Examines the advantages and drawbacks of a microcomputer spelling drill program. Presents the actual program and explains how to use it. (MM)

Describes how a seventh-grade teacher incorporated poetry writing into her science class, helping students to learn the science material and helping the teacher to evaluate the students' knowledge. (SR)

Presents science activities used to teach 7th-grade students about the atom. Examines student misconceptions, age-appropriateness, and conflicts between state and federal science standards. (DKM)

Describes the response received by seventh grade students who wrote to people in a wide variety of occupations and professions, asking them about the importance of writing in their jobs. Relates that the responses were informative, useful, and stressed the importance of writing as a means of communication. (RS)

Notes that the goal of interactive assessment is to discover the conditions under which a student will succeed in reading, rather than simply describing a student's current status as a reader. Illustrates the differences between static and interactive assessment by presenting a case study of a seventh grade at-risk student. (RS)

Describes the use of cooperative learning groups in a competitive setting. Discusses teaching objectives, delivery methods, grading procedures and results of a cooperative learning unit which is used to teach the Middle Ages to seventh grade students. Provides student instructional materials. Activities include time period newspapers and the…

Describes a project whereby students prepared a video-taped time capsule of their interests and experiences in seventh grade, which would not be opened until their senior year. Students brainstormed, wrote scripts, gathered props, rehearsed, taped their presentations, interviewed teachers and staff, and filmed campus events. A two-hour film…

Describes a project for 7th graders that involves English and Texas history classes, and that includes 19th-century Texas history, several types of writing, and a great deal of creativity. (SR)

Shares a writing activity in which students create riddles to define a particular number. (MG)

Discusses ways to overcome seventh and eight graders' negative feelings of diversity in the context of a study of the Holocaust. Describes the use of poetry, music and lyrics, and memoirs and novels that reflect a wide range of viewpoints to help students feel more connected to their own world. (LRW)

Argues that literacy workshop classrooms, though they may appear chaotic, are highly organized environments. Reviews six model theories of organizations and their management. Describes a typical day in a seventh-grade literacy workshop. Outlines revisions needed in educators' thinking about their professional practice, and suggests strategies to…

Describes how the author, in his seventh-grade English class, taught "little grammar" (sentence structure, parts of speech, and usage) and "big grammar" (such as essay structure, points of an argument, and rhetorical devices) through reading meaningful texts drawn from their history class. Discusses successes and difficulties with this approach,…

Describes an art unit in which students sculpt a signature seal out of clay and use Chinese brush painting techniques to paint a scroll. Discusses the seal and its historical use in China. Lists materials needed and explains the procedure. (CMK)

Middle school students consolidate their understanding of integers and rational numbers, increasing their facility with fractions, decimals, and percents and encountering proportionality. This book shows how students can explore these important ideas in such diverse activities as exchanging currency and using area models to develop algorithms for…

This activity guide, developed to provide hands-on environmental education activities geared to New River State Park in North Carolina, is targeted for grades 7 and 8 and meets curriculum objectives of the standard course of study established by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Three types of activities are included: pre-visit,…