儿童舞蹈中的构思与形象动作

舞蹈创作的实质是艺术地认识生活和艺术地表现生活的一种过程。而当今儿童舞蹈专业教师的新课题是教会学生如何进行舞蹈的编排和创新。从根本上说,舞蹈的编创是一种从实际生活的观察和体验切入,经过艺术的巧妙构思,通过灵活的艺术手法将头脑中的基本形象表现出来的过程,也是将真实的生活素材加工凝练,形成一种新意的、完整艺术形象的过程。     

Spanglish,Bilingualism, Culture and Identity in Latino Children’s Literature

This paper examines the ways in which Latino children’s literature portrays cultural models of bilingualism and identity affiliations based on language and cultural practices. We focus attention the messages in seven children’s books about practices of and attitudes toward Spanglish, standard Spanish, and individual and societal bilingualism. In addition, we analyze how characters construct their cross-cultural identit(ies), based their language use and engagement in local and transnational cultural themes. Using assertions based on cultural model analyses, we show how portrayals evident in these books inform and are informed by larger cultural models of being bilingual and belonging to Latino bilingual communities in the U.S.     

Sound Reading and Reading Sounds: The Case for Phonemic Awareness

The National Reading Panel (NRP) issued a Congressional mandated report to identify key skills and methods related to the development of successful reading skills. One of the first of identified skills is phonemic awareness. This column addresses this area of reading instruction and provides suggestions for literature to be shared with young readers and listeners that support phonemic awareness. Fifteen children’s books are reviewed and recommended.     

Pre-K Music and the Emergent Reader: Promoting Literacy in a Music-Enhanced Environment

Emergent literacy may be nurtured in an early childhood environment that integrates literacy experiences with meaningful music activities in which young children develop skills necessary for success in both areas simultaneously. Early childhood educators can develop the knowledge and skills needed to bring music into the classroom as an engaging and stimulating element of literacy education.     

Supporting Oral Second Language Use: A Learning Experience in a First Grade German Immersion Class

This article describes a learning context in which the first grade classroom teacher creates a learning community where she uses different teaching strategies to encourage children’s second language use and learning. The first graders share, discuss, and learn both the second language (German) and content.     

The Tension between Teacher Control and Children’s Freedom in a Child-centered Classroom: Resolving the Practical Dilemma through a Closer Look at the Related Theories

This article explores the meaning of child-centeredness in Early Childhood Education (ECE), by shedding light on the nuanced tensions between teacher control and children’s freedom. While ECE professionals advocate the importance of children’s individual interests and needs in education, they diverge somewhat in their perspectives about the teacher’s role in education. This article manifests and tries to resolve this teaching dilemma through incorporating the related theories (Piaget, Vygotsky, Dewey, and Montessori) upholding and encompassing child-centeredness. The author contends that high teacher control and high children’s freedom are not exclusive of one another: children’s freedom is defined in an active way, as freedom to participate, rather than in a passive way, as freedom from any constrains. The paper concludes with a metaphor of “impressionist painting”, which may offer some insights helpful to those who have struggled with the tension between teacher control and children’s freedom in the context of progressive and critical pedagogy.