Supporting Playful Learning in Elementary Mathematics Classrooms 

Dr. Melissa Gresalfi, PI, Vanderbilt; Dr. Anita Wager, co-PI, Vanderbilt; Dr. Amy Noelle Parks, co-PI

The purpose of this project is to investigate play in early elementary math education through a four-year longitudinal study that documents teacher learning and connects teacher practice with in-depth qualitative analyses of children over multiple years. The study is designed to explore teachers’ learning over time by working with kindergarten teachers over three years. The longitudinal design, which adds a new cohort of teachers every year of the grant, will also support looking at play in relation to grade level.  

This project was funded by the National Science Foundation.

The SOLID Start project (Science, Oral Language, and Literacy Development from the Start of School)

Tanya S. Wright, PI; Amelia Wenk Gotwals, co-PI

Website: solidstart.msu.edu

The SOLID Start project (Science, Oral Language, and Literacy Development from the Start of School) develops professional development opportunities for K-2 teachers that integrates science and literacy. The project also develops standards-based, integrated science and disciplinary language and literacy curriculum materials designed for K-2 children. Components of the SOLID Start curriculum include unit and daily driving questions (ASK), multi-modal investigations of and experiences with science phenomena (EXPLORE), science informational text read aloud (READ), science writing and drawing opportunities (WRITE), and science synthesis discussions (SYNTHESIZE) to build children’s oral language with a focus on explanations of phenomena. Teacher Tips are provided throughout the curriculum to support teachers in implementing these exciting units of study. This project is funded by The National Science Foundation, The Spencer Foundation, and The CREATE for STEM Institute at MSU.

This project was funded by the National Science Foundation.

Teaching Science Outdoors – Urban Partnerships (TSO-UP)

Gail Richmond, PI

TSO-UP is a four-year research project designed to support upper elementary (grades 4-5) teachers in high-poverty urban communities (Detroit and Lansing, MI) in enacting Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)-aligned science approaches using the schoolyard and nearby community as an extension of their classrooms. The research program will support the enhancement of elementary teachers’ pedagogical practices and will identify how these enhanced practices affect cognitive and non-cognitive (social, emotional, motivational) learning outcomes of their students, particularly those who are traditionally marginalized in science classrooms. Another project goal is to advance knowledge on ways to bridge informal and formal learning environments by bringing in informal science educators who are located in or near the communities in which our partner districts are located to learn side-by-side with TSO-UP teacher participants. To achieve these goals, we will develop, enact and study a program that involves a scaffolded series of school-year and summer professional development focused on outdoor learning and follow-up meetings and classroom-based support during the school year. TSO-UP project is grounded in design-based research and utilizes place-based education, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and Hearts On, Hands-On, and Heads-On frameworks as guides for implementation, data analysis, and interpretation

This project was funded by the National Science Foundation.