Teachers at a laboratory middle school in Evanston, Illinois, reconceptualized and revitalized an ailing student council according to some meaningful goals: empowering and involving all students, creating an atmosphere for cooperative action, and offering opportunities for service. There are three main arms to this action council (service,…

Describes an eighth-grade teacher's decision to heed innervoices and make time for poetry in her classroom. The class began by reading fun-filled, picture-book poetry; enlisted the help of school and town librarians in finding compelling single-author works and anthologies; and finally wrote "recipe poems" together. (Contains 27…

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…

Plans for transforming middle-level schools in Illinois are described in this report, which serves as a guiding document for creating middle-level schools that acknowledge the needs of early adolescence. The report, facilitated by a Carnegie report entitled "Turning Points: Preparing American Youth for the 21st Century," describes early…

Discusses collaboration between a teacher and an education professor in developing and implementing a new reading/language-arts program in a fifth-grade classroom. The move from a traditional basal reading and language-arts textbook approach to one using novels and process writing meant many changes for both teacher and students. An Author's…

A study examined whether sixth grade students taught formal study skills would obtain significantly higher reading achievement than those not taught these skills. Study skills can be broken down into ten or more skill areas including: study habits, time management, test taking, lecture notetaking, reading comprehension, vocabulary, test anxiety,…

A survey of representative schools in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois showed that most small and rural schools house middle-level students in buildings primarily designed for elementary or high school students. Middle level students often receive an inappropriate educational program that is not taught by teachers trained to understand and…

Eureka (Illinois) Middle School has found some user-friendly ways to clarify communication and keep learning personal and accessible. Despite resource deficits, options and output have increased by actively using the school's philosophy: shared ownership for student success. Various community-building programs for students, faculty, and parents…

Findings of a study that examined middle-level school practices and the educational needs of Illinois youth aged 10-14 are presented in this report. A questionnaire mailed to all junior high/middle schools (576 schools) and K-8 schools in Illinois (705 schools) elicited response rates of 75 and 42 percent, respectively, or a total of 774 usable…

Suburban Chicago middle school teachers designed a month-long unit to foster global education, guided by research on integrated, self-selected, and collaborative learning strategies. Teachers initiated brainstorming activities, grouped students by interest, and demonstrated how to be investigative researchers, informative writers, effective…

This report describes an intervention to aid students in demonstrating their comprehension of reading material through an alternative instrument. The target population consisted of fifth grade students in a middle class community in central Illinois. Problems in comprehension were revealed through declining district test scores and teacher…

These materials are for use by elementary and middle school teachers in the state of Illinois. This document contains five modules for teaching water conservation. Topics include: (1) "Life Depends on Water,""What is Water?" and "The Hydrologic Cycle"; (2) "The Treatment of Drinking Water"; (3)…

These materials are for use by elementary and middle school teachers in the state of Illinois. This document contains five modules for teaching land use and solid waste concepts. Topics include: (1) "Earth's Closed System"; (2) "Waste Alert"; (3) "Solid Waste/Litter"; (4) "Hazardous Waste"; and (5)…

Designed for middle school through high school students, this unit contains eight lesson plans that focus on Illinois state law. The state lessons correspond to lessons in the volume, "Antidote: Civic Responsibility. Drug Avoidance Lessons for Middle School & High School Students." Developed to be presented by educators, law student,…

This paper examines levels of participation in and correlates of AIDS-related risk behavior for adolescents in high risk communities. Seventh through ninth graders completed surveys regarding attitudes, behaviors, and resistance skills related to sexual intercourse and substance use. Grade, race, and sexual activity correlated with drug use.…