Presents results of a study of fifth-grade students' ability to interpret novel metaphors and similes when provided with a subschemata of semantic attributes. (AEA)

Describes a study which investigated the effects that disc jockeys, peers, and music teachers had on fifth graders' music attitudes and listening behaviors. (Author/RM)

This study argues that instructional organization affects student perceptions of academic competence, which in turn control the distribution of power. It is indicated that classroom social power is more closely related to perceived competence and more hierarchized under unidimensional than multidimensional conditions. (Author/GK)

Examines the responses of three fifth-grade girls to two literary texts to determine what aspects of the texts and what characteristics of the readers influenced the creation of story and, in turn, the ability of the readers to assume and maintain a spectator stance. (HOD)

Effects of cognitive style matching on interaction patterns in teacher-student dyads were investigated. Cognitive similarity/dissimilarity was not associated with the interaction patterns. Dyadic interaction was affected by factors including cognitive style and sex of teachers and students and contextual factors, particularly whole class v…

Two multitrait-multimethod studies were conducted to investigate the effects of two scoring formulas. The study demonstrates that tests of divergent thinking lack discriminant validity when scored in the usual manner. A percentage formula did enhance discriminant validity when originality ratings were subjectively determined. (Author/CTM)

Recounts the difficulties and ultimate success of a production of Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" by fifth-and sixth-grade students. (RL)

This study consisted of two repeated measures experiments which explored the relationship between punctuation and grammatical expectations. (HOD)

Providing contextual aids to help students reduce mutual interference between two sentences was studied. When students were presented sentences in distinctive contexts, no interference was observed. An interference effect was obtained when sentences were given in either no context or a nondistinctive context. (MH)

An elementary school librarian relates her experience talking a fifth grade boy out of committing suicide. Raises the question of librarian-student confidentiality in assembling a crisis management team. Argues that the school library should be a refuge, a place to get books and information, and love. (PEN)

Examined the effects of using Logo or problem-solving oriented simulation software on the spatial and critical thinking skills of fifth graders. Found that the Logo group had a significant pretest-posttest change in spatial scores, and the Simulation group had a significant pretest-posttest change in critical thinking scores. No significant change…

Reports on a technique that combines Adlerian therapy with adventure therapy to provide a therapeutic milieu that blends play with self-growth. Results, based on six brief interventions conducted with 42 fifth-grade students, indicate that both statistical significance and therapeutic efficacy were achieved by these interventions. (RJM)

Describes how a Title 1 lead teacher used the "hypothesis-test" approach with Joshua, a fifth-grade student from a "ravaged background" who was about two years behind in academic performance. Shows how, pursuing his inquiry, Joshua eventually became a strategic reader and a confident engaged learner. Notes that Joshua's turning point was also the…

Offers an interpretive case study designed to provide insights about students' thoughts, feelings, and actions when not initially motivated for literacy tasks, and ways in which some students were able to become intrinsically interested. Reveals three different patterns of engagement (or lack thereof), represented in three different "Situations"…

Describes how a teacher finds value in popular culture and violent writing by closely examining the writing of a student who laces his stories with explosions and battles. Finds that once he began to see the similarities between the media his student experiences, the writing the student prefers, and his own favorite media and writing, the teacher…