Preschoolers exhibit greater on-task behavior following physically active lessons on the approximate number system.

OBJECTIVE: To determine how the dual-task nature of incorporating physical activity with instructional activities immediately impacts acuity of the approximate number system and on-task behavior in preschoolers. METHODS: Using a randomized within-participants repeated-measures crossover design, 51 children completed an approximate number system task before and after either 20-min of physically active instruction corresponding to 38% heart rate reserve (HRR; light-to-moderate intensity) or conventional sedentary instruction at corresponding to 21% HRR (very light intensity). RESULTS: Findings revealed that preschool-aged children exhibited similar learning and greater on-task behavior following a single bout of physically active instruction relative to conventional sedentary instruction. Overall, preschoolers accrued 931.3 ± 8.2 more steps and an additional 9 minutes at or above light-intensity activity during the physically active instruction. CONCLUSION: Accordingly, these findings suggest that the dual-task nature of physically active learning does not compromise learning, reduces the need for redirecting off-task behavior, and ultimately allows children to avoid sedentary behavior in educational contexts.

Early childhood teachers' writing beliefs and practices.

This study examined the early writing beliefs, ideas, and practices of 54 early childhood teachers. Teachers completed a survey designed to examine their early writing beliefs and provided definitions about early writing development through a written response. Teachers were also observed in their classrooms and writing practices were coded for instructional strategy employed by the teacher (i.e., modeling and scaffolding approaches) and the instructional focus of these interactions with attention to early writing skill. Teachers' definitions of writing often emphasized specific writing skills, with most teachers emphasizing handwriting. Teachers were observed enacting a range of modeling and scaffolding practices to support early writing, but the majority of interactions focused on handwriting supports. Teachers' definitions of writing and their responses to the teacher belief survey were unrelated to each other, but differentially related to writing skills emphasized in interactions with children. Teachers who identified more than one writing component in their definition were more likely to enact practices to support children's writing concept knowledge, while teachers who espoused more developmentally appropriate early writing beliefs on the survey were more likely to engage children in spelling focused interactions. Findings have implications for the study of teachers' beliefs about writing as well as the need for professional learning supports for preschool teachers.

Resiliency and vulnerability in early grades writing performance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To explore potential pandemic-related learning gaps on expressive writing skills, predominantly Hispanic (≈50%) and White (≈30%) primary-grade students responded to grade-specific writing prompts in the fall semesters before and after school closures. Responses were evaluated with an analytic rubric consisting of five traits (focus, organization, development, grammar, mechanics), each scored on a 1-4 scale. Data first were analyzed descriptively and, after propensity score weighting, with ordinal response models (for analytic scores) and generalized linear mixed effects models (for composite scores). Compared to first graders in 2019 (n = 310), those in 2020 (n = 203) scored significantly lower overall as well as on all rubric criteria and were more likely to write unintelligible responses. Second graders in 2020 (n = 194) performed significantly lower than those in 2019 (n = 328) in some traits but not all, and there was a widening gap between students who did/not score proficiently. A three-level longitudinal model analyzing the sample of students moving from first to second grade in fall 2020 (n = 90) revealed significant improvements, but students still performed significantly lower than second graders in the previous year. Implications for student resiliency and instructional planning are discussed.

Physically active learning in preschoolers: Improved self-regulation, comparable quantity estimation.

BACKGROUND: Providing physical activity during the school day may mitigate increasingly sedentary lifestyles among children. Young children may be susceptible to interference during learning and consolidation when performing physical activity concurrently with academic instruction. METHODS: Preschoolers (N = 72, mean age 5.1 ± 0.8 years, 50% female) completed a quantity estimation task before, following, and one week after engaging in either a 20-min physically active or sedentary lesson. Physical activity intensity and volume were measured using heart rate and pedometer step counts, respectively. Off-task behavior was recorded prior to and following the lesson. RESULTS: Children exhibited similar learning and retention, but an added benefit of physically active lessons was a 1900% step increase and a 58% reduction in off-task behavior. CONCLUSION: Providing physically active lessons instead of sitting for extended periods of time in early childhood classrooms reduces sedentary behavior and improves self-regulation while not interfering with educational outcomes.