Emperor penguins, the largest of all the penguin species, attain heights of nearly four feet and weigh up to 99 pounds. Many students are not motivated to learn mathematics when textbook examples contain largely nonexistent contexts or when the math is not used to solve significant problems found in real life. This article's project explores how…

Describes a study that examined the similarities and differences in computer related attitudes between sixth grade boys and girls of different mathematics achievement levels. Students' responses to questions about self-confidence in their computer abilities, the utility of computers, and general attitudes toward computers are reported and…

A study of the writing of 12 sixth-grade students of English as a second language (ESL) compared the quantity and maturity of writing in three assigned tasks and unassigned entries in dialogue journals. The assigned tasks varied in topic control, audience, and purpose. Qualities of the writing were examined using measures of quantity, complexity,…

The story of John Henry provided the setting for sixth-grade class to participate in a John Henry Day of mathematics experiments. The students collected data from experiments where students competed against machines and technology. The student analyzed the data by comparing two box plots, a box plot of human data, and a box plot of machine or…

A study conducted in Finland investigated the relationships between trait and test anxiety and low and high achievement in 552 sixth- and eighth-graders. Before the final English language test of the spring term, the students responded to a questionnaire concerning worry, tension, test-irrelevant thoughts, physical reactions (e.g., rapid…

This study compared two approaches for teaching sixth-grade middle school students to solve math problems in math, technology education, and special education classrooms. A total of 17 students with disabilities and 76 students without disabilities were taught using either enhanced anchored instruction (EAI) or text-based instruction coupled with…

Investigates two questions: (1) the sex-related differences in Landsat Mastery, road map reading, and map drawing among adolescents and (2) the relationship between spatial ability and mapping skills. Replicates significantly lower female performance on parts of the Landsat tasks. Concludes that spatial ability correlations with mapping are too…

A study analyzed the effects of classwide peer tutoring on science vocabulary spelling achievement for three language groups in one school's sixth grade. The groups consisted of: (1) Spanish-dominant and limited-English-proficient (LEP) students (n=8); (2) students proficient at grade level in both Spanish and English (n=14); and (3) monolingual…

Compares two instructional strategies, prompting and direct instruction, to determine which produces dialogical reasoning in written essays concerning controversial issues. Participants were 45 sixth graders. Finds both strategies equally productive and concludes that the emphasis should be on providing thought-provoking, issues-oriented social…

Student activity pages, teacher background information, and lesson ideas for teaching about the law in social studies classrooms are provided in this supplementary packet. An introductory section provides a rationale for the unit, a guide to bringing law-related resource persons into the classroom, a teacher checklist for helping resource persons…

A resource book for grades 6-8 contains materials to enrich a unit on South Asia. Material is divided into 13 sections. Sections 1-4 outline the rationale, goals, and objectives of the unit. Emphasis is placed on providing background for the understanding of South Asian cultural groups in the United States. Ten objectives are listed, including the…

This document presents a series of 14 lesson plans in an interdisciplinary Spanish unit on "La isla del encanto/The Enchanted Island." The materials were prepared for students in grades 5 or 6 who have had basic Spanish instruction in previous grades. The students should also be familiar with basic concepts in English such as math…