An early childhood specialist teaching kindergarten classes in a small city in the northeast designed this practicum to improve the science instruction provided kindedrgarten children. Practicum goals were to: (1) increase the effectiveness of the kindergarten science program by providing science experiences based on the recognition of the…

This practicum addressed the need for an African Studies curriculum guide for early childhood education by developing 30 activities which could be integrated into the practical life, language, geography, art, and music areas of child care centers. Practicum goals were to (1) develop a curriculum guide of age appropriate learning activities for…

This practicum was developed to increase the use of instructional technology as a teaching strategy among elementary classroom teachers by implementing a series of inservice workshops and mentoring programs. Workshops designed with teacher input were developed and presented to the staff where the writer worked. Interviews were conducted…

A practicum was designed to improve 30 kindergarteners' understanding, enjoyment of, and ability to compose poetry integrated across the curriculum in order to enhance their cognition and reading skills. The practicum was also designed to impart the value of teaching poetry to young children. Parents were involved in the process. The practicum…

A music educator designed for elementary school students who were musically unskilled a curriculum that was based on the methods of Kodaly and Orff, the philosophy of Warrener, and traditional music education concepts. A heterogeneous group of 606 second- through sixth-grade students in 4 schools participated in implementation of the curriculum.…

Based on the idea that laughter and humor are basic components of a healthy childhood, this practicum paper emphasizes the concern that preschool programs have become too academic and are creating stress for children. Similarly, adults in preschool settings, pressured by parents and public school academic expectations, have become too serious in…

This practicum attempted to provide five teachers in a preschool special education program with improved strategies for systematic and consistent instructional planning. The objectives included improvement of classroom environments, improved planning for small and large group interactions, and development of methods of individualizing instruction.…

This paper discusses one English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher's attempts to use cuisenaire rods as a language learning tool. Cuisenaire rods (sometimes called algebricks) vary in size from 1 x 1 x 10 centimeter sticks to 1 x 1 x 1 centimeter cubes, with each of the 10 sizes a different color. Although such rods have been used to teach…

The purpose of this practicum was to develop a program for volunteers in an elementary school media center that allowed volunteers to be more independent from the media specialist. Phase I of the program, highlighting school volunteers as Target Group I, included a questionnaire, interviews, delegation of specific tasks, a posted duty roster, an…

A practicum was developed to help preservice teachers practice reading theories learned in the college classroom during the three-week field experience portion of the class. Preservice teachers at a Christian college in a small, rural, midwestern town had few opportunities to implement theories learned during field experience. A literature review…

Over an 8-month period, a preschool teacher's aide designed and implemented a practicum study intended to improve the social skills of preschoolers in a private day care center. Lesson plans for teaching seven social skills through problem solving were created. Skills were related to entering and exiting activities without disrupting them;…

This practicum was designed to expand the preservice teacher's ability to understand and demonstrate the use of computers and new technologies in elementary school lesson planning. Teachers were expected to focus on acquiring skills to operate a computer, computer applications, and other technological resources as tools for learning and…

An elementary school guidance counselor conducted a practicum designed to address low-income, urban Puerto Rican and black fourth- and fifth-grade students' need for career awareness. In the course of implementing the eight-month long intervention, nine classroom teachers were asked to set aside two periods each week for: (1) developing students'…

This practicum was designed to acquaint seven early childhood education majors with various kinds of computer hardware and software. They were required to evaluate the software for its developmental appropriateness. Additionally, their assignment was to write a minimum of two lessons using technology in their 5-day unit plans and to teach one of…

A practicum involved the design and implementation of a 10-week workshop that acquainted the staff of a nursery school with information about learning styles in the preschool. It was determined that because of a lack of information about learning styles, teachers and staff lacked the skills and confidence needed to apply learning style theory to…