Showing papers in "Elementary School Journal in 1987"
TL;DR: The authors synthesize recent research on comprehension instruction and presents a new conceptualization of instruction and potential difficulties in implementing explicit comprehension instruction in classrooms are discussed, as well as 2 important curricular concerns.
Abstract: Over the last several years, research in reading comprehension has provided the impetus for changes in our thinking about comprehension instruction. From this research, new instructional frameworks for teaching comprehension have been developed. Studies of instruction confirm that we can do a better job of teaching comprehension by using these new instructional frame-works than by following the traditional basal reading paradigm. This article synthesizes recent research on comprehension instruction and presents a new conceptualization of instruction. Representative instructional studies of inference training, reciprocal teaching, and process training are reviewed. The concept of explicit comprehension instruction is then described and contrasted with more traditional models of direct instruction. Next, potential difficulties in implementing explicit comprehension instruction in classrooms are discussed. Finally, 2 important curricular concerns are raised.
250Â citations
TL;DR: In the behavioral view, cooperative learning is a form of group contingencies, because it rewards students on the basis of the performance of their group as discussed by the authors, and the humanistic view emphasizes understandings arising from peer interactions.
Abstract: This article discusses behavioral and humanistic perspectives on cooperative learning. In the behavioral view, cooperative learning is a form of group contingencies, because it rewards students on the basis of the performance of their group. The humanistic view emphasizes understandings arising from peer interactions. However, group contingencies have more often been applied to behavior than to learning, and research on peer interaction per se finds few achievement benefits. Rather, it is the combination of group rewards (based on group members' individual learning) and peer interaction on learning tasks that is necessary to produce the learning gains characteristic of effective cooperative learning methods. Of 35 studies of cooperative learning methods that used group rewards based on the sum of group members' individual learning, 30 found significantly greater achievement for cooperative than for control classes, and 5 found no differences. In contrast, of 20 studies of cooperative learning methods lack...
125Â citations
TL;DR: This paper found that teachers spend a total of about 40 min per day at various places in the school conversing with colleagues at their grade level about classroom teaching, topics that they discuss frequently are materials, discipline, activities, and individualization.
Abstract: This study sought to describe collegiality among teachers in relation to classroom teaching. 52 teachers in 6 schools were interviewed to obtain their perceptions of the amount and type of information they exchanged and with whom and where the exchange occurs. In addition, the relation of the type of help to school SES, organization, and teacher experience was investigated. The results were that the teachers spent a total of about 40 min per day at various places in the school conversing with colleagues at their grade level about classroom teaching. Topics that they discuss frequently are materials, discipline, activities, and individualization. Evaluation, methods, objectives, reinforcing, lecturing, questioning, and room organization are discussed much less frequently. Differences in collegiality were found between schools that have team arrangements and schools that have traditional arrangements and between schools that have higher SES and schools that have lower SES. A major implication of the finding...
106Â citations
TL;DR: The role of commercial materials in reading instruction is examined through analyses of expert opinion and of research on reading instruction, a series of investigations concerning teachers' and administrators' conceptions of reading and reading instruction as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The role of commercial materials in reading instruction is examined through analyses of expert opinion and of research on reading instruction, a series of investigations concerning teachers' and administrators' conceptions of reading and reading instruction, and a critical evaluation of the language and underlying tenets of recent writing on effective reading instruction. A case is presented that suggests that on the whole reading experts have encouraged the use of commercial reading materials as the method to incorporate scientifically valid procedures and business principles into classroom instruction. To examine the effect of these procedures and principles on reading programs, the results of 4 studies are summarized to suggest that the organization of reading instruction around commercial materials has reduced teachers' and students' roles in that instruction and to explain teachers' reaction to this reduced role. Recent writing about effective reading instruction is discussed in terms of the new skil...
94Â citations
TL;DR: In this article, a conceptualization of teachers' motivational orientations and strategies that support motivation to learn is presented. But the authors focus on five-grade teachers' statements used to frame lessons, maintain lessons, and handle responsibility for learning.
Abstract: This study begins to build a conceptualization of teachers' motivational orientations and seeks to identify teacher strategies that support motivation to learn. Three fifth-grade teachers' statements used to frame lessons, maintain lessons, and handle responsibility for learning were explored in classrooms that exemplify three motivational orientations. In the learning-oriented classroom, twice as many lessons were introduced with motivational statements as in the work-oriented and work-avoidance classrooms. More lessons in the learning-oriented classroom included motivational statements referring to endogenous (e. g., challenge) rather than exogenous (e. g., rewards) factors. This teacher's management/maintenance statements frequently served to maintain student interest rather than to redirect students from off-task behavior as in the other classrooms, and she encouraged student responsibility for learning. Questions raised for future research include the relation between teacher motivational orientation...
91Â citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a co-operative effort between a university-based reading educator and a second-grade classroom teacher was carried out to evaluate the use of oral reading in low-ability basal reading groups.
Abstract: This article reports findings from a study of reading instruction in low-ability basal reading groups. Through this study a procedure for effective use of oral reading was developed and validated. The study was carried out as a co-operative effort between a university-based reading educator and a second-grade classroom teacher. The students participating in the study were members of the lowest reading group in this teacher's second-grade class. The procedure used initially in the study was derived from a historical review of oral reading practices in basal instruction and the literature on effective use of oral reading in clinical settings. Various aspects of the procedure were modified and refined repeatedly over the course of the investigation. The procedure that finally emerged as a result of this process is one that provides an alternative to classroom teachers in terms of how to guide the reading of basal stories. Use of this procedure, in contrast to the practices recommended by basal publishers, in...
77Â citations
TL;DR: The modern basal reading series has evolved over more than 300 years, beginning with the single-sheet hornbook and the New England Primer as discussed by the authors, and two common themes transcend the entire course of development, one is the construction of reading instruction around a selection of reading passages and the other is a conservative, narrow representation of society and the child's role in it.
Abstract: The modern basal reading series has evolved over more than 300 years, beginning with the single-sheet hornbook and the New England Primer. Although the typical modern series dwarfs its earliest antecedents in length and contains many components not included until the twentieth century, such as a separate teacher's manual, two common themes transcend the entire course of development. One is the construction of reading instruction around a selection of reading passages and the other is a conservative, narrow representation of society and the child's role in it. Changes in reading texts have occurred generally in response to changing attitudes in society toward childhood and toward the role of the school in imparting competencies to the young. Reading selections have also changed as society's image of itself has changed, passing through religious, moral, materialistic, and multicultural phases. Skill instruction was always present in reading texts, but systematic instruction in comprehension and in study ski...
70Â citations
TL;DR: The authors examined how such directives influenced elementary school teachers' perceptions of their role as reading teachers, and suggested how teacher decision-making may be expedited by the expectation that basal textbook instruction should conform to certain centrally imposed procedures.
Abstract: As more is learned about the nature of reading and the effective teaching of reading, the need for elementary school teachers who will make substantive curricular and instructional decisions becomes more apparent. However, researchers find little evidence that teachers make such decisions. This article hypothesizes that decision making is impeded by the expectations under which elementary school teachers work, particularly the expectation that basal textbook instruction should conform to certain centrally imposed procedures. Based on an instructional study in which teachers were taught to make decisions about reading instruction while simultaneously following directives about how to use a mandated basal reading textbook, this article examines how such directives influence elementary school teachers' perceptions of their role as reading teachers. Implications are discussed, and suggestions are made regarding how teacher decision making may be expedited.
57Â citations
TL;DR: A series of ethnic revival movements emerged in Western societies such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia during the 1960s and 1970s as mentioned in this paper, and a major goal of these movements was to reform the school curriculum so that the images of ethnic groups and the roles that ethnic minorities had played in the development of their nation-states and societies would be accurately and comprehensively depicted.
Abstract: A series of ethnic revival movements emerged in Western societies such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia during the 1960s and 1970s. A major goal of these movements was to reform the school curriculum so that the images of ethnic groups and the roles that ethnic minorities had played in the development of their nation-states and societies would be accurately and comprehensively depicted. This article describes the curricular visions and goals of the ethnic revival movements, the limited extent to which these goals have been realized, and the factors that have prevented significant curriculum reform. In the final parts of the article, a reform strategy is proposed that conceptualizes the teacher as a cultural mediator and an agent of change and a social studies curriculum that promotes social criticism and civic action to improve the human condition.
56Â citations
TL;DR: The authors examined variation in the methods used to assign students to classrooms and teachers in a small but highly diversified sample of elementary schools and gave explicit attention to parental influence on pupil assignments as well as to the effects of having an unusually incompetent or excellent teacher at a particular grade level.
Abstract: This study examines variation in the methods used to assign students to classrooms and teachers in a small but highly diversified sample of elementary schools. Explicit attention is given to parental influence on pupil assignments as well as to the effects of having an unusually incompetent or excellent teacher at a particular grade level. Interviews with principals constitute the data base for the study. 3 basic student assignment methods are identified and vary in terms of the involvement of principals and teachers. The most common method entailed high principal involvement and the use of the random selection of students from within categories. Criteria principals use to assess the legitimacy of parent requests and the strategies principals use to respond are reported. Strategies principals employ to assign pupils to teachers known to be incompetent are also reported. The article concludes with a discussion of future research needed in this area.
55Â citations
TL;DR: This article examined the influence of prior knowledge on the quality of elementary students' responses to three process-approach tasks: writing, conferencing, and revising, and found that prior knowledge was related to goal-related information in high-knowledge writers' first and second drafts and to comments from conferences with high knowledge respond...
Abstract: This study examined the influence of prior knowledge on the quality of elementary students' responses to 3 process-approach tasks: writing, conferencing, and revising. Fourth-grade students were screened for conferencing ability. Next, 20 high-knowledge and 20 low-knowledge students were identified on a test of baseball knowledge. Finally, students wrote stories about a baseball game, participated in peer conferences, and revised. Propositional text bases of first and second drafts and comments from conferences were analyzed with Voss, Vesonder, and Spilich's baseball grammar. It was predicted that high knowledge would be related to greater proportions of information about the goals of a baseball game and that low knowledge would be related to greater proportions of non-goal-related information. These predictions were confirmed. Prior knowledge was found to be related to goal-related information in high-knowledge writers' first and second drafts and to comments from conferences with high-knowledge respond...
TL;DR: For example, the authors found that the decision on basal reader selection is often based on peripheral or insignificant criteria; members of selection committees frequently are handicapped by lack of time, training, and direction; selection decisions often do not reflect philosophies about the teaching of reading; publishers and influential committee members often wield disproportionate power to influence decisions; and, st...
Abstract: Basal readers dominate reading instruction in most classrooms across the country. In fact, considering the central role of basal readers in the classroom, the selection of a basal reader represents the selection of a reading curriculum in most American schools. And, because textbook companies publish what school districts and states choose to buy, textbook selection directly influences the quality of basal readers. Operating properly, textbook selection should contribute to the improvement of reading instruction. However, major weaknesses are evident in the process of basal reader selection by states and school districts: Decisions on basal reader selection are often based on peripheral or insignificant criteria; members of selection committees frequently are handicapped by lack of time, training, and direction; selection decisions often do not reflect philosophies about the teaching of reading; publishers and influential committee members often wield disproportionate power to influence decisions; and, st...
TL;DR: This article found that children's thinking about economic values begins at an early age and does not emerge fully until around age 11, and that children become more supportive of the existing economic system as they grow older.
Abstract: This article is a summary of research-often conducted with children from other countries-about how children think about economic ideas and values. Several researchers characterize children's economic reasoning as following a developmental pattern. Thinking about such concepts as scarcity, money, exchange, price, and profit becomes progressively abstract and flexible with increasing age. However, reasoning does not improve evenly with each concept. Advanced reasoning appears sooner for some concepts and later for others. For example, a clear understanding about profit, which is essential to understanding a market economy, does not emerge until around age 11. These studies also reveal that children's thinking about economic values begins at an early age. Children apparently become more supportive of the existing economic system as they grow older. Implications from these studies include the following. Teachers need to understand the type of reasoning that children use about economic ideas so they can reduce...
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of having handicapped students tutor younger, non-handicapped children in reading were examined, and the effect of tutoring on reading ability was examined.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of having handicapped students tutor younger, nonhandicapped children in reading. Included in the study were 78 fourth- through sixth-grade learning disabled or behaviorally disordered students attending either a resource or a self-contained special education class and 82 nonhandicapped first graders. Students enrolled in a resource program were randomly assigned to an experimental (tutor) or control (nontutor) group, whereas students in self-contained, special education classes were assigned randomly by class to either group. First graders were randomly assigned to either the experimental (tutee) or control (nontutee) group. Prior to the tutoring, all students were individually tested on their reading ability; 3 attitudinal (self-esteem) measures were also administered to all handicapped students. Following 12 weeks of tutoring, these measures were again administered to all students participating in the study. Multivariate analyses of covariance indica...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined how young children learn story discourse and found that the children varied in their understanding of two global story elements (placement and initiating event) and that their understanding generally improved with each successive reading of the story.
Abstract: How young children learn story discourse is discussed. First, global structure elements of the story genre are reviewed. Then, examples of 3 young children's repeated "pretend readings" are examined to determine how the prereading children are developing understandings about story discourse. Analyses showed that the children varied in their understanding of two global story elements (placement and initiating event) and that their understanding generally improved with each successive "reading" of the story. Based on the children's readings, implications for language arts instruction are considered.
TL;DR: The authors argue that our understanding of the ways in which children think about the political aspects of their lives-for example, power, partisanship, authority, justice, fairness-has been limited by functionalist views of schooling and positivist research paradigms.
Abstract: Preparing students for intelligent political participation is a central function of social studies programs in elementary schools. 25 years of political socialization research have documented the relation between elementary school instruction and political socialization outcomes: schools and schooling appear to be independent variables in the child's acquisition of political content and attitudes. However, political socialization research has not been able to account for the low levels of political efficacy and participation, and it does not explain why political attitudes become increasingly negative with age. This article argues that our understanding of the ways in which children think about the political aspects of their lives-for example, power, partisanship, authority, justice, fairness-has been limited by functionalist views of schooling and positivist research paradigms. In order to understand the process of political socialization, research should focus on the ways in which individual children ap...
TL;DR: This paper examined the relation between 8 teachers' levels of moral development and their understanding of rules and teacher/student roles in their classrooms and found that teachers with high development had a more democratic view of teacher and student roles and saw rules as protecting individual students' as well as the group's rights.
Abstract: This study examined the relation between 8 teachers' levels of moral development and their understanding of rules and teacher/student roles in their classrooms. Interviews and discussions of classroom videotapes with teachers showed that 4 teachers who had relatively high scores (above 33) on the Defining Issues Test of moral development shared similar understandings that contrasted with those of 4 teachers with relatively low scores (below 23). In particular, teachers with high development had a more democratic view of teacher and student roles and saw rules as protecting individual students' as well as the group's rights. Questions for further research and implications for teacher education are discussed.
TL;DR: This paper investigated the relation between first-grade Chapter 1 students' test content coverage and performance on a standardized reading-achievement test and found that students' performance was relatively higher on high-coverage items than on those items rated as receiving low coverage by both groups of teachers.
Abstract: This study investigated the relation between first-grade Chapter 1 students' test content coverage and performance on a standardized reading-achievement test. A survey designed to obtain teachers' estimates of test content coverage was administered to 14 regular classroom and 5 Chapter 1 reading teachers. Although Chapter 1 students' overall performance was lower than that of students in the National Reference Group on items rated as receiving high coverage by all teachers, Chapter 1 students' performance was relatively higher on high-coverage items than on those items rated as receiving low coverage by both groups of teachers. The study provides a strategy for obtaining teachers' estimates of test content coverage and an instructional context in which to assess students' opportunity to learn and their achievement-test performance. Results provide information useful for improving instruction.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the implementation of a new social studies curriculum by teachers at 1 elementary school during a 9-month period and found that fidelity of use was only partially achieved by teachers.
Abstract: This study examines the implementation of a new social studies curriculum by teachers at 1 elementary school during a 9-month period Because the curriculum was developed centrally at the head office, fidelity-of-use attributes were important to education officials, and data on this were obtained by using the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) instruments developed by Hall et al at the University of Texas The results indicated that teachers had high personal concerns throughout the 9-month period, possibly because of the lack of explicit teacher guidelines provided by the head office There was some movement from Mechanical-Use (LoU III) to Routine and Refinement Levels (LoU IVA and IVB) during the 9-month study period It was evident that fidelity of use of the social studies curriculum at the case-study school was only partially achieved by teachers
TL;DR: In this article, the authors conclude that effective elementary schools with achievement higher than schools with comparable student enrollment are unusually successful in identifying and responding to strategic instructional issues such as compensatory education, pacing of instruction, emphasis on higher-order learning, and grouping.
Abstract: Based partly on experience in large urban districts, the authors conclude that effective elementary schools with achievement higher than schools with comparable student enrollment are unusually successful in identifying and responding to strategic instructional issues. Interrelated issues that schools must deal with successfully include delivery of compensatory education, pacing of instruction, emphasis on higher-order learning, and grouping. Schools must reduce or eliminate the lack of coordination frequently found between compensatory education pullout and regular instruction. They must avoid tendencies and temptations to deliver instruction at too slow or too rapid a pace with emphasis on low-order learning, and they must take explicit steps to overcome problems in either homogeneous or heterogeneous grouping. Examples are provided illustrating how effective schools have handled these issues and how central policies and directives can help them plan to do so. Discussion of implications focuses on wordi...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors have reported that not only can elementary students comprehend concepts of a global nature but that this is an opportune time from the perspective of their development, and that the responsibility for promoting a global perspective on the part of students has been basically given to social studies teachers.
Abstract: As this century draws to a close, the world will continue facing problems such as poverty, pollution, hunger, nuclear conflict, and human rights. These problems are of a global nature, and, as the world continues to shrink in terms of the proximity of one group, community, or country to another, educators will need to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary for developing a broader perspective on world issues. One approach for developing a broader perspective is global education. At the present, the responsibility for promoting a global perspective on the part of students has been basically given to social studies teachers. If social studies teachers hope to successfully fulfill their responsibilities in this area of the curriculum, they need to start in the primary grades. Studies have reported that not only can elementary students comprehend concepts of a global nature but that this is an opportune time from the perspective of their development. In order to assist students in developing...
TL;DR: This article conducted a thorough analysis of eight reading basals and found that 65% of the selections and 72% of pages in these eight programs are either narratives or poems and that expository and nonfiction selections are rarely included.
Abstract: Although claims have been made that contemporary basals include a variety of types of writing, a thorough analysis of eight reading basals shows that their content is almost exclusively literary. 65% of the selections and 72% of the pages in these eight programs are either narratives or poems. Expository and nonfiction selections are rarely included. Basal readers of the future need to include more varied discourse forms to ensure exposure to and instruction in various writing types before students are asked to read complex content-area textbooks. Furthermore, the designers of content-area texts need to include provisions in their texts for helping students to develop and extend the reading skills they learned in their basal reading programs.
TL;DR: A study of children's strategies for acquiring and protecting status in interactions with peers in a kindergarten classroom as mentioned in this paper applied naturalistic data collection and analytical techniques and focused on children's negotiations of relative social standing in face-to-face interactions, revealed a set of interaction strategies children used to improve and defend their relative positions in the social structure of their peer group.
Abstract: This article reports findings from a study of children's strategies for acquiring and protecting status in interactions with peers in a kindergarten classroom The study applied naturalistic data collection and analytical techniques and focused on children's negotiations of relative social standing in face-to-face interactions Analyses revealed a set of interaction strategies children used to improve and defend their relative positions in the social structure of their peer group The findings of the study are a description and analysis of these strategies organized into the following domains: self-promotions, responses to self-promotions, put-downs, responses to put-downs, dominance attempts, and responses to dominance attempts Gender influences on interaction patterns are analyzed and discussed, and implications for researchers and teachers of young children are presented
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors collected 48 observations in 11 fourth-grade mathematics classrooms in three large urban school districts in the US and found that teachers varied in the rationale underlying grouping decisions, criteria used for grouping, and implementation of grouping.
Abstract: Observational and interview data were gathered during 48 observations in 11 fourth-grade mathematics classrooms in 3 large urban school districts. High-inference and low-inference measures were used to describe several facets of small-group instruction including teacher, group, and individual behaviors and use of time. Observational data were supplemented by teacher interviews. Teachers varied in the rationale underlying grouping decisions, criteria used for grouping, and implementation of grouping. Grouping practices appeared to result from decisions teachers made primarily on the basis of 3 factors: the teacher, the students, and the content taught. Teacher interaction with each of 2 or 3 groups generally consisted of checking papers, a teacher presentation, student practice, and the assignment of seat work. Interactions were almost exclusively teacher-student rather than student-student or group interactions. There were wide differences among teachers in the time allocated to mathematics, use of time, ...
TL;DR: The social experiences and social development of 30 kindergarten-age children enrolled in an after-school program were assessed in this article, finding that children who attended the after school program were more likely to be nominated as friends in a sociometric interview than children who went home at noon.
Abstract: The social experiences and social development of 30 kindergarten-age children enrolled in an after-school program were assessed. Children who attended the after-school program were more likely to be nominated as friends in a sociometric interview than children who went home at noon. The after-school experiences of children were both complementary and continuous with their experiences in formal school. Suggestions for successful after-school programs are discussed.
TL;DR: The A Guide to Selecting Basal Reading Programs as discussed by the authors provides guidelines for evaluating basal reading programs and case studies of 4 textbook adoption committees that piloted the Guide are presented. But, often neither the publishers developing these programs nor the members of state and local textbook adoption committee selecting programs are able to take advantage of the best and most up-to-date knowledge about the reading process and reading instruction.
Abstract: Commercially developed basal reading programs are used in most elementary school classrooms in this country. Yet, often neither the publishers developing these programs nor the members of state and local textbook adoption committees selecting programs are able to take advantage of the best and most up-to-date knowledge about the reading process and reading instruction. The development and piloting of A Guide to Selecting Basal Reading Programs is a major effort to make such knowledge available to publishers and members of adoption committees. The Guide presents current information about research and practice in reading and provides guidelines for evaluating basal reading programs. Case studies of 4 textbook adoption committees that piloted the Guide are presented. In general, these committees found the Guide contributed to a more informed selection process and committee members focused more attention on substantive issues associated with the quality of instruction and content and less attention on superfi...
TL;DR: This article conducted a survey of teachers in the Newark, New Jersey, school district to elicit their preferences regarding the criteria and processes for master teacher selection as well as rewards for master teachers, and found that teachers valued extrinsic/ancillary rewards more than intrinsic rewards (professional, collegial, and creative).
Abstract: The use of rewards to attract and retain teachers and to improve teacher practices and attitudes is especially important in urban areas. The creation of a master teacher program is one means of both rewarding teachers and enhancing their effectiveness. As part of a master teacher planning project, a survey was conducted of teachers in the Newark, New Jersey, school district to elicit their preferences regarding the criteria and processes for master teacher selection as well as rewards for master teachers. Results indicated that, although teachers valued the extrinsic/ancillary rewards more than intrinsic rewards (professional, collegial, and creative), there were variations in response by educational and school levels. Also, there were gender and school level differences regarding teachers' opinions about the processes for master teacher selection. We concluded that in designing programs to attract and retain teachers, policymakers should attend to characteristics of the teaching staff and probably to loc...
TL;DR: In this article, a number of studies have raised questions about the pedagogy and practice supplied by basal programs and highlighted the poor quality and insufficient quantity of comprehension instruction, especially highlighted in the findings.
Abstract: In recent years, a number of studies have raised questions about the pedagogy and practice supplied by basal programs. The poor quality and insufficient quantity of comprehension instruction are especially highlighted in the findings. Because it is too early to know the effects that this research will have on basal materials, this article describes how in past decades critics of the schools as well as the transitory interests of the schools themselves have been the greatest forces for change. The discussion starts with the 1960s, since that decade produced two highly publicized books, each critical of the phonics instruction in basal series but for very different reasons. How basal programs were altered to accommodate the two conflicting positions is described first. The alterations that became apparent in the 1970s were easier to make, because they derived from the new and widespread interests in behavioral objectives and in fractionating reading into hundreds of subskills. How the more current interest ...
TL;DR: For example, the authors argues that "pure" geography is diluted through a unit approach to elementary social studies instruction, and that children do learn less geography as such when content and activities are combined.
Abstract: If continuing qualitative and quantitative changes are to occur in future American elementary geographic curriculum and instruction, those who should participate have much to do. One beginning might be for people to take advantage of the past, to read at length from references such as those included in this article, and to consider the best of countless functional and imaginative ideas that can be adopted and adapted for classroom use. Elementary geographic education has always been plagued by low-level, fragmented content. Typical past approaches have often tried the patience, killed the interest, stifled the imagination, and insulted the intelligence of learners. Teaching children to think geographically should be a vital, long-term goal. Many geographers and geographic education specialists believe that "pure" geography is diluted through a unit approach to elementary social studies instruction. Perhaps children do learn less geography as such when content and activities are combined. Yet, the geograph...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify kinds of thinking that fit naturally into elementary social studies curricula, using a language readily understood and models of thinking which are not complex, and further break them into subcategories: comprehending information, solving specific problems, researching topics, and making decisions.
Abstract: Social studies experts have chosen as a major aim of their discipline the goal of preparing students to be effective, responsible citizens. Implicit in that aim and in the mastery of social studies subject matter content is the need to help students to become more competent as thinkers. In fact, however, social studies is often given low priority in elementary schools and is typically taught with materials and methods that fail to promote students' thinking skills. This article tries to address that problem by identifying kinds of thinking that fit naturally into elementary social studies curricula, using a language readily understood and models of thinking that are not complex. The models fit within 2 categories: general problem solving and specific types of intellectual tasks. The latter category is further broken down into subcategories: comprehending information, solving specific problems, researching topics, and making decisions. These kinds of thinking differ from one another yet may be combined dep...