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Creating An Engaging And Ecocritical Project Based Curriculum For High School Environmental Science
Get PDFThe research question that inspired this curriculum project was: How can educators create an engaging and ecocritical project based curriculum for high school environmental science? This curriculum utilizes a project based learning framework, based on A Framework for High Quality Project Based Learning, in order to create an engaging curriculum for students in a high school environmental science class. Additionally, this curriculum incorporates themes of critical ecology. Critical ecology is a way of studying the environment that asks us to consider how our perceptions and attitudes toward the environment can perpetuate the environmental and social injustices we are facing in our world. This curriculum is meant to be implemented in the first semester of a high school Life Science class. It provides students with opportunities to practice authentic project management skills as well as develop knowledge and understanding about how they can make positive contributions to their communities. The hope is that this project can serve as an example of how science educators could utilize a project based learning approach to engage students in learning and help them build critical understanding of their environment
Using a Vermicomposting Curriculum to Grow Students’ Advocacy Towards the Environment
Get PDFThe use of food waste in a vermicomposting bin is a positive solution to the growing problem in the United States. Integrating a vermicomposting container into a classroom exposes students to the environment creatively, allowing them to explore the worm’s habitat in a controlled setting. Using a worm bin to explore how worms decompose organic food waste and observing the process of vermicomposting brings the natural world into a classroom environment. This is crucial when many people are distancing themselves from the natural world around them. This capstone project uses a variety of research to develop a curriculum that answers the question: How can using a vermicomposting curriculum grow students’ advocacy toward the environment? The research concludes that incorporating a vermicomposting bin into a classroom environment can have a positive effect on students’ advocacy toward the environment
An Educator\u27s Guide to Expanding Accessibility to Nature Connections in Traditional Early Childhood Education
Get PDFOver the last few decades, nature-based education has increased greatly in popularity across the United States. With its many developmental benefits, nature-based preschools have been an important hub to this movement. Children attending these schools are afforded many critical experiences that aid in their growth and development; gross-motor & social emotional skills, greater attentional capacity, and expanded creativity and critical thinking. This popular pedagogy has, however, not been equally accessible to all. With its many barriers, including but not limited to financial, this capstone uses an educator\u27s guide to help answer the question: How can traditional Early Childhood Education programs promote equitable nature connections amongst children in underrepresented communities? This project concludes with a PDF guide to provide educators with affordable and adaptable ways to increase nature connection within non-nature-based underrepresented urban communities
Elevating Student Voices Through Rigorous Academic Discussion: A Unit of Study for the Middle School English Language Arts Classroom
Get PDFAlthough speaking and listening skills are included in the Common Core State Standards, they are often underemphasized in English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms and across disciplines. Research shows the benefits of cooperative and discussion-based learning for students, yet students are often not provided with the instruction and practice necessary for success in these areas. Especially in middle school, students thrive when given opportunities to connect with others. This project, a unit of study designed for a middle school ELA classroom, was designed to provide students with the academic discussion tools necessary to deepen literacy skills. Written through a culturally responsive lens, the lessons found in this unit aim to elevate the authentic voices of all students, welcoming and celebrating diversity of thought and communication style. The unit is intended to be implemented for four consecutive weeks at the beginning of the school year in a 6th, 7th, or 8th grade classroom, with the skills taught being reinforced throughout the year. With a rubric grounded in state standards as well as the principles of Accountable Talk, students are assessed on their ability to engage in rigorous discussions with their classmates. They are expected to provide evidence to support their thinking as well as respond to and challenge the thinking of others. The ultimate goal of this unit is therefore not only to strengthen discussion and literacy skills, but also to support the creation of a classroom culture rooted in communit
Utilizing Storytelling in a High School Ecology and Cell Energy Unit
Get PDFThe research question addressed in this Capstone project was: How is student learning impacted when storytelling and knowledge from Native American tribes are used to create a high school biology unit on ecology and cell energy? The following topics that were focused on during this project were changes to science teaching, culturally responsive teaching, storytelling in science, the effects of using standards and standardized testing, the New Generation Science Standards, and equity and diversity in science learning. The curriculum created for this project included the story of and focused on Minneopa State Park in Mankato, Minnesota, a historically important site for Native Americans. Research showed that making learning more relevant and relatable to students increases engagement and learning. Therefore, the curriculum in this project focused on a location that is local to the intended audience and utilized hands-on learning experiences. The goal of the project was to make science learning more accessible and culturally relevant to all students
Outdoor Education and the Effects on Social-Emotional Outcomes in Elementary-Aged Students: A PD Series
Get PDFResearch has sought to find ways that educators can increase student engagement, social attitudes, cooperation, and other domains of social-emotional learning in the classroom. Outdoor education researchers have long hypothesized that outdoor education can help increase student social, emotional, and academic outcomes. There are many different definitions of outdoor education and several frameworks for social-emotional learning. This project uses a definition of outdoor education derived from a combination of historical research from Lloyd B. Sharp and Phyllis Ford, international research and curriculum analyses, and several environmental, place-based, and nature-based education research studies. This project utilizes the CASEL framework and EDTRUST’s transformative SEL guide to define positive SEL outcomes in elementary settings. The professional development series in this project allows educators in grades 3-5 to learn about and experience outdoor education, collaborate to plan outdoor education lessons, assess their students’ social-emotional learning outcomes, and use classroom data in order to consider the research question: what is the effect of outdoor education on the social emotional outcomes of elementary-aged students
Key Components And Best Practices Of Early Decoding Instruction
Get PDFThe question that guided the research and project development was: What are key components and best practices in early decoding instruction? Throughout recent history, students in the United States have been taught to read based on two main theories: one that approaches literacy learning as natural development that should be supported by surrounding the child with rich and engaging literature, and the other that focuses more intently on teaching the student the patterns of spelling in order to decode words. Although educators have debated which is the most effective approach for decades, research consistently points to the importance of instructing students in phonological and phonemic awareness and having an explicit and systematic scope and sequence for phonics. The literature review was heavily influenced by work by David Kilpatrick, a leading expert in early decoding and phonological awareness instruction, Louisa Moats and Carol Tolman and their development of the LETRS program (2019), which provides knowledge for educators about how the brain learns to read and best instructional practices, Hollis Scarborough’s Reading Rope Theory (2001), Phillip Gough and William Tunmer with their Simple View of Reading (1986), and Linnea Ehri’s Four Phases of Reading Development (2014). From the literature review, a professional development series aimed at early elementary educators was developed to teach about phonological and phonemic awareness: what they are, why they are important in early literacy instruction, and effective strategies for teaching, screening, intervening, and monitoring progress
Increasing Student and Educator Participation in Outdoor Classroom Spaces Through Teacher Education and Community Connection
Get PDFPlace based outdoor integrated education in the general elementary setting aims to connect student learning in subjects such as reading and math to first hand schoolyard experiences. This educational practice is anchored in a wealth of research which enumerates the benefits. Yet implementation is not commonly supported within general education teacher professional development. This capstone aims to answer the question How can urban elementary educators take advantage of schoolyard resources for integrated place based learning experiences? The final product is a professional development sequence that introduces general education classroom teachers to the joys and benefits of outdoor integration through circle conversations, place based schoolyard learning experiences, and relevant research in support of these practices. Teacher beliefs are examined through circle conversions designed to build community and capacity. Connections to equity and culturally responsive teaching are made through evidence based practices and self reflective discussion, and the deficit model lens which inhibits implementation is challenged
Supporting English Language Learners in a Co-Taught Classroom through the Curriculum
Get PDFCo-teaching is a common strategy used to support English Language Learners in the content classroom. However, English Language Learners can still struggle in these classrooms. Research has shown that co-teaching can be a benefit for students, but this takes collaboration between the content teacher and the English Language teacher to make the class accessible. This project was designed to take an existing English Language Arts curriculum and modify and adapt the curriculum to better meet the needs of English Language Learners. The WIDA 2020 standards and Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe’s Understanding by Design were used as resources in developing the curriculum. The project involved modifying the English 11 curriculum currently in place in my school setting. The curriculum will be used in the co-taught English 11 class, but the curriculum planning and design can be used to modify the curriculums of other content classes in a collaborative effort between English Language teachers and the content teachers. The goal of the curriculum is to support the English Language Learners who need extra language support with the ultimate goal of helping students complete their required classes and graduate from high school
Creating Inclusive Spaces: Using Book Clubs to Increase Diverse Literature in Schools
Get PDFMultiple studies have identified that many groups of underrepresented students, including non-Christians, LGBTQ+, Native-Americans, children of immigrant families, and youth of color, feel invisible or not included in school settings because there is a lack of visibility of non-dominant groups in school, or a lack of policies and practices that support the needs and experiences of non-dominant groups. This may include a lack of representation in recognized celebrated holidays, curriculum topics, or literature discussed in school. This capstone project will focus on how we can create inclusive spaces for students to promote positive school culture by obtaining diverse literature for students and establishing a book club that meets regularly to discuss underrepresented voices. Inclusive spaces means creating an environment where everyone feels welcome and valued. Selected books for the new book club library represented BIPOC and LGBTQ+ characters, and also those that highlighted the experiences of youth from Muslim, immigrant, or multiracial identities, from a multitude of reading genres including fantasy, graphic novels, dystopian, memoirs, and non-fiction books. Book clubs focused on discussing diverse literature can be used as inclusive spaces for students to grapple with identity, language, race, sexuality, social class, and gender in that they encourage students to hold respectful and critical discussions about social identities and varied cultures. Schools need to seek out multi-varied literature that represent diverse voices to introduce students to new alternative perspectives, and such that students from all backgrounds see themselves reflected in the available books and conversations. This fosters a sense of belonging, which increases student engagement and achievement. Reading diverse literature and book club discussions can be powerful tools to reflect the experiences and perspectives of people from different cultures, for promoting cultural competency and inclusivity, to acquire vocabulary and language to properly address emotions and conflict, to help all students feel seen and valued, to allow personal growth in identity development and social-emotional connections, to support the continuation and revitalization of cultural heritage and traditions, and to help create a more inclusive and welcoming environment, in order to promote educational equity and inclusivity