Increasing Teacher Mathematical Talk During Shared Book Reading in the Preschool Classroom: A Pilot Study

Research Findings: Shared book reading provides opportunities for adults to engage in literacy-related interactions with children in meaningful ways. Research has examined various dimensions of adult and child behavior during shared book-reading interactions with some focus on how book type affects the reading experience. Little research, however, has examined systematically the use of shared book reading in a mathematical context. Thus, the purpose of the study was twofold: (a) to examine the effect of book type on teacher use of mathematical talk during shared book reading in preschool classrooms and (b) to examine the effect of training teachers specifically to use mathematical talk during shared book reading. A multielement design with 2 female preschool teachers who taught in inclusion classrooms in an urban school district was used. Results generally indicated that the use of mathematical storybooks resulted in increased teacher mathematical talk compared to the use of nonmathematical storybooks. Training and instructional supports resulted in an increase in mathematical talk over that achieved by mathematical storybooks alone. Practice or Policy: Because shared book reading is a common practice in preschool classrooms, strategically choosing books to address mathematical skills can increase attention to mathematics throughout daily routines and provide a means of increasing teacher mathematical talk.     

Classroom Community and Peer Culture in Kindergarten

This study reflects a naturalistic, interpretive 5-month study in a public school morning kindergarten regarding the children’s social development and creation of a peer culture during the transitional months into public education. The main focus of the research was the children’s perspectives on these transitions and their evolving classroom community and peer culture in response to the teacher, classroom and school environment. This study captures the dynamic and complex flow of activity that occurs in classrooms, the give and take of relationships, and the agency that children take in developing peer culture as one piece of community. Elements of the peer culture that are foregrounded include secondary adjustments as realized in clean-up strategies, protecting play materials over time, and hypothetical competition with the afternoon kindergarten class.     

A Case Study of Improving a Reading Class via Peer Observation

The significance of peer observations has been emphasized in English language teaching as a powerful tool to support understanding and development of one’s teaching beliefs and actual practice.This thesis first presents the position and necessity of employing peer observation in teacher’s professional development with reference to the literature,and then it outlines the process of the author’s implementation of peer observation in classroom in terms of pre-,during-and post-observation.Data interpretation provides more insights into the strengths and problems of the author’s classroom teaching and arrangement,and the possible solutions accordingly.     

Children Reading Series Books: Ways into Peer Culture and Reading Development

This article, drawing on research which aimed to explore how young children read English in Singapore, demonstrates how nine-year-old Singaporean children’s voluntary reading of series books served the dual purposes of enabling their membership of the peer group through culturated reading and the independent development of their reading skills and motivation for reading. Using interviews to encourage conversation and reflection, the research examined children’s book choices and their reasons for reading. This formed part of a topic-focussed ethnographic study in three primary schools. In addition, the article seeks to prove that Singaporean children’s choice of series books makes them readers with potential for global, intra-generational, cultural connections rather than familial, inter-generational ones, and it is especially significant educationally for less well-off families where English is not the dominant home language.     

Formative Assessment in EFL Writing: An Exploratory Case Study

In second‐language writing, assessment has traditionally focused on the written products and how well (or badly) students perform in writing. Teachers dominate the assessment process as testers, while students remain passive testees. Assessment is something teachers ‘do to’ rather than ‘with’ students, mainly for administrative and reporting purposes (i.e. summative). Such assessment, being more retrospective than prospective, holds little value for teaching and learning. In recent years, with a major paradigm shift in assessment and evaluation in English language teaching, writing assessment informed primarily by a product and summative orientation, is considered increasingly inadequate. Such assessment, which focuses on measurement – i.e. marking, monitoring and checking, fails to capture the formative potential of assessment for promoting learning. A formative approach to assessment, on the other hand, focuses more on inquiry – i.e. discovering, diagnosing and understanding, as well as the opportunities assessment provides for improving teaching and learning. To harness the potential of formative assessment in the writing classroom, it is axiomatic that classroom assessment practices be geared towards maximizing student learning. This provides the impetus for my study, which investigates an EFL teacher's attempt to implement formative assessment in her writing classroom and its impact on her classroom practice and students' beliefs and attitudes to writing.     

Introducing Case Management to Students in a Virtual World: An Exploratory Study

This paper discusses a small, exploratory study introducing students to case management using role-plays conducted in a virtual world. Data from pre- and posttest questionnaires (to assess self-efficacy regarding a range of case management tasks) suggest students felt more confident in their abilities after virtual role-play participation. Also discussed is preparing students for learning in a virtual world, some best practices to consider when developing virtual world experience, and larger contextual issues of increased broadband access to avoid exacerbating educational disparities.     

The Difference a Year Makes: An Exploratory Self-Directed IEP Case Study

The Self-Directed IEP has been found effective in increasing student participation in the first Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meeting following Self-Directed IEP instruction. To date, no published reports have examined the extent students are involved during their second IEP meeting following Self-Directed IEP instruction. This study presents an exploratory mixed method case study analysis of a student with a learning disability in sophomore and junior year IEP meetings to illustrate the difference a year can make in IEP meeting participation, the development of postschool goals, confidence, maturity, and self-advocacy. Results indicate a marked increase from year one to year two in the student's word count and speaking rate, a more focused postschool employment vision, and an increase in meeting leadership. Discussion of these results and suggestions for additional research are offered.     

Information and Digital Literacies in a Kindergarten Classroom: An I-LEARN Case Study

This case study, part of a larger qualitative research project, involved 24 kindergarteners and their teacher in the design, development, and evaluation of a research project built around the I-LEARN model (Neuman, Learning in information-rich environments: I-LEARN and the construction of knowledge in the 21st Century. Springer, New York, 2011b). I-LEARN is a six-step learning model (Identify, Locate, Evaluate, Apply, Reflect and kNow) designed to guide research for twenty first-century learning. The objectives of the study were both to improve the digital and information literacies of the participants and to validate the I-LEARN model for use in an early childhood classroom. The findings have implications for information literacy, digital literacy, and developmentally appropriate practices.     

Creating a Culture of Student Success: The SEEK Scholars Peer Mentoring Program

The authors provide an overview of the peer mentor training program at City College of New York, CUNY.     

Understanding the Active Ingredients in an Effective Preschool Vocabulary Intervention: An Exploratory Study of Teacher and Child Talk During Book Reading

Research Findings: In order to identify the active ingredients in an effective professional development intervention focused on enhancing preschool vocabulary instruction, this study examines the frequency with which teachers and children discussed theme-related vocabulary words during shared book reading. Head Start teachers received 1 year of training focused upon early vocabulary development. Children's vocabulary skills were assessed in the fall and spring of the school year. In spring, teachers read a storybook to their classroom, and teachers’ and children's remarks about theme-related vocabulary during the reading—including contextualized and decontextualized statements as well as verbatim repetitions of one another's statements—were coded. Practice or Policy: Results of multilevel models showed that more frequent references to thematic vocabulary by teachers were linked to stronger child vocabulary development. Although children's vocabulary references were not uniquely predictive of vocabulary learning, teachers’ repetition of children's remarks contributed to children's vocabulary gains.     

Building Vocabulary Knowledge in Preschoolers Through Shared Book Reading and Gameplay

This study moves beyond previous investigations to examine whether an educational intervention combining shared book reading with a vocabulary game increases children's vocabulary knowledge. Four‐year‐olds (N = 44) were randomly assigned to dyads in either an intervention (shared book reading plus vocabulary review game) or comparison condition (shared book reading, after‐reading vocabulary review, and game that did not teach vocabulary). After two 30‐min sessions, results demonstrated that the intervention condition outperformed the comparison condition on measures of receptive and expressive knowledge of taught vocabulary words. Children in the intervention group who scored the lowest at pretest on the receptive measure saw the most gains in taught word knowledge. Findings suggest that combining vocabulary gameplay with shared book reading improved children's learning of the vocabulary words in comparison to a comparison group.     

打造班级特色活动创建独特班级文化——公益活动案例

高职校班级特色活动的开展立足于专业,发展于学生的鲜明个性体现,创新性地开展班级特色活动,能更好地张扬个性,引领学生健康成长。高职学生通过开展公益活动加强了学生间的交流互动,班级凝聚力和集体荣誉感增强,既丰富了学生的精神生活,又完善了班级的组织和建设,形成了独特的班级文化。     

《论语》半月刊"幽默"文化初探

20世纪30年代,《论语》半月刊在林语堂等人的努力下大力提倡幽默文化。其将中西幽默文化融于一体,试图构建本土化的幽默文化。这一方面是在政治高压环境中寻求表达批判性政见的安全渠道,另一方面又是在乱世中创造宣泄人生苦闷的娱乐场域。《论语》半月刊提倡的"幽默"在社会上一度引起了热烈的追捧,也招致了严厉的批评。这正反映出传统文人在国难深重、革命盛行的时代,向现代文人转变的尴尬和阵痛。该刊提倡幽默文化,既促进了中西文化交流,又在一定程度上反映出民国时期城市社会文化的曲折进展。     

Epistemological Syncretism in a Biology Classroom: A Case Study

In teaching science, the beliefs of teachers may come into conflict and inhibit the implementation of reformed teaching practice. An experienced biology teacher, Mr. Hobbs, was found to have two different sets of epistemological beliefs while his classroom practice was predominantly teacher-centered. A case study was then performed in order to investigate the underlying issues that contributed to his classroom practice. Data sources included preliminary and follow-up interviews and classroom observations. Data analysis indicated that factors that prevented the epistemological conflict from reaching a resolution included Mr. Hobbs’ beliefs about learning, contextual teaching factors, personal experiences as a student, and views of the nature of science. The findings from this case indicate that science teachers possess complex belief systems that are not immediately obvious to either the teacher or science teacher educators, and science teacher educators need to address teacher beliefs when they encourage teachers to implement reformed teaching practices.     

Shared Book Reading: Parental Goals Across the Primary Grades and Goal-Behavior Relationships in Junior Kindergarten

Two studies are reported. The first investigated goals for reading with their children held by 294 parents in a cross-sectional sample from junior kindergarten through Grade 3, how these goals are related to parent beliefs about the development of literacy skills, and how these goals may differ across the primary years. The second examined how goals relate to parent behavior. From a different sample of 119 parents completing the same goal survey and observed in shared book reading, a subsample of 42 parents with contrasting goals was selected for analysis. Findings indicated 5 distinct parent goals for shared book reading—Stimulate Development, Foster Reading, Bond With Child, Soothe Child, and Enjoy Books—with the goals of enjoying books and bonding with the child rated the highest and equally highly at each grade. These were followed by fostering reading, stimulating their child's development, and lastly soothing their child. The goal of fostering reading was more highly rated by parents of Grade 1 children than by parents of children in any other grade. Only a modest relationship between goals and beliefs was found. Finally, parents who rated fostering reading high as a goal engaged in more print-referencing behaviors and echoed more reading than did parents with contrasting goal profiles.     

阅读任务中词汇附带习得注意过程的探索性研究

本研究主要通过有声思维的方法探索阅读任务中词汇附带习得的注意过程,以及时间压力和语境识别对附带习得的影响。结果发现：（1）注意过程包括“理解障碍–生词的语境意义”、“理解障碍消除–生词的用法”、“生词复现–生词的语境意义”和“生词复现–生词的用法”等四类,且阅读理解障碍是促发学习者对生词进行注意的重要原因;（2）注意过程对词汇附带习得有较明显的促进作用,但注意过程的类别差异对附带习得的影响不大;（3）时间压力的主效应以及时间压力和语境识别的交互作用不显著,但语境识别的影响非常显著,即语境线索越接近注意过程中的语言输入,学习者对生词意义的再认就越容易。