Describes the effects of Camp DETOUR, an adventure experience program for sixth-grade students at a Georgia middle school. Program goals were improvement of student self-esteem as a component of drug abuse prevention and improvement of student behavior. The program was shown to have positive effects on student self-esteem. This result may deter…

Determines whether reading comprehension scores of intermediate-grade language-deficient students improved with use of literature-based integrated language (whole language) instruction. Finds a significant gain after 25 weeks of instruction. Suggests that the effectiveness of whole language instruction may be significantly enhanced with the use of…

Describes a plan for a spelling bee in which both sixth graders and senior citizens participate. Argues that such an activity impresses students with the idea that school learning has practical applications in the lives of adults. (HB)

Study assessed factors associated with teachers' implementation of health curricula. School representatives implemented one of three smoking prevention curricula in sixth or seventh grades. Experimental teachers received extensive curriculum training. Training significantly related to whether teachers implemented curricula. Variables outside…

Examined relationship between social behavior and self-concept among 41 fifth and sixth graders. Teachers rated students on School Social Behavior Scales (SSBS); students completed Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC). Found several significant positive relationships between Social Competence scores on SSBS and SPPC self-concept scores.…

The effects of promoting families to be involved in the homework of their middle-grades children, and the effect of involvement on student achievement in mathematics were studied with families of 74 white sixth graders. Prompted families were significantly more involved in homework. Level of family involvement was not significantly related to…

Sixth graders received music history instruction regarding musical periods and composers over two weeks. They were taught in alternating weeks using either interactive illustrations of mnemonic keywords or realistic line drawing portraits of the composers as recall aids. The mnemonic illustrations produced substantially higher scores on students'…

Reports on a study in which a teacher used the collaborative development of a format-free computer database to facilitate knowledge construction in a group of three Year 6 students during a science project. Contains 28 references. (Author/ASK)

Outlines a social studies lesson plan that follows the Problem Based Learning model. Provides the lesson goal, questions for students, instructions for teachers and students, instructional materials, Internet resources for student research, preparation hints for teachers, and reflective learning questions for students at the end of the project.…

Investigates the reasoning strategies of urban year-six students involved in creating their own questions and plans for scientific investigations. Focuses on how students generate ideas for their own investigations. Contains 24 references. (DDR)

Provides examples of student work on a problem which shows that students solve problems in several different ways. Discusses challenges to the teacher that might result from problems such as these. (ASK)

Investigated the joint effects of attitude survey format and language arts achievement level on students' (N=82) attitudes toward reading. Results indicate no significant main effect on attitude responses due to achievement level but the main effect due to survey format was significant. Interaction between achievement level and format was also…

Investigates differences among student writers at three grade levels (6, 8, 10) and between expert writers and students in terms of the uses and complexity of arguments presented in persuasive texts. Develops a model that could account for structural variations across a range of writing to analyze argument. Reveals that argument was the…

Differences in the reading achievement of girls and boys were studied in five southern African countries using International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement data for 14,917 sixth graders. There were no significant gender differences in reading achievement, but there were significant differences for socioeconomic levels…

Examines the hypothesis that early adolescent girls (N=175) with more negative weight-related body images would report higher levels of depressive symptoms. Results indicate that the more subjective and personal measures of weight-related body image discontent (weight dissatisfaction and weight concerns) were associated with increased depressive…