Abstract/Notes: The most common reason for a person to partake in reading and writing is enjoyment which also provides intrinsic motivation. Students who have intrinsic motivation are more likely to be engaged and interact deeply in the literacy activity, which has shown to increase comprehension and higher reading achievement. Intrinsic motivation and engagement are vital in creating life-long readers and writers. Engaged literacy activities are both a goal of instruction and a pathway to achieve success. The purpose of this research project was to study the effects of engagement strategies and the use of social justice literature on literacy development. This study took place at a public Montessori school located in the Midwest. There was a total of twelve students which consisted of first and second graders aged six through eight years old. Over the span of the twelve-week study, the engagement strategies of experiential learning, interactive read-aloud, and interactive writing were implemented. Student behaviors, knowledge, and skills were assessed to place students on the Reading Developmental Continuum through observation and miscue analysis before and after the strategies were implemented to determine literacy growth in engagement, comprehension, and language-to-print connections. The results indicated growth in all three reading components. It also revealed an increase in students’ social justice awareness and sense of agency. This suggests that engagement strategies rooted in rich meaningful literature positively impact students’ literacy development.

Language: English

Published: River Falls, Wisconsin, 2021

Abstract/Notes: This action research project was conducted to investigate the impact of merging the literacy program The Daily 5 with the Montessori Method of reading instruction. This project was intended to study the independent reading stamina of the students. It was conducted in a public Montessori School with kindergarten aged students from an early childhood classroom. There were 13 students participating, six girls and seven boys. Pre-assessment data was gathered in the forms of a parent survey and a baseline student reading assessment. Student stamina was recorded on a daily log and student reflections were recorded once a week. After the project was complete, the parents and students were surveyed for final reflection. The results show that when students are able to choose their own books, their stamina for reading improves. More research needs to be done to investigate the impact of the other four areas from the Daily 5 model in combination with Montessori Literacy.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2013

Language: English

Published: New York: Putnam's sons, 1969

Language: English

Published: Washington, D.C.: Zero to Three Press, 2005

Language: English

Published: Washington, D.C.: Zero to Three Press, 2005

ISBN: 978-0-943657-82-0

Abstract/Notes: Understanding young children’s spelling abilities may provide unique insight into their overall linguistic development as well as assist in identifying children at risk for reading difficulties in ways that typical reading assessments cannot (Chua, Rickard Liow, & Yeong, 2016; Clemens, Oslund, Simmons, & Simmons, 2014; Hofslundsengen, Hagtvet, & Gustafsson, 2016; McBride-Chang, 1998; Ouellette & Sénéchal, 2017). Yet, spelling assessments are not commonly conducted before Kindergarten (age 5) and no normed instrument exists for 3- to 4-year-olds. When spelling assessments designed for 5-year-olds are administered to younger children, young children get lower scores (Clemens, et al., 2014; Puranik & Apel, 2010). These lower scores may reflect their less developed spelling ability (typical development) but they may also be influenced by aspects of development unrelated to spelling: lack of motor ability to write letters, working memory limitations, poor word choice of items to be spelled, and/or insensitive scoring systems (Apel, Wolter, & Masterson, 2006; Clemens, et al., 2014; Diamond, 2013; Puranik & Apel, 2010). These latter possibilities raise the question of what would happen if we controlled these factors. Would a preschool spelling assessment that did not require handwriting and that minimized working memory demands result in higher spelling scores than a handwritten assessment? Specifically, is a movable alphabet spelling assessment a more reliable, valid, and sensitive way of measuring spelling abilities in children younger than 5 than is a handwritten assessment? The present study employed a within-subjects quasi-experimental design in which the spelling of 3- to 4-year-old children was assessed using a movable alphabet and handwriting. Results indicated that (1) preschoolers scored higher on a movable alphabet spelling assessment than on a handwritten assessment, (2) word choice did influence results, (3) movable alphabet spelling scores were a significantly stronger predictor of phonemic awareness and letter knowledge scores than handwritten spelling scores, (4) children were more willing to attempt to spell words with the movable alphabet than with handwriting, and (5) assessment scores were not closely tied to age or measures of behavior. To date, few if any other studies have specifically evaluated the influence of different tools on capturing the spelling abilities of preschoolers. This study expands current knowledge about the influence of motor and working memory scaffolds on the word-building capacities of 3- to 4-year-olds.

Language: English

Published: Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2017

Abstract/Notes: On the basis of a comprehensive best-evidence synthesis of the literature on the effects of multigrade and multi-age classes, Veenman (1995) concluded that there were no significant differences between multigrade and single-grade classes in cognitive or achievement effects. Subsequently, Mason and Burns (1996) challenged Veenman's conclusion, claiming that multigrade classes have at least a small negative effect on achievement, as well as having potential negative effects on teacher motivation. Multigrade classes are used extensively within Victorian primary schools, sometimes by choice but at other times as a result of the combined pressures from staff-student ratios and enrollment numbers at particular grade levels. The issue of their contribution to effective learning is thus a critical, practical one, as well as an interesting research question. Analysis of data from the Victorian Quality Schools Project, a large, comprehensive, three-year, longitudinal study of school and

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: Includes the following sections: Man and Animals; The Function of the Child; The Spiritual Embryo; The Absorbent Mind; Adaptation; Contact with the World; Conclusions

Language: English

Published: Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company, 2007

ISBN: 978-90-79506-15-6

Series: The Montessori Series , 3

Abstract/Notes: Rev. of Parents and Teachers Together, ed. Peter Smith and Joyce M. Morris

Language: English

Language: English