The purpose of this project is to aid the classroom teacher in exposing children to poetry through a curriculum guide with enabling activities which will encourage children to develop an appreciation and understanding of poetry.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference in the enjoyment, interest, perceived learning, and achievement levels of third grade students when social studies and science units were presented as interrelated subject units versus separate subject units. Eight units in social studies and science were chosen. Four of these units were selected at random to be presented as interrelated subject units and four to be presented as separate subject units. Interrelated units used the social studies or science topic as a core, and lessons in other subjects such as language arts, math, music, and art were related to this basic topic. Separate subject units focused on the particular topic of the unit and were not intentionally related to other subjects in curriculum. An attitude questionnaire and achievement test were administered as posttests after each unit. The results of the tests for matched pairs indicated a significant difference in the levels of enjoyment, interest, perceived learning, and achievement for the two types of units. It was concluded that the 28 third grade students taught using interrelated subject units showed a significantly higher level of enjoyment, interest, perceived learning, and achievement than the same group when taught using separate subject units.

This needs assessment research project concerns itself with the lack of parental involvement in preschool programs. The lack of communication between educators and parents is examined in relation to its effects on the child and the community. One possible way to begin to solve this problem is presented through the use of a survey questionnaire for parents and teachers concerning what each group feels are the primary considerations, or needs, for quality preschool educational programs. The considerations surveyed resulted from an in depth review of the literature pertaining to major early childhood concerns. This research examined five areas of review; the relationship of parents to preschools, the background of early childhood education and philosophies, the curriculum objectives in the affective domain, the curriculum objectives in the cognitive domain, and the curriculum objectives in the psychomotor domain. The resulting questionnaires consisted of twelve questions with three different types of responses. Three hundred parental questionnaires were distributed to four private nursery-kindergarten schools in a middle to upper-middle class section of a large Southern city. Fifty teachers, half who taught in the same schools surveyed and half who taught in the same area of the city, were surveyed. The resulting responses were tabulated individually and percentages totaled for each response. A large percentage of the parents--55.3%-- and all the teachers responded to the questionnaire. Both groups were in agreement on most of the questions. The parents expressed the same basic concerns for their children's preschool education as did the teachers themselves. Parental apathy, misplaced values, and ignorance were ruled out as possible reasons for their lack of involvement. Instead, the major cause for lack of parental involvement in preschool programs was determined to be a feeling of intimidation on the part of the parents. In order to remedy this situation, it is suggested that the educators involved need to be the ones to actively structure parental involvement in their educational programs. Several suggestions for this structuring are presented in the conclusions section of this project.

The assumptions of this project imply that concepts concerning the relationships among living organisms can be assimilated by the child only if his experiences include exploration of his environment and the opportunity to discover these relationships himself. In order to help him progress, an interested, informed teacher who will encourage and help him is of prime importance. Because progress needs to be started as early as possible, kindergarten age children will be the focus of this project. Here the school should use the opportunity to begin developing the environmentally aware citizen. Unfortunately, few texts and guides in environmental education have been developed for teachers working in the kindergarten. A beginning curriculum utilizing the curiosity in the children and the order of the environment is needed. This project will be an example of a way to fulfill this need. Therefore, the purpose of this project is to develop a series of activities into a curriculum guide in environmental education for use by teachers in kindergarten. Specifically, this will be a kindergarten environmental education curriculum guide for approximately sixty students in three classes at Melrose Community School in Melrose, Putnam County, Florida.

The purpose of this project is to plan a booklet for parents which will provide them with some background information on the reading process and methods and approaches to reading instruction, along with some specific suggestions of ways they can help their children learn to read. Also included is a teacher's supplement for directions and suggested implementation. The booklet is designed for parents of students in the primary grades who are beginning readers. It is intended to be used in conjunction with a parent-teacher conference or a small group meeting of parents and teacher. It is hoped that the meeting would provide for clarification of any questions, serve as a motivator to parents, and allow them to exchange ideas and suggestions for utilizing this booklet. More personal situations concerning students would be discussed at follow-up parent-teacher conferences.

Art educators have expressed the need for art teachers with more qualifications and for more evidence of creativity and successful art experience. The purpose of this project is to illustrate the importance of the interrelationship between the action-oriented sensory capacities of the artist and the verbal-analytical capacities of the teacher, and in so doing to develop a vehicle through which an art teacher might demonstrate the necessary proficiency in at least one medium within the fine arts. More specifically, the objective of the project is the development of an art exhibit to validate the competency of the artist-teacher in the medium of oil painting. The philosophy of every art teacher should be based on art as experience, since valid creative work evolves from sensitive experience. An art teacher must be able to communicate with a student verbally; worlds are one relationship to the creative experience, the art forms another. Much precise thought can go on in words, but ultimately it can only be meaningful for the teacher and student, in turn, if both have experienced art. The teacher should be a creative artist in his own right. He should know from “doing” the experience he is to teach. For the purpose of the study, the literature was divided into five categories: 1) philosophical and psychological, 2) definitive information, 3) historical, 4) present attitudes, and 5) implications for the future. The evidence in the literature indicated that art educators strongly favor the idea that the teacher should be a creative artist in his own right, that he should be skilled in at least one major productive area of art. The vehicle developed in this project was an art exhibit containing fifteen oil paintings. The University of North Florida Library Exhibit Area was chosen as the site of the display which was scheduled from July 18-29, 1977. The show was accompanied by a reception; a printed brochure and invitation described the project, the background of the artist, and contained a list of the paintings. The project contains a complete photographic record of all works in the exhibit. An evaluation of the work was undertaken by a group of five qualified judges in the field of fine arts and art education. At the close of the exhibit the responses to the evaluation were tabulated and a correlation was made on the ratings of five paintings chosen at random from the show.

The purpose of this project was to develop an open education kindergarten curriculum guide utilizing learning centers. This curriculum guide consists of a discussion of specific aspects of implementation of learning centers and a detailed analysis of twelve learning centers. Whether learning centers are implemented gradually, moderately, or totally, the following factors are essential to consider prior to implementation: physical environment, materials, classroom management, evaluation and record keeping, and parental involvement. The following learning centers are discussed in-depth with respect to goals, objectives, enabling activities, and materials and supplies: math, science, language arts, social studies, art, music, block building, dramatic play, sand and water, woodworking, cooking and sewing, and movement. Successful implementation of learning centers in kindergarten appears to be a result of the implementing teacher's attitude toward open education. The attitude of openness is vital in order to successfully develop and implement learning centers.

A study was conducted to determine the effects on the knowledge and comprehension level learning as shown by the post-test scores of thirty-one fifth grade students in one health unit after the utilization of the classroom management program “DUNCE” had been implemented for eight weeks in contrast to their knowledge and comprehension level learning in a prior health unit as show by the post-test scores before the management program was utilized. Health was identified as the subject area for study because each unit in this content area can be taught independently and is assumed to be equivalent in difficulty. Both Deductive and Taba teaching strategies were involved throughout. Through the use of a Taba retrieval chart, the students were able to summarize the information about the health units and form generalizations and inferences about it. Since Taba is considered to be an inductive strategy, the two methods are considered to complement each other.

Is there a difference between how a group of second grade students who have experienced periodic, planned role playing/ discussion activities and a comparable group of second grade students who have not experienced periodic, planned role playing/ discussion activities will display anger when presented with problem situations?

This study addresses areas in cerebral dominance theory which elementary classroom teachers should be aware of when developing instructional strategies to enhance the learning experiences of children. Presented are past and present findings on cerebral dominance theory, giving the reader some understanding of what has been found about the manner in which children process information. The characteristics and processes of the two halves of the cerebrum have been discussed and possible applications and misapplications of this information have been given. It is concluded that students process information in different ways and that the data can be useful when examining teaching techniques and learning styles. Some specific recommendations have been given to help teachers provide activities and instruction to develop both sides of the brain.