The 21st century has brought an increasing demand for expertise in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Although strides have been made towards increasing gender diversity in several of these disciplines, engineering remains primarily male dominated. In response, the U.S. educational system has attempted to make engineering…

The importance of adolescent literacy is well established, and the topic continues to be of both local and national interest. Practitioners need to know not only which programs and practices appear effective, but which have the scientific evidence to support that claim. To identify effective programs and practices for general education students in…

Different functions within different forms of aggression were examined in relation to peer-perceived preference and popularity among middle school students. Two hundred and three 7th grade students were nominated by a subset of their grade mates based on indices of likeability, popularity, and aggressiveness. Both linear and curvilinear…

The third in a series of reports from P/PV's three-year study of the role Boys & Girls Clubs play in the lives of the youth they serve, "Making Every Day Count" examines how Club participation is related to youth's positive and healthy development in three outcome areas identified by Boys & Girls Clubs of America as central to its mission: good…

This paper contains a variety of instructional strategies and a review of research related to different learning styles. A learning styles inventory, style profiles, and information regarding some types of activities for students with different learning styles are included. Two sample lesson plans introduce and describe the inductive learning…

Discusses the advantages of teaching with open-ended tasks and compares students' responses to open-ended, closed-area, and perimeter tasks. (ASK)

Discusses the Math Options Career Day that educates seventh-grade girls about careers in mathematics, science, engineering, and technology. (31 references). (MKR)

The objective of this study was to begin to examine middle school classrooms for examples of either gender equity or gender bias. Data were collected by visiting 80 classes in 10 middle schools in central Connecticut. Classes observed included 6th, 7th, and 8th grade classes in social studies, mathematics, science, language arts, foreign language,…

This document suggests ways of using children's literature to enrich the study of military history. The book is divided into six literature units that list and describe appropriate books, learning activities, and resources for teaching about specific wars. Studying historical periods through literature offers an invigorating, interesting way to…

Presents examples of students' work to illustrate the typical approaches used at sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade levels and four common threads that are consistent with student development as observed in a Connected Mathematics Project class. (ASK)

This document is a conference presentation on the use of portfolios as an evaluation tool for middle school music students. All of the pages are suitable for use with an overhead projector. Areas covered include reasons for teaching the arts as both an intellectual discipline and vocational education; Illinois state goals for musical learning for…

A reading activity module based on the newspaper was designed for students in grades 6-8 who have had two years of instruction in French as a second language. The module includes the teacher's guide, the facsimile newspaper, and transparencies for class activities. Module objectives are to introduce students to both newspaper reading and…

This curriculum module, one of seven in Infusion Project, offers information and lessons on drug use prevention for integration into an existing seventh grade middle school health curriculum. The module, based on a type of interactive learning called infusion learning, contains 10 lessons each providing objectives, a list of resource materials,…

Explored the nature of a seventh grade teacher's reflections on instruction during university seminars and in her classroom. Analyzes three major orientations that guided the teacher's reflections regarding instructional improvement. Described the ways that the teacher expressed "new comprehension" of teaching and the ways that this new…

Designed to supplement the Agriscience Education for the Middle School curriculum guide, this instructional packet provides lessons to enable agriscience teachers to bring basic science concepts into the classroom through practical, hands-on activities and experiments. The course is designed to assist seventh-grade students in exploring science as…