Scientific Research Supporting Carousel of IDEAS
Learning Modalities
Tapping into multiple learning modalities is essential because learners “store” information in various places within the brain. By activating multiple learning modalities (e.g., seeing, hearing, movement, and touch), learners can recall information more readily because they can “find” it stored in many places (Educational Leadership: How the Brain Works, 1998; Jensen, 1998). The Carousel of IDEAS program emphasizes activities that activate multiple learning modalities—listening, reading, conducting hands-on experiments, researching information (in traditional sources as well as technology-based ones), presenting role plays, and engaging in kinesthetic activities.
Phonemic Awareness and Phonics Instruction
Effective phonemic awareness instruction teaches children to notice, think about, and manipulate sounds in spoken language. Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read (2001) summarizes the way in which phonemic awareness instruction helps students learn to read and to spell. It also emphasizes that phonics instruction improves children’s reading comprehension, word recognition, and spelling. Throughout Set 1 of Carousel, students take part in a number of phonemic awareness activities and teachers are shown how to provide explicit and systematic phonics instruction.
Positive Learning Environment
The learning environment must be positive and stress-free. Pressure and tension negatively affect learning, especially with students who have the additional burden of learning a complex skill (such as reading) in the context of a new language (Herrell, 2000; Joyce & Weil, 1972; Tiedt & Tiedt, 1979; Spangenberg-Urbschat & Pritchard, 1974). The Carousel of IDEAS program emphasizes the importance of creating a positive learning environment and suggests teaching strategies throughout the lessons to achieve this goal in the context of developing and refining English language skills.
Text Comprehension
Students must be able to understand the words they articulate in text materials in order for the content material to be comprehensible. Research shows that good readers are purposeful and active, and that text comprehension can be improved by instruction. This research is summarized in Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read (2001). The Carousel of IDEAS program is grounded in the premise students must have a purpose for reading and they must be actively involved in the reading process. Activities throughout the program focus on the following text comprehension strategies: monitoring comprehension, using graphic and semantic organizers, asking and answering questions, recognizing text structures, and summarizing and synthesizing information.
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Now that you know more about the scientific research that supports the program, you are ready to move on to the inservice conclusion.
 
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