Cultivating the collective: exploring the American dream with sixth graders

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-45
Author(s):  
Sarah Elizabeth Montgomery ◽  
Zak K. Montgomery ◽  
Sarah Vander Zanden ◽  
Ashley Jorgensen ◽  
Mirsa Rudic
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
American Dream ◽  
Sixth Grade ◽  
Sixth Graders ◽  
School Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Arts And Humanities

Purpose The concept of an American Dream was interrogated during a service-learning partnership between university students and a multilingual, racially diverse class of sixth graders. The one-on-one service-learning partnerships were at the heart of the semester-long project and sought horizontalidad, or non-authoritarian democratic communication and shared knowledge creation. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach This project leveraged the arts and humanities within the context of social studies education to promote youth civic engagement. This project used Photovoice methodology in which all participants took photos and wrote about their American Dream. Participants then shared their photography and writing at three public gallery events in the community in an effort to educate others about their perspectives, experiences, and hopes regarding the American Dream. Findings Findings from the reciprocally minded partnership centered on the sixth-grade students taking a collective approach to the American Dream. Specifically, they noted their commitment to their families and desire to support others, with some sixth graders even sharing a commitment to promoting social justice. Some participants demonstrated a “we consciousness,” or a collective approach to social justice. Originality/value The study provides insights into how educators can engage middle school students in democratic practice as active citizens in a service-learning partnership. Through a service-learning themed project about the American Dream, middle school students were able to share their voices and experiences with the larger community via a project rooted in horizontalidad.

Creating Opportunities for Reflection: Analyzing Middle School Student Work During a Service-Learning Course on Solar Cells

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-61
Author(s):  
Marsha Ing ◽  
Peter Huang ◽  
Nohemi LaCombe ◽  
Yahaira Martinez-Lopez ◽  
Elaine D Haberer
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Solar Energy ◽  
Energy Production ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Middle School Student ◽  
School Students ◽  
Student Work

The purpose of this study is to describe how analyzing student work can be used to help undergraduates reflect on the effectiveness of their service-learning experiences. The service-learning collaboration between a university and middle school was designed to increase undergraduates’ and middle school students’ knowledge of solar energy. Three undergraduates enrolled in a service-learning course that covered basic solar energy concepts and formative assessment instructional strategies. The focal point of the course was the implementation of several activities in a middle school classroom that addressed middle school students’ misconceptions about solar energy, such as the amount of solar energy production at low temperatures or on a cloudy day. Data from this study includes student work during a small-group activity on solar cells. Findings suggest that undergraduates can analyze student work and use this information to better understand how their efforts can influence middle school student learning of solar energy.

Polygon Capture: A Geometry Game

1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 90-94
Author(s):  
William M. Carroll
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Conceptual Understanding ◽  
Sixth Grade ◽  
Fifth Grade ◽  
School Students ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Evaluation Standards ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
School Curricula

The curriculum and evaluation standards for School Mathematics (NCTM 1989) calls for an increased role for geometry in the primary and middle school curricula. An important mathematical strand in its own right, geometry also provides opportunities to promote and assess mathematical communication, reasoning, and problem-solving skills. Unfortunately, many students lack the vocabulary and the conceptual understanding needed to desctibe geometric relationships. This atiicle describes a game, Capture the Polygons, that I have designed to help middle school students think about geometric properties and the relationships among them. A version of the game has been tested in firth- and sixth-grade classes as part of the field test of Fifth Grade Everyday Mathematics (Bell et al. 1995). Observations of classes playing the game, as well as feedback from their teachers, indicate that students find the game challenging but fun. Depending on the background of the students, it can be played at different levels of difficulty.

Using Geospatial Technology to Promote Middle School Students' Critical Thinking on Socioscientific Issues

2020 ◽  
pp. 47-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wardell Anthony Powell
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Socioscientific Issues ◽  
Sixth Grade ◽  
Geospatial Technologies ◽  
School Students ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Summer Enrichment ◽  
Enrichment Program ◽  
The Impact

This chapter is a demonstration of how to use geospatial technologies to promote middle school students' abilities to think critically and to argue persuasively on socioscientific issues. Forty-three sixth grade students from a summer enrichment program operated by a non-profit organization in the northeastern United States participated in this study. The duration of this curricular unit took place over five consecutive 1-hour period blocks. The researcher utilized qualitative procedures to analyze the students' abilities to think critically and to argue persuasively on socioscientific issues. The results indicate that the students' background knowledge on the impact of human activities on climate change was enhanced with the use of videos, graphics, audio-visuals, and other hands-on activities. Additionally, the knowledge the students gained from the events in this investigation enhanced their abilities to propose convincing arguments in opposition or support for the socioscientific issues investigated.

Perception of Home Environment and School Abilities as Predictors of Reading Power and School Achievements

1986 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 819-822 ◽  
Author(s):  
William F. White ◽  
Andrea Karlin ◽  
Charles Burke
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Home Environment ◽  
Principal Components ◽  
Sixth Grade ◽  
Sixth Graders ◽  
School Students ◽  
Common Variance ◽  
Perceived Values ◽  
Item Responses

A sample of 565 sixth grade, middle-school students in two urban settings in the Southwestern United States completed the My Education (ME) scale and the Degrees of Reading Power. Responses to the 55 items in the ME Scale were factor analyzed by the principal components solution. Five rotated factors contributed 47% to the cumulative proportion of common variance. The first factor, labeled “Values Learned From Parents,” contained item responses which were the best predictors of reading power with a correlation of .41. Reading power and ability among 565 sixth graders was motivated highest by perceived values learned at home.

scholarly journals Bullying: University Students Bring a Moral Perspective to Middle School Students

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 157
Author(s):  
May A. Webber
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
University Students ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
School Level ◽  
School Students ◽  
Moral Perspective ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
Ethics Course

The prevalence of bullying and cyber-bullying in younger age groups has led to the inclusion of bullying in school-level curricula to address the seriousness of this issue and the prevention of these types of behavior. Higher education in its philosophy curricula can play a significant role in this regard as well. Proposed in this paper is an undergraduate ethics course Bullying and Moral Responsibility in which bullying is addressed from a moral perspective. This course has an academic-service learning component whereby this moral perspective is introduced to middle school students by university students. Peer learning of this sort might be of assistance in anti-bullying efforts.

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