Primary / Elementary School

Documentation: Transforming our Perspectives

This 16-minute film by Melissa Rivard and Stephanie Cox Suarez for the Documentation Studio at Wheelock College features conversations with leaders from Reggio about the practice of documentation and its role in teaching and learning.

Causal Patterns in Ecosystems: Lessons to Infuse into Ecosystems Units...

Causal Patterns in Ecosystems is a curriculum module for use by teachers who want their students to develop deep understanding of ecosystems concepts. Research shows that students who are taught about the nature of the causal patterns while learning science achieve deeper understanding than students who learn the science concepts only. Each section addresses one of a set of six broad and persistent misunderstandings about ecosystems that most students hold, stemming from their reasoning about the nature of causality. The module introduces RECAST (REveal CAusal STructure) activities, games, and simulations that are designed to reveal the underlying causal structure of concepts and to help students restructure their understandings. Each section contains one main activity, a set of additional reinforcement activities, and supporting materials for teaching them. Background information helps teachers recognize the misunderstanding and how it typically shows up in students reasoning about ecosystems. Understanding goals for the subject matter and the causal patterns are listed. The curriculum incorporates best practices in science education, such as inquiry-based learning and modeling. The module is aimed at upper elementary but can be modified for use with other ages. The module can be infused into broader units on ecosystems. It was developed as part of a research project called the Understandings of Consequence Project, which is supported by the National Science Foundation. 2011

The Unschooled Mind: How Children Think and How Schools Should Teach

Why are children not mastering what they ought to be learning in school? Ten years after its original publication, Howard Gardner's answer to this pressing question is the natural sequel to his acclaimed Frames of Mind and The Minds New Science. Merging cognitive science with educational agenda, Gardner shows how ill-suited our minds and natural patterns of learning are to current educational materials, practices, and institutions, and makes an eloquent case for restructuring our schools. ISBN: 978-0465024384

Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence...

From the back cover:

How can classrooms become places of intellectual stimulation where learning is viewed not in test scores but in the development of individuals who can think, plan, create, question, and engage independently as learners? Making Thinking Visible offers educators research-based solutions for creating just such cultures of thinking. This innovative book unravels the mysteries of thinking and its connection to understanding and engagement. It then takes readers inside diverse learning environments to show how thinking can be made visible at any grade level and across all subject areas through the use of effective questioning, listening, documentation, and facilitative structures called "Thinking routines". These routines, designed by researchers at Project Zero at Harvard, scaffold and support one's thinking. By applying these processes, thinking becomes visible as learners' ideas are expressed, discussed, and reflected upon. Making Thinking Visible includes a DVD of instructive video clips featuring Visible Thinking strategies being applied in a variety of classrooms. ISBN: 978-0470915516

Places to Play in Providence: A Guide to the City by our Youngest Citizens

The guide that resulted from a collaboration between the Making Learning Visible team at PZ and a school-readiness initiative, Ready to Learn Providence (R2LP). The publication was created by preschool children and teachers from eight inner city programs and programs and features children's illustrations and descriptions of their favorite places to play in the Rhode Island capital.