The general education classroom is filled with academic vocabulary, and individuals with developmental disabilities benefit from explicit vocabulary instruction (Browder et al., 2008; Marzano, 2020; Smith et al., 2013). Picture-based alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) can encourage academic skills development (Ahlgrim-Dehzel et al.,…

Electronic books (e-books) are a prevalent method for integrating technology in preschool and elementary classrooms; however, there is a lack of consensus concerning the extent to which e-books increase literacy skills in the domains of comprehension and decoding. This article assesses the efficacy of e-books with a comprehensive review method,…

"Paper Scribbles" (PS) consisting of markers, vanguard sheets and 3M "Post-It" notes, is a pedagogical tool to harness collective intelligence of groups for collaborative learning in the classroom. Borrowing the key features of PS and yet avoiding some of their physical limitations, a computer-based tool called "Group…

Student perceptions of classroom environment can provide useful criteria for evaluating educational alternatives. The My Class Inventory (MCI) was used with 588 3rd- to 5th-grade students in Texas in evaluating the effectiveness of instruction using a textbook, science kits, or a combination of both. Various analyses attested to the factorial…

This study investigated the effects of text notes and voice notes on the comprehension of science texts by fifth grade students. The study was conducted to determine whether digital note taking was an effective reading strategy, and whether one form of digital note taking was more effective than the other. Results revealed that general education…

Mathematics games are widely employed in school classrooms for such reasons as a reward for early finishers or to enhance students' attitude towards mathematics. During a four week period, a total of 222 Grade 5 and 6 (9 to 12 years old) children from Melbourne, Australia, were taught multiplication and division of decimal numbers using calculator…

Appalled by a report stating that most Americans were unaware of the Nazi's decimation of European Jewry during World War II, a fifth-grade teacher began teaching a lesson about the Holocaust. Her students were astounded to learn that the Nazis had murdered 1.5 million children. Presenting the Holocaust to elementary-age children requires a…

Describes an elective, noncrisis course on death and dying which targets fifth graders. Discusses both the psychological theory behind the program and the ways that life and death values can be clarified. Program tries to allow children to grieve previous losses and helps children to develop appropriate grieving behaviors. (RJM)

Compares a spelling program to a traditional basal spelling program. Results obtained from 16 intermediate grade students indicate that students' weekly test scores significantly increased during the experimental spelling program. Outlines benefits to students, as well as the difficulties of implementing the program. (RJM)

Web-based learning is becoming prevalent in science learning. Some use specially designed programs, while others use materials available on the Internet. This qualitative case study examined the process of acquisition of integrated science process skills, particularly the skill of controlling variables, in a web-based learning environment among…

Students in a self-contained gifted and talented fifth grade evaluated three major learning activities of the Full Option Science System (FOSS). Students rated the activities very positively and felt the activities had given them greater confidence to work in groups, to be creative, and to strive to accomplish hard tasks as well as developing…

As part of a larger evaluation of the Individually Guided Education (IGE) system in Wisconsin elementary schools, a comparative study was conducted of the effectiveness of reading instruction and the Wisconsin Design for Reading Skill Development (WDRSD) program in IGE and non-IGE settings. Data on students in grades five and two in 11 different…

A cost benefit study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of a computer assisted instruction/computer management system (CAI/CMS) as an alternative to conventional methods of teaching reading within Chapter 1 and DPPF funded programs of the Columbus (Ohio) Public Schools. The Chapter 1 funded Compensatory Language Experiences and Reading…

This volume is the second of a two-volume series which surveys the extent to which sex, race, and class bias can be found in commonly used elementary-level instructional materials in Manitoba, Canada. Analysis of materials used in grades four through six indicates that the negative biases present in the kindergarten through grade three materials…

The Threshold Project, a 3-year project that followed a 1985 pilot study, examined the nature of the language and learning difficulties that black Standard Three (Std 3, or grade 5) children in South Africa experience when they change from their mother tongue of Sepedi to English as a medium of instruction and learning, a policy known as…