Young children's self-identification and self-identity are essentially a set of conscious and unconscious beliefs built from experiences. Students' self-image, and their understanding of society, can change when they research how women contributed to our nation and to our daily lives. Such lessons can render these historical figures accessible and…

Mill City Museum and Wilder Research collaborated to facilitate focus groups with local elementary school educators to learn about their experiences with virtual in-school programs, what motivates them to consider and schedule a program, and what barriers prevent or deter them from pursuing these types of programming options. This report presents…

The authors focused on using antiques to learn how to teach elementary children about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in a historical context; they refer to the historical objects as "antique artifacts." By studying antiques, students get a real-world opportunity to learn how people in their local area and beyond…

Each year, the author shares her passion for the history of writing with her third grade students and teaches them about how writing has developed over time. The unit of study described herein excites and engages young writers to appreciate the antiquity of writing, while sowing seeds in their minds that will take root and grow as each student…

A typical social studies lesson for elementary students often includes the memorization of facts and dates, but lacks the inquiry-based instruction that could promote purposeful engagement with historical sources. In this social studies learning experience, framed in the tenets of transcaring and the C3 Framework, students actively and…

Drawing on data generated following the 2016 United States presidential election, in this article the author considers how a classroom makerspace made Black girls' literacies visible in new ways. During a six-week integrated humanities unit in a third-grade public school classroom in the Midwestern U.S., four Black girls used making to create a…

In an examination of how content knowledge influenced her initial third grade social studies teaching experiences, Suzanne Wilson found that it, among other things, helped her "to hear what students say" and in her students' comments were "often...the seeds of complex and sophisticated historical ideas." She also found content…

The Louisiana English language arts student standards were created by over one hundred Louisiana educators with input by thousands of parents and teachers from across the state. Educators envisioned what proficient students should know and be able to do to compete in society and focused their efforts on creating standards that would allow them to…

This article explores the ways that alternative digital media production by elementary students can support education for critical democracy. The article centers on a collaborative, qualitative study in which students in a 3rd-grade class at a Title One school created and disseminated podcasts about issues of historical injustice rooted in the key…

This Framework is built upon the foundation of the 2003 and 1997 "Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Frameworks." Based in research on effective practice, it represents the contributions of members of the History and Social Science Curriculum Framework Review Panel, scholars who served as Content Advisors, and the more…

This publication helps educators create differentiated reading instruction experiences for their students by showing the relationship between two distinct resources: Student Center Activities (SCAs) and the Common Core State Standards (CCSSs). Reading specialists, reading coaches, and teachers will find this document useful in lesson planning, as…

This study examined growth in graphical literacy for students contributing to an online, multimedia, communal environment as they advanced their understanding of biology, history and optics. Their science and history studies started early in Grade 3 and continued to the end of Grade 4; students did not receive instruction in graphics production,…

The Federal education policy No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has initiated high-stakes testing among U.S. public schools. The premise of the NCLB initiative is that all students reach proficiency in reading and math by 2014. Under NCLB, individual state education departments were required to implement annual assessments in grades two through eight…

This article provides a brief description of a dance program at the Old Donation Center Dance Education Program in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The mission of DSI--Dance Scene Investigation--is to nurture the full development of each student's dance potential through intense involvement in every aspect of the art. The program provides differentiated…

The Atse Kituwah Academy (New Kituwah Academy) houses the new Cherokee immersion school in Cherokee, North Carolina. Cherokee is located on the Qualla Boundary in the mountains of the western part of the state, the contemporary homeland of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI). In 2005, a comprehensive study of the health of the Cherokee…