Finds that TOAST (test, organize, anchor, say, and test), a study system designed specifically for studying vocabulary, is more effective with sixth grade students than student-selected methods for both immediate and delayed retention. Finds no difference between groups in ability to spell the words. (SR)

Scientific sense-making is a process in which theory and evidence are brought into coordination. This work examines the conditions for the development of scientific sense-making in fifth and sixth grade classroom science lessons. Classroom activities that were structured as a series of presentations are compared with activities structured more as…

Growing out of the belief that children need to acquire tools that will help them understand and interact with people from different cultures, a study examined the effect of a global education unit about Africa on the images of Africa held by sixth grade students, specifically investigating whether such instruction would reduce existing…

Designed to investigate the types of responses given to a sentence completion task when constraint elements of word order, word form, redundancy, distance between lexical items, and the interaction among these elements are considered, this instrument consists of 34 sentences, half of which are high associative sentences, while the other half are…

Students can better experience the impact of written words by the response of a real audience. This paper describes a letter-writing activity for sixth graders in which the students first identified and discussed real-life happenings which had caused disappointments with companies that had produced faulty items. They then obtained all the…

GRADES OR AGES: Grades 6-8. SUBJECT MATTER: Reading. ORGANIZATION AND PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: The guide is divided into seven color-coded sections covering program organization, diagnosis, basic skills, advanced skills, reading taste, spelling, and material selection. It is mimeographed and spiral-bound with a paper cover. OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES:…

Uses a photograph of Michael Heizer's earthwork sculpture "Double Negative" to encourage students in grades 4-6 to discuss ways in which an artist may communicate ideas by creating ultra-large "landscape sculptures." Provides student objectives, background information on the artwork, instructional strategies, and evaluation criteria. (GEA)

Performances of 64 sixth-grade readers on a traditional and three alternative types of cloze tests were compared. Results confirm and extend the findings of earlier studies investigating cloze alternatives. Advantages of the alternate forms are discussed. (Author/MT)

Continuing work led by D. A. Infante, A. S. Rancer, and C. J. Wigley, (i.e., Infante, 1982, 1992, 1996) and others, on argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness, this study utilizes two instruments recently adapted for use with adolescent populations (A. J. Roberto & M. Finucane, 1997) to assess the effectiveness of communication training. A…

Sixth-grade students explore the underlying issues of two versions of the Golden Rule, the negative one viewed by Confucius as a moral prescription and the positive one viewed by Jesus as a religious prescription. (Author/RM)

Sixty sixth graders were assessed for their level of moral development and rated by their teachers on classroom conduct. Children who employed lower stages of moral reasoning displayed more conduct problems and displayed more variability in their conduct ratings. (Author/BW)

Describes a 15-hour babysitting course for sixth-graders that includes creative play activities, safety, and first-aid instruction, as well as child-care and discipline techniques. A bibliography for babysitters is appended. (Author/SJL)

Reviews a sixth grader's book report on Paul Fox's "The Slave Dancer" and draws critical inferences about the student's lack of real engagement with literature. (TB)

Discusses writing novels, particularly the author's novel "Freak the Mighty," and what it is like to be a sixth grader. (RS)

Examines the effect of computer assisted instruction (CAI) on the spelling performance of six poor spellers who also received special education services. Finds superior performance during the computer-assisted drill in spelling as well as improvement to average performance levels for non-handicapped, same-age peers in three of the subjects. (RS)