This study aimed to examine how instruction of geography subjects in primary school third-grade Life Studies course with several methods affects students' attitudes toward this course and their spatial perception skills. To that end, the study was designed with exploratory sequential mixed methods approach. Two third-grade classes at a public…

The dialogue between knowledge, pedagogies and didactic resources gives meaning to learning. This learning when integrated in a transdisciplinary environment enhances the holistic development of the child. This study is part of the Master's Degree in Education of the 1st Cycle of Basic Education and Portuguese and History and Geography of Portugal…

A typical social studies lesson for elementary students often includes the memorization of facts and dates, but lacks the inquiry-based instruction that could promote purposeful engagement with historical sources. In this social studies learning experience, framed in the tenets of transcaring and the C3 Framework, students actively and…

In this article the author describes how she teaches third and sixth grade classes about the six essential elements of geography at the beginning of each school year. The six elements organize the eighteen national standards and include: the world in spatial terms, places and regions, physical systems, human systems, environment and society, and…

Almost eighty years ago, Lucy Sprague Mitchell, founder of Bank Street College of Education in New York City, wrote about social studies in ways that sound remarkably contemporary: "In the first place, we shall say that the curriculum should continue the laboratory methods, which means it should furnish the children with as many first-hand…

The authors describe a month-long unit on Afro-Latin@ identity in which third grade students began with a discussion of complex questions with which many historians, anthropologists, and scholars struggle to make sense. The goal of this month-long unit was to have students adopt the lens of cultural anthropologists as they explored the historical…

Adaptive learning techniques have typically scheduled practice using learners' accuracy and item presentation history. We describe an adaptive learning system (Adaptive Response Time Based Sequencing--ARTS) that uses both accuracy and response time (RT) as direct inputs into sequencing. Response times are used to assess learning strength and to…

The aim of this research is to examine how children use visual variables to represent nominal and ordinal data on thematic maps. Greek students from first (six- to seven-year old), second (seven to eight-year-old), and third grades (eight- to nine-year-old), without any systematic cartographic experience, were invited to participate in the…

"Differentiating Instruction With Menus Grades 3-5" offers teachers everything they need to create a student-centered learning environment based on choice. Addressing the four main subject areas (language arts, math, science, and social studies) and the major concepts taught within these areas, these books provide a number of different types of…