This study explored the pedagogical implications of integrating creative dance into fifth-grade students' poetry reading and writing within the context of an educational design research project. Two teaching designs were developed and implemented by a researcher, a dance teaching artist, and two primary school teachers during two research cycles…

This study was designed to understand the effects of experiential learning style tests on elementary music and movement education experiences of students. Despite the general music education in Turkey elementary music and movement, education was used. The students were expected to gain experience, by the way, perceiving the rhythm of the words,…

In this paper, the two authors showcase the results of a research survey on the role of illustrations in the interpretation of literary texts. The survey sample included students of primary education and preschool education, who were given the poem Ucenjak (Scholar) by Niko Grafenauer and asked to answer questions regarding the character's…

Like science, poetry often involves a high level of abstraction in language and ideas, requiring specific critical-thinking skills and promoting interaction. Casteel and Isom (1994) acknowledge, "The literacy processes are the means by which science content is learned because content information is rooted in written and oral language"…

"Learning with Literature in the EFL Classroom" provides a comprehensive, in-depth and state-of-the-art introduction to literature learning in EFL contexts. Paying attention to both theoretical and practical concerns, the study focuses on a wide range of literary genres, different age and ability groups and new topics for literature…

Gerard Leonard and Kathleen Allen describe a variety of nature experiences as a part of the Montessori elementary tradition, beginning with a warning about the way contemporary life constrains children's experience of nature. Through a lyrical rendering of the nature-based expressions of children, Leonard and Allen look at a variety of approaches…

Evidence suggests (Ofsted, 2007) that the role of the Subject Leader is crucial in how well poetry is taught in schools. This paper attempts to provide some insights on "what it is like" to coordinate poetry teaching in a primary school. Some of the data confirm elements of the findings from earlier research on the state of poetry in…

There are multiple aspects that shape one's experience as a student teacher; however often as teacher educators, we focus on the intellectual rather than the emotional nature of the experience. Within this a/r/tographical inquiry, we render a story of what can happen when teacher educators intentionally engage the multidimensional nature of the…

Poems are filled with musicality. Poetry and music are often described using similar terms: meter, cadence, phrase, form, and more. Poetry also has physical qualities recognized ever since the Greeks classified poetic meter in feet. In this article, the author presents a project that works well across the age spectrum: recording expressive poetry…

Writing and literacy development are crucial for the academic and social success of new language learners in the primary grades. Over the last 25 years, several terms have been used to describe the talents and needs of children learning new languages in early childhood settings. The term that the author prefers, and which he uses in this article,…

Acrostic poems make use of a keyword written vertically, where each line of the poem begins with a letter of the keyword. The structure of this formula poem combined with teacher modeling provides a scaffold for students, showing them how to think flexibly and develop ideas and choose interesting words. Moreover, encoding information in poetic…

According to Maxine Greene (1988), aesthetic education is "integral to the development of persons--to their cognitive, perceptual, emotional, and imaginative development" (p. 7). The purpose of this paper is to present the developing sense of self that pre-service teachers experienced through an aesthetic entry point, the 9/11 mural by…

This article describes the author's personal experiences leading primary grades in whole-class composing. Together they created songs inspired by topics the students were exploring in their homeroom classes. The author systematically describes the songwriting process they employed, identifying specific challenges encountered along the way. The…

The purpose of this research is to analyze the cognitive (learning level) and affective (volunteering to study together, attitude towards the teacher and the lesson) changes which are caused by the differential classroom environment designed for the poetry subject in a Turkish lesson of the 6th grade in elementary education. Theory testing…

Discusses a program designed for elementary school students to develop an awareness of ancient Greece through the voices of its poets. (DF)