, public buildings,…

Drawing on the bioecological theory developed by Bronfenbrenner, the researchers of this study examined four environmental systems--microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem--for gifted children in Israel as perceived by their parents, focusing on a comparison between rural and central contexts. The rural context comprises peripheral…

Spelling errors are considered a paramount criterion in the evaluation of written texts. The present study aimed: (1) to describe the developmental path of spelling errors in expository texts written by Hebrew-speaking children from the second to fifth grades; and (2) to reveal the predictive power of cognitive, linguistic and reading variables on…

Dialogic pedagogy aims to promote deliberative democratic skills, virtues and practices within an equitable and empowering classroom environment. This article problematizes the practice of setting classroom ground rules in light of dialogic pedagogy's democratic aspirations. Specifically, we explore the space for dissenting voices within the…

I Can Succeed-Elementary School (ICS-ES) is the first social-emotional learning (SEL) program based on interpersonal psychotherapy for adolescents (IPT-A). We hypothesized that fourth graders participating in ICS-ES over two school years would show improvements in interpersonal/social, emotional, and academic functioning. 419 fourth-grade students…