A study of fourth and fifth grade classes suggests that competitive math activities give boys an advantage where cooperative math activities generally give girls an advantage. Suggestions to help teachers balance their teaching methods to decrease disparities between boys and girls are made. (MT)

Presents creative ways to integrate social studies and language arts while teaching content and examining historical personalities. Students can read biographies then deliver first person reports while standing behind billboards, write letters in the character of famous people, read poetry with historical perspective, and keep journals from…

Sensory development, activities in language arts, problem solving, science, health, physical education, and art are listed along with resources for making students more aware of their senses and of visual impairments. (CB)

Primary students can learn about computation and estimation by reading a story about the use of money, then following up with estimation and calculation activities. Intermediate students can explore the relationship between addition and multiplication using a computation game, collaborating on when, how, and why they use addition and…

First of a two-part report on violence prevention in middle schools describes ways teachers and administrators can be proactive in preventing violence, offering classroom control tips, violence-prevention curriculum strategies, and resources for designing safer schools. The article discusses changing the way adolescents think and building…

Discusses what teachers can do to handle students with conduct disorders. After presenting a situation involving a troubled sixth grader, a child psychologist recommends avoiding labels, assuming underlying causes, advocating a full workup, and reaching out to his family; a school leader agrees and suggests pairing the child with a mentor. Four…

A middle school reform initiative, sponsored by the Program for Disadvantaged Youth of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation 4 years ago, has taken hold in 12 urban middle schools nationwide. The article discusses that reform, noting the lessons about change to accommodate student diversity that urban middle schools can teach. (SM)

Special supplement for middle level educators focuses on news from around the country, student environmental action, adolescent development, saying no to drugs, the case against tracking, technology solutions, astronomy, ancient Egypt, the American West, learning with literature, camaraderie, and puzzles for problem solvers. (SM)

This "Instructor" Supplement on middle school education, presents articles on new research and materials, adolescent development, reasons for teaching middle school, moving toward a middle school curriculum, peer teaching, multimedia software, murder mysteries, ancient China, geometry, teamwork, descriptive writing, literature, problem solving,…