This research examines the perceptions of children after reading about low socioeconomic circumstances in children's literature. Low socioeconomic status involves more than just income; it encompasses access to resources, education, family well-being, opportunities, and quality of life. Students in today's classrooms are faced with many of these…

Research suggests that it is challenging for elementary students to develop conceptual understanding of trait variation, inheritance of traits, and life cycles. In this study, we report on an effort to promote elementary students' learning of hereditary-related concepts through scientific modelling, which affords opportunities for elementary…

The diet of many students consists of on-the-go processed food. As part of a larger school garden project, the authors wanted students to consider the relevance of plants in their own lives, both as food sources for us and for the animals that we eat. In this article, they present a mini-unit they taught in a third-grade classroom that helped…

This dissertation covers the purpose, findings, and implication of a 10-week ethnographic research study in a dual language immersion (DLI) third-grade classroom in the northeastern U.S. The purpose was to promote a better understanding of the processes and products of identity development in a DLI setting. Sense of belonging and language…

Objectives: We explored the effect of a culturally targeted calorie label intervention on food purchasing behavior of elementary school students. Method: We used a quasi-experimental design with two intervention schools and one control school to assess food purchases of third through fifth graders at standardized school food sales before and after…

In this brief article, elementary Spanish teacher, Dorie Perugini describes a classroom project that not only enabled students to explore their own culture and cultures around the world, but motivated them to create a beautiful piece of art. Like most elementary language teachers, Perugini needed to teach her class about food. While planning her…

This article features Sweet play math, a "math by the month" activity that involves decorating and making sugar cubes. Teachers may want to substitute straws, paper squares, alphabet blocks, or such commercially made manipulatives as Unifix[R] cubes for the real sweets. Given no allergy concerns, teachers and students alike would enjoy some sweet…