This article proposes a comprehensive AI curriculum tailored for young learners aged 11 to 14, emphasizing a humanistic approach. We review other AI curricula proposals for children and young people and underline that they focus primarily on AI's technological benefits and on learning coding and logic. Our curriculum explores human cognition that…

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) topics into K-12 school curricula is a relatively new but crucial challenge faced by education systems worldwide. Attempts to address this challenge are hindered by a serious lack of curriculum materials and tools to aid teachers in teaching AI. This article introduces the theoretical foundations and…

Providing challenging and engaging learning opportunities is one way to motivate students to learn. In this article, we discuss the contributions of the gifted education field to the development of enrichment pedagogy and identify several different types of these engaging instructional strategies, including interest-based learning pedagogy,…

Lessons in community building and cultural understanding are important aspects of a 21st-century education. Through such lessons, students gain the keys to societal understanding as they gain knowledge about their cultural and historical contexts, and use that understanding as a setting for exploration of deeper values, emotional experiences, and…

Based on the dozens of interactive workshops that the author has facilitated with children, he has discovered that children are more knowledgeable about the natural and the built environment than typically accredited. Due to this discovery, he believes children should be part of the community engagement for planning projects, developments, and…

This article suggests placemaking as a framework to more deeply understand how teaching and learning can take into account young children's cultural histories. Placemaking, a form of analysis commonly found in land development literature, critically interprets the relationship between power, politics and the production of place. In this article,…

It should come as no surprise that digital video technology is of particular interest to English language learners; students are drawn to its visual appeal and vibrant creative potential. The seven original case studies in this book demonstrate how video can be an effective and powerful tool to create fluid, fun, interactive, and collaborative…

Working within the context of a school improvement project, a kindergarten moved from its use of a theme approach in the classroom to a project-based learning approach in which the children were asked to seek relevant information and materials based on their daily interests and exploration. The children were encouraged to integrate drawing and…

Few had heard of Irena Sendlerowa in 1999. Now, after more than 290 presentations of the student play "Life in a Jar," as well as a website with high traffic, and worldwide media attention, Irena is known to the world. Irena Sendler (as she became known), a social worker, believed in standing up for others. Her father, who was a doctor,…

The messages students receive through popular media such as movies, television, the internet, and music videos have a powerful influence and can shape their thinking. A national survey of media use by 8- to 18-year-olds found the average adolescent spends over seven and a half hours daily with entertainment media (KFF 2010). Rather than viewing…

This paper describes Scratch, a visual, block-based programming language designed to facilitate media manipulation for novice programmers. We report on the Scratch programming experiences of urban youth ages 8-18 at a Computer Clubhouse--an after school center--over an 18-month period. Our analyses of 536 Scratch projects collected during this…

In this example from the human services field, project-based learning is used to connect theoretical knowledge and practice skills by taking a project from industry and completing it within the peer supported learning environment of the classroom, returning the project product to industry. The theoretical ideal of participation was the project's…

The project approach involves an in-depth investigation of a particular topic that integrates language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, and the fine arts and extends over a period of several days or weeks. Discusses new ways to implement this approach in early childhood classrooms. (MDM)

Discusses the role of student projects to provide opportunities for self-expression and self-knowledge as a first lesson in peace education. Describes activities for 3- to 6-year olds, including creating a memory book; 6- to 9-year olds, including developing an illustrated timeline of their lives and daily journaling; and for 9- to 12-year olds,…

The increasing emphasis on student achievement and mastery test scores has many after-school programs struggling with the demand to improve academics and offer homework assistance, while also offering a well-balanced program providing opportunities for play and social interaction. This paper asserts that project-based activities can encourage…