The elementary teachers in the Ferguson-Florissant School District are using one of the best instructional practices to teach children how to master and apply what they learn. It's called constructivist teaching and it helps students become scientific inquirers, critical thinkers, systematic problem solvers and value-based decision makers. This model involves teaching for meaning and hands-on learning that enables students to understand and apply what they learn inside and outside of school.

Dr. Savannah Young, director of elementary education, says that constructivist teaching is one of the best practices in education.

"All too often, students are asked to memorize facts, which they tend to forget," she said. "When teachers use constructivist teaching strategies, students relate to what is being taught and become directly involved in their learning-making the learning their own."

Using this teaching strategy, students learn new content through a process of active construction. The teachers help students make connections between new and existing knowledge and give them opportunities to use new learning. Students elaborate on and question what they are learning. They examine what they are learning in relation to what they already know and build new knowledge structures. It is easier for students to learn when they can relate the new content to what they already know. It helps students develop expectations about what they are learning. They identify important elements, fill in the gaps and expand their learning.

"For example, students who are learning United States geography and the location of the states may be asked to make a clay model of a map," Dr. Young explained. "Then, each student may be asked to choose a specific state to investigate the culture, politics or agriculture. The students may even be asked to write letters to people or representatives of the state. This type of instruction engages students in their learning by giving them the opportunity to construct their own meaning."

Kim Whitaker and Cassie Foster, both second grade teachers, use this method of teaching daily. They present the facts or content to the students and follow up with a critical thinking question that makes students analyze the information.

"It's active as opposed to passive learning," Mrs. Whitaker said. "We help the students build a foundation and we give them good learning tools so they're able to apply what they learn in everyday life. The more they know about a subject, the better they'll be able to understand and retain the information."

Mrs. Whitaker, who teaches science, said her class is studying insects and their different habitats. Using the constructivist model, she presents the fact that grasshoppers have strong back legs and asks why, making the students discuss and analyze the reasons. Other questions she might ask are: "What if the grasshopper was put into a different environment like water? What if the grass was flooded? How would the grasshopper adapt?" Students again discuss and analyze the situation.

Mrs. Foster, who teaches math, has a program called "Read It, Draw It and Solve It" in which students solve a word problem. They read the problem and identify the facts using complete sentences, proper grammar and correct punctuation. If the problem pertains to sailboats, they draw sailboats. Next, they figure out how to arrive at the answer with addition, subtraction, multiplication or division. Finally, they write the equation and then solve the problem.

"What the students find is that there are different ways of coming up with the same answer, and we let them know that is perfectly fine," Mrs. Foster said. "This type of instruction is closely aligned to the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test in which students must use higher-order thinking."

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education uses the MAP to determine the effectiveness of schools in meeting the needs of their students. The questions on the MAP test are constructed response questions. To answer a constructed response question, the students not only must answer the question, but also they must give reasons or illustrate why the answer they give is correct. In other words, they must construct a response. No more bubbling in the small circles or circling or checking.

Mrs. Whitaker, Mrs. Foster and Dr. Young all agree that the constructivist-teaching model helps students to learn and master what they are taught and increase their knowledge. It improves their scores not only in the classroom but also on the MAP test as well.