Reports on a study that examined differences in the comprehension scores achieved by seventh and eighth grade students on Form 1 and Form 3 of the Gates-MacGinitie, Level E. (HOD)

Discusses the many ways in which conversation surfaces in a seventh-grade classroom and the significance that talk has for the students' linguistic and affective learning. Contains excerpts from student diaries and teacher responses to them. (HTH)

Describes the positive effects of peer interaction during the writing process. Illustrates by describing integration of this method in a seventh-grade classroom and how it improved the students' writing quality and attitudes. (HTH)

Discussion of how to teach thinking and problem-solving skills focuses on a study of seventh graders that attempted to convey expertlike behavior using LEGOLogo to explain how a washing machine operates. Topics addressed include concept representation and mental models; cognitive apprenticeship; and LEGOTClogo as a learning environment. (Contains…

A parent deplores the overemphasis on socialization and collaboration in his son's seventh-grade classroom. He believes cooperative learning limits his son's educational opportunity, intellectual growth, and motivation to achieve. In the wake of corporate downsizing, there's even greater need for individual initiative and expertise. Social…

This book captures the power of young people's visual responses to literature. It recounts the experience of a teacher who encouraged her students to respond to their readings through sketched interpretations--and, like pieces of writing, the sketches became a vital part of the curriculum as vehicles for discussion and reflective tools for…

Investigates the relationship between hemisphere, brain preferences, and academic failure or success by studying 131 average and above average fourth and seventh grade students. Concludes that cerebral hemisphere functions do affect learning. (MM)

This theme issue covering elementary and prevocational programs examines agriculture education in elementary and middle schools, motivational activities for exploratory agriculture, utilizing the Food for America program, benefits of the Food for America program, elementary agriculture education curriculum, and vocational agriculture for seventh…

Compares textual notes taken by seventh-grade students on the 1954 school desegregation case, "Brown v. Board of Education," to those taken by legal professionals. Shows that the students rejected what they saw as violations of conventions of Supreme Court argument, while the winning argument in the actual case plays with conventions by…

An interdisciplinary civic education program, Facing History and Ourselves, teaches history in a way that helps adolescents reflect critically on contemporary social issues. The program focuses on a specific period (the Nazi rise to power and the Holocaust), guiding students between a historical case study and reflection on the causes and…

Describing a teacher's struggle to help her seventh-grade students reach their full potential, this book is about girls--their learning, their social dilemmas, and their dreams, hopes, and fears. The book reveals the obstacles the teacher faced and how her students collaborated with her to become curriculum builders as they explored issues such as…

Looks at issues surrounding teenage pregnancy and describes different school-based approaches to sex education. Stresses that parental involvement is critical to the success of any effective program for reducing teenage pregnancy. (RWB)

Includes a preface and two articles: "Rhetoric in Action: Roger's Social Studies Classroom" and "Rhetorical Understandings for Social Studies Teachers." Details how one teacher applies rhetorical principles to teaching, so that student learning, enjoyment, and motivation increase. Focuses on the definitions and principles of…

Relates how one teacher restructured her classroom to use reading and writing workshops. Describes how three at-risk students in her classroom, in the course of the academic year, moved from being at risk of academic failure to being on the path to promise and success. (SR)

Argues that the National Commission for Social Studies 1989 report, "Charting a Course: Social Studies for the 21st Century" is too conservative. Notes the trend-setting recommendation to integrate U.S. and world history, sequencing through grades 9-11 may be impractical. Points out the proposal for intensive study of local history at…