Connecting With Culture Through Middle School Environmental Curriculum

2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ella Inglebret ◽  
D. Michael Pavel ◽  
Tamara Lehr
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Environmental Science ◽  
Cultural Beliefs ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Literacy Intervention ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
School Students ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
The Pacific

Abstract Purpose: This article presents an approach for incorporating indigenous culture into language and literacy intervention for middle school students. The approach is centered on the use of environmental education curriculum. Method: Seven over-arching standards for effective pedagogy in facilitating the learning of indigenous students are discussed. These standards are based on 25 years of ongoing research at the Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence (CREDE). Application of the standards is illustrated through use of the Shadow of the Salmon curriculum being developed by the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission and Salmon Defense. This curriculum is grounded in the cultural beliefs, values, and traditions of indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest. Conclusion: Speech-language pathologists can draw from resources available through other disciplines, such as environmental science, to generate culturally responsive pedagogy and materials that promote language and literacy skills for students of indigenous background.

scholarly journals Implementing an Enriched Language Development Program for Learning Support Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia Smail ◽  
Linda Kucan
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Learning Support ◽  
School Students ◽  
Word Generation ◽  
Argumentative Essays ◽  
Support Students

This article describes how middle school students who qualified for learning support performed in an enhanced language development program known as Word Generation (WG). Word Generation is a cross-curricular language development program designed to improve students’ overall literacy skills by focusing on deepening students’ knowledge of academic language. This study was guided by the following question: How does an enhanced language development program influence students’ vocabulary learning and broader literacy skills? Students demonstrated statistically significant positive differences on the pretest/posttest vocabulary knowledge assessment and maintained that learning on a delayed posttest. Engagement with the WG materials positively influenced students’ abilities to interact with complex texts, engage in effective discussions, and construct influential argumentative essays. The findings show promise for incorporating multifaceted vocabulary instruction such as Word Generation into middle school classrooms with students who struggle with reading.

Lessons Learned about Designing Augmented Realities

2011 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick O’Shea ◽  
Rebecca Mitchell ◽  
Catherine Johnston ◽  
Chris Dede
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Augmented Reality ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
School Students ◽  
Initial Development ◽  
Design Heuristics ◽  
Handheld Computing ◽  
The Impact

Utilizing GPS-enabled handheld computing units, we have developed and studied Augmented Reality (AR) curricula to help middle-school students learn literacy and math. In AR, students move around an outdoor physical environment, interacting with virtual characters and artifacts on their handheld computer. These “invisible” objects and characters provide clues to help solve a mystery, guiding the students through a process of inquiry and evidence-building. The first AR curriculum we developed, Alien Contact!, is based on a scenario where aliens have crash landed near the students’ middle school. Students, working in teams, learn math and literacy skills in the course of determining why the aliens have come to earth. This study describes the design heuristics used during the initial development and deployment of Alien Contact!, the results of two formative evaluations of this curriculum, and the impact these findings have had on revising our design heuristics for a subsequent AR curriculum about beached whales, called Gray Anatomy.

Drawing out understanding

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 197-209
Author(s):  
Jennifer Eiserman ◽  
Heather Lai ◽  
Chelsea Rushton
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Personality Development ◽  
School Context ◽  
Gifted Students ◽  
School Students ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approaches ◽  
Positive Disintegration ◽  
Gifted Middle School Students

Dabrowski recognized that the creative process is important in the personality development of the gifted and talented. Given the intrinsically creative nature of learning in an arts- infused context, we hypothesize that interdisciplinary approaches to curriculum address the unique needs of the gifted. First, we will summarize Dabrowski’s theory of positive disintegration, providing a theoretical context to discuss an ongoing research project that engages gifted students in arts-based learning. We then briefly describe the implications of positive disintegration in the middle school context, and how art education can support this process. Finally, we describe how two arts integrated projects addressed the process of positive disintegration. In 2013, University of Calgary students in ART 307, “Applied concepts in art with children ages 6-12,” worked with gifted middle school students on an integrated art–social studies–science project called “When Fisher went to Skyland.” In this project, one class of Grade 6 students explored Iroquois culture and sky science through printmaking. In 2014, four classes of Grade 5 students worked with ART 307 students to enhance their understanding of electricity and magnetism through explorations using theatre games, creative movement and animation. We suggest that engaging gifted middle school students in the arts can be a means to facilitate alternative learning methodologies in all subject areas, and provide necessary support in personality development.

scholarly journals Poles in Seattle 1890–2020: Continuity and Change

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (3 (181)) ◽  
pp. 39-56
Author(s):  
Dorota Praszałowicz
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Bonding Social Capital ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
American Experience ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Us ◽  
The City

The text presents the preliminary results of the ongoing research on the Polish American community in Seattle, Washington. So far overlooked by the historians of the Polish American experience, the local group differs significantly from other centers of the Polish diaspora in the US. Poles settled in the Pacific Northwest from the late nineteenth century onward, and they developed in the city and around it a strong community that is internally diversified. In Seattle they were confronted with German, Irish, and Jewish groups, as was the case in other American cities, but also with other immigrants, for example with numerous Asians, Nordic people, Croatians, and Bulgarians. Contrary to the patterns of the Polish American community building, there has never been a Polish neighborhood in the city, and the Polish Roman Catholic parish was founded in Seattle as late as 1989. In fact, the parish never gained a crucial importance in the local ethnic community, and presently, as it used to be in the past, the immigrant life is organized around the Polish Home that was launched by the pioneer immigrants in 1918/1920. Many descendants of the earlier immigrant generations participate in the events initiated in Seattle by Poles who arrived in the last decades, and several recent immigrants became involved in the Polish Home Association. Moreover, web platforms – new forms of ethnic connection that developed in the last decades, contribute to the increase of the bonding social capital within the Polish group.

scholarly journals Building Safe Didactic Dialogues for Action Model: Mobilizing Community with Micronesian Islanders

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Connie K. Y. Nguyen-Truong ◽  
Jacqueline Leung ◽  
Kapiolani Micky ◽  
Jennifer I. Nevers
Keyword(s):  
Prenatal Care ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Cultural Beliefs ◽  
Action Planning ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Parent Leaders ◽  
Action Model ◽  
Northwest Region ◽  
The U.S

Background: Despite mandates by the United States (U.S.) government to ensure the inclusion of women and minorities in federally funded research, communities of color continue to participate less frequently than non-Latinx Whites. There is limited research that examines maternal health outcomes and early childhood resources. Pacific Islanders (PI) have grown substantially in a county in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. (from 4,419 to 9,248, of which 52% are female). About 62.7% of PI women are not accessing prenatal care in the first trimester, and this is substantially higher than the national target of 22.1%. Researchers found that PI children are leaving school to take care of family obligations. The purpose of the educational innovative project, Building Safe Didactic Dialogues for Action model, was to respond to Micronesian Islanders (MI) parent leaders’ need to feel safe and to build a close kinship to encourage dialogue about difficult topics regarding access and utilization of early education systems and prenatal/perinatal health for community-driven model for action planning and solutions. Approach: Popular education tenets were used in the project to be culturally sensitive to the human experience. The MI community health worker outreached to MI parent leaders in an urban area in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. Eight partners participated in this project: parent leaders from the MI community-at-large, community partners from the MI Community organization, and academic nurse researchers. Didactic dialogues lasted two hours per session for four. Topics included: collaborative agreements, MI parent leaders’ identified needs and existing resources regarding preschool and immunization, parent–child relationship (stress and trauma, adverse childhood experiences), and MI experience regarding prenatal care access and postpartum depression. Group discussion on reflection was used to evaluate utility. Outcomes: Building Safe Didactic Dialogues for Action model was foundational via mobilizing community with MI, trust and rapport building, and engaging in a safe and courageous space for dialogues for action planning and solutions as community and academic partners as stakeholders. Conclusion: Many previously unspoken issues such as abuse, language, and cultural beliefs including barriers were openly shared among all partners. Dynamic thoughts towards identifying needs for change and then planning steps toward creating positive change created an atmosphere of empowerment for change.

scholarly journals Engaging Middle School Students through Locally Focused Environmental Science Project-Based Learning

2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. nse2016.05.0012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Basche ◽  
Vincent Genareo ◽  
Adah Leshem ◽  
Amy Kissell ◽  
Judith Pauley
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Environmental Science ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
School Students ◽  
Science Project

scholarly journals Cultural Literacy in Mother Tongue Education: an Action Research

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 215
Author(s):  
Mazhar Bal ◽  
Filiz Mete
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Cultural Literacy ◽  
School Students ◽  
Basic Language

The aim of the research is to relate the middle school students’ literacy skills to their basic language skills. The study was designed as an action research. The participants of the study are middle school students. The data collection tool consists of semi-structured interview form, semi-structured observation form, log form and activity files. The research process was carried out in three stages: cultural awareness, cultural diversity and cultural literacy. It was observed that participants cultural literacy skills developed at each stage. In addition, while performing basic language skills, they were found to be more effective at every stage. Based on the results of the study, it is concluded that the mother language education lesson can be associated with the learning outcome of cultural literacy skills and basic language skills.

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