Children look to school to provide stability, role models and wider skills. As part of the school's ongoing STEM journey, it is really important to ensure opportunities are provided to develop students' social and science capital. Engineering education goes hand in hand with good self-esteem, a growth mind set and an evolving confidence to be able…

Although there has been an abundance of empirical inquiry into making in recent years, interestingly, and despite growing interest in the integration of making into N-12 education, little seems to be known empirically about the ways in which teachers are implementing making and creating makerspaces in their own classrooms. Very little direct…

This study explores how upper-grade elementary makers' spaces reveal creative thinking and critical thinking in identified and unidentified gifted students. It provides evidence that the situated learning context of makers' spaces elicit high-level motivation through constructionist practices and 21st century learning processes that leads to…

Knowledge of species, interest in nature, and nature experiences are the factors that best promote interest in and understanding of environmental issues, biodiversity and sustainable life. The aim of this study is to investigate how well student teachers identify common local species, their interest in and ideas about species identification, and…

While it would be egregious not to acknowledge the dire state and looming removal of art and music programs in many schools today, it is equally important to recognize that individual classroom atmosphere ultimately begins with and emanates from the primary/elementary teacher. Teaching of young children is a soulful experience; it comes from the…

The action learning project described tells about one primary school's journey in addressing issues of social justice and equity in relation to Aboriginal education in Australia. The setting was a new regional primary school in New South Wales, Australia. The school needed to get Aboriginal Education on the agenda, in line with the mandatory…

An elementary school art museum, directed, staffed, and supplied by students, is described. Each year a unifying theme emphasizes the interrelationships of art, music, social science, math, reading, and English. The art students become artists of a selected period and their creations become the museum's collection for the year. (KC)

Technology education at the elementary level involves hands-on, appropriate activities to introduce children to tools and to enhance their personal growth, creativity, and understanding of the world. Manipulation of materials can make abstract mathematical concepts concrete. (SK)

Instructions are given for creating earth dyes in the classroom. These dyes be used in the teaching of social studies, science, and art. A chart listing sources of natural dyes is offered. (DF)

With the MATCH Box Press, children (grades 5-6) can print a limited edition of a book. With the teacher as publisher to oversee and assist, they write and edit the manuscript; design, print, and illustrate the book. The teacher's guide provides instructions for all the various phases of the process, which is designed to take about three weeks. A…

A fifth- and sixth-grade project is described that requires each student to build a bridge to specified dimensions using only specified materials. (MK)

William Heard Kilpatrick, who pioneered project-based learning in the early 1900s, advocated basing schools on child-chosen projects engendering "purposeful activity." When children are allowed to choose what to explore, they become intrinsically motivated to work hard and strive for the highest quality. A fifth-grade teacher describes…

How to use elementary school children as curators of a classroom museum is described. The teacher decides the concept or unit to be showcased in the museum. As curators students are responsible for many tasks including writing descriptive paragraphs for the artifacts and arranging the artifact display. (RM)

Relates how a classroom can support and house a mini-museum of natural science. Describes the various types of exhibits and the range of activities that can be developed from them. Explains student involvement in exhibit design and use. (ML)

Four elementary teachers present several suggestions for exciting end-of-the-school-year learning activities. Ideas include making math a field day, enjoying an imagination celebration, broadcasting a book fair, planning a turn-of-the-century picnic, celebrating school history, and participating in a moving up day. (SM)