As they do their work, physical therapists apply mathematical ideas. Teachers can use some of those applications to inspire students' discovery of new concepts. In particular, the joints of the human body provide a way to represent angles that is accessible to all students and can be understood in the elementary grades. Used with fourth graders,…

Research on the effectiveness of fidget spinner use in the classroom to increase academic performance and behavior has had mixed results, with no studies evaluating the use of fidget spinners on reading performance. The current study examined the effects of using a fidget spinner on Aimsweb oral reading fluency probes for 66 students in the 3rd…

This lesson focuses specifically on teaching concepts of speed and its impact on energy, as well as providing a basic introduction to potential and kinetic energy to fourth-grade students. "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") 4-PS3-1 states that students should be able "to use evidence to construct an explanation…

Studies of scientific practice demonstrate that the development of scientific models is an enactive and emergent process (e.g., Pickering 1995; Chandrasekharan and Nersessian 2017). Scientists make meaning through processes such as perspective taking, finding patterns, and following intuitions. In this paper, we focus on how a group of fourth…

Can a bodily engagement with music affect the process of musical meaning formation and, as such, affect children's graphic representation of music? To address this question a comparative study was conducted in which primary school children (n = 52; age = 9-10) without any formal music education participated in a verbal-based (describe the music…

In the current study, it is aimed to improve the speaking skill of primary school students instructed in a multigrade class through cartoons. The current study employed the action research design. Participants of the study are 3rd and 4th grade primary school students instructed in a multigrade class in a village school in the city of…

This paper presents a pilot study of creative movement workshops that enriched the school life of fourth graders at a primary school in Slovenia during the closure of educational institutions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project involved a dancer who met with students via the Zoom platform for four months, preparing, leading, and facilitating…

This study analyzed the effect of Physical Best (PB) Curriculum on activity levels of children in physical education class. Activity levels of elementary school students (N=92, males = 50, females = 42) were recorded throughout six normally scheduled physical education class periods. Students participated in both traditional and PB curriculums and…

Against a backdrop of advocacy for interdisciplinary STEM curricula, this paper explores the design principles underpinning a three-year longitudinal research project that develops and evaluates interdisciplinary mathematics and science learning sequences involving multiple teachers and student cohorts across the primary school years. The research…

This study explored the effect of arts integration into science during an instructional unit on force and motion and one addressing natural weather disasters. Seventy-eight elementary students in four classrooms (grade 5, grade 4, and two at grade 3) participated in the study. This study assessed content retention, student-made products…

The purpose of this paper is to assess the validity of multiple-choice questions in measuring fourth grade students' ability to interpret graphs related to physical science topics such as motion and temperature. We administered a test including 6 multiple-choice questions to 28 fourth grade students. Students were asked to explain their thinking…

In this article the authors describe what they call their "Snapshots of Science" program. These mini-lessons of science are taught once a week to all students in the school library. Over the last two years, they have been working to extend the experiences students have in their science classroom into the library. Each week, students…

A situated Chinese cultural festival learning system based on motion sensing is developed in this study. The primary design principle is to create a highly interactive learning environment, allowing learners to interact with Kinect through natural gestures in the designed learning situation to achieve efficient learning. The system has the…

Whether playing soccer at recess, walking to lunch, or sitting at their desk, children encounter forces every moment of their lives. The connection between force and motion is absolutely amazing to children, so anyone working with them better be prepared for the battery of tough questions they ask: "What made the ball move that way? Why does a…

This study examined to what extent inquiry-based instruction supported with real-time graphing technology improves fourth grader's ability to interpret graphs as representations of physical science concepts such as motion and temperature. This study also examined whether there is any difference between inquiry-based instruction supported with…