Ethnic identity and acculturation are significant issues of English as Second Language students in the intermediate grades. Research has encompassed acculturation and ethnic identity as two distinct elements that differentiate particular ethnic groups. The present study investigates acculturation and ethnic identity and their correlation across…

It has been increasingly recognised that classroom discourse plays an important social role as a semiotic mediator of knowledge construction with respect to curriculum content. The assumption is that through active verbal engagement with a topic of interest, students are enabled to master the modes of language use associated with schooling--the…

Students (N = 221) in an intermediate school (grades 5-8) in a rural area of the Southwestern United States completed a survey regarding their familiarity with technology and their experiences with cyberbullying during the school year. Initial evidence of survey reliability is presented. In the sample, 1.5% of participants were classified as…

Students in intermediate and middle level grades are often caught up in the exciting visual images and auditory stimuli that are a part of all their everyday communication and learning experiences. As a group of students who are growing intellectually and socially in the midst of, and through, predominantly media messages, they require reading and…

A three year longitudinal intervention study is presented where two conditions of reading instruction are compared. In a base condition six teachers--four in the experimental groups and two in the control groups--and their students in grade 4-6 discussed expository texts during a regular lesson. The discussions, which took place in small groups,…

This study was conducted to ascertain if repeated reading or question generation was more effective at improving reading fluency and comprehension of fourth- through sixth-grade students with learning disabilities or reading problems. Adult tutors trained by the investigator conducted the interventions. Instructional components and training within…

The recently elected National Government has proceeded, under urgency, to pass the Education (National Standards) Amendment Bill, legislation that seeks to provide specific information for both schools and parents about how well every primary and intermediate school student (Years 1 to 8) is progressing in literacy and numeracy compared with other…

The author describes methods for using picture books to teach geography in middle school. Introducing students to geographic regions through narrative and visual text can provide background information about the area, stimulate student interest in the culture, and facilitate student comprehension of geographic concepts. The author provides…

It is easy for intermediate students to get the wrong ideas about the purpose of reading. Educators pay so much attention to decoding and fluency in the early years that children sometimes come to believe that flawless and rapid word recognition is the point. As texts get more demanding or unfamiliar, some of the "good readers" in classes begin to…

Explores 10- to 12-year old spellers' sensitivity to, and knowledge of, derivational morphology with lexical items varying in orthographic and phonological transparency and opacity. Finds some evidence that the depth of segmentation to base morphology and the converse process of derived morphology of words plays a role in the spelling performance…

This article reports on an exploratory, longitudinal study, which examined six teachers' views on the factors that affect technology use in classrooms. The research examined teachers of grades 4, 5, and 6--for three years, studying the teachers both as a group and as individual case studies. Three case studies were selected for analysis, with the…

Research on handwriting performance and instruction for intermediate students with disabilities is summarized, and it is noted that about 21 percent of third-year pupils need help with handwriting. (CL)

The nation's public schools can systematically promote the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary for good health. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services contracted to evaluate the School Health Curriculum Project and three other approaches. The design, implementation, and benefits of the School Health Education Evaluation (SHEE) are…

Anchoring, a neurolinguistic programing technique, was successful in helping a sixth grader with learning disabilities reduce his anxiety reaction to math tasks. Other uses for the approach are noted and guidelines offered. (CL)

A debating program has been successful in developing issue resolution, research skills, and public speaking skills among gifted fifth and sixth graders. A high school debate program is modified to make it more manageable. (CL)