At a Maryland middle school, teachers and students were asked how teachers routinely give medium-term and long-term assignments. Results showed that students, teachers, and parents would benefit from clearly written performance standards. The school's science fair assignment sheet specifies student and parent responsibilities, project completion…

Provides a writing assignment that introduces the use of an invention heuristic to students of middle school age. Illustrates the use of the assignment with the prewriting and in-class essay of a nine-year-old student. (RL)

Describes theme binders designed by sixth graders as an independent study component that unites the class as a learning community, showcases student work, and illustrates developmental milestones for parents. Details theme binder components: (1) cover page; (2) introductory page outlining the theme and contents; (3) evaluation sections indicating…

Forty different forms which can be used for written communication with upper elementary and secondary students are presented in a reproducible format. The forms were created to fill a need for providing students at these levels with motivational notes. Drawings and messages based on a variety of themes are used to make the notes interesting.…

This study follows three sixth grade primary school students as they access, interpret, and use information found on the Web for a class assignment. Discusses information seeking behavior, information interpretation skills, and information utilization, issues that educators must address to successfully integrate the Web into the classroom.…

The effect of teaching parents of 26 at-risk middle school students to facilitate a home-based self-management program to improve homework performances and academic achievement was investigated. Results indicated overall levels of homework completion and homework quality increased significantly for those students whose parents consistently…

Recommendations for ameliorating homework-communication problems were obtained from 8 parents, 13 special education teachers, and 11 classroom teachers. Participants were parents or teachers of students with mild disabilities in grades 5 through 12. The students were being mainstreamed into academic classes in which homework was assigned. (SW)

Experiments with 12 sixth-grade students doing mathematics assignments and 9 students doing reading assignments under differing conditions of radio and television distraction indicate no sizable distractor effects on time studying, accuracy of computation or reading comprehension, and reading rate. Results are consistent with the conceptualization…

A study examined the preferences of 211 middle school students (including 17 students with learning or behavior disabilities) for 17 homework adaptations. Lowest ratings were given for teachers giving students different assignments than those given to other students in the class. Preferences were not mediated by learning or behavioral disability.…

This study examined the homework practices of 48 students (ages 11-15) with learning disabilities and 48 nondisabled students. Although there were some similarities in homework practices of both groups, the students with learning disabilities engaged to a significantly greater extent in practices that interfered with homework completion.…

Suggests ways to better implement the World Wide Web as a powerful teaching tool. Considers three general educational strategies, each of which taps into different strengths of the Internet as an information delivery system. Describes daily Internet-based exercises, project involvement activities, and cyber field trips. (AEF)

To help students understand the processes by which they should gather, organize, and write material for an assigned theme, this book presents a series of steps for students to follow as well as some specific guidelines for composition teachers. Theme assignments, procedural steps, sample themes, and questions for classroom discussion are provided…

Decribes one poet's experience in a writing residency in a Brooklyn intermediate school. Discusses collaboration with teachers, and collecting and publishing an anthology of student poems. Comments on the positive atmosphere and teaching philosophy of this particular school. (JG)

Students at Woodridge Middle School in Peninsula, Ohio, have access to a brand new library which houses more than 10,000 items. This study examined whether students take advantage of the school library and its resources when completing school assignments. A random sample of students in grades six through eight was given a questionnaire to fill out…