Demonstrates how sixth graders became engaged with the daily journal of an eleventh grader and how this motivated them to write journals themselves. Discusses the varying topics they read and wrote about and how they learned from this experience. (PRA)

Describes chaos science, model that seeks to explain randomness found in natural systems. Notes that key concepts in chaos theory provide valuable immediate insight into counseling process and potential long-range value in understanding and helping people in development as human beings. Includes case presentation of sixth-grade student and uses…

Discusses how students in the author's classroom are challenged to think critically in a curriculum that focuses specifically on the health of the environment. Discovers that her own convictions about the importance of stewardship for the environment stood in stark contrast to the competitive, consumer-oriented values of the preadolescents in her…

Presents an annotated bibliography of 31 titles suitable for young readers in grades four though six that were published in 1998. (LRW)

Observes students in 6th grade science classes as they use the Web to carry out an inquiry-based assignment. Explores their understanding and enactment of the assignment to do research on the Web. (Author/CCM)

Two studies examined children's misunderstandings in using dictionary definitions to comprehend the meaning of a new word. Subjects in the first study, 38 male and 22 female fourth-grade students from four classes in a medium-sized midwestern town, were given two similar judgment tasks: (1) students were given a definition for a new word and asked…

Language arts programs can be enriched by having children write and then orally interpret their own poems. (JH)

This teacher's guide was developed to provide essential information that will enable students to make independent and healthy decisions regarding tobacco use. Each lesson in the guide covers both smoking and smokeless tobacco in an effort to add to the realization that all tobacco products have health risks associated with their use and to dispel…

A sample of 12 recent and older sixth grade social studies textbooks was examined to determine their level of explicitness, one of the criteria used to determine the "friendliness" or comprehensibility of a text. Researchers randomly selected three samples--usually chapters--from each of the 12 textbooks. The Explication Inventory…

Half of a two-part English Language Arts Achievement Test, this test evaluates reading skills in Grade 6. It contains general instructions for the student, and 50 multiple choice questions on nine readings (two poems and seven stories). (SR)

A study extended word association methodology beyond isolated word stimuli to investigate the effects of written context on the meanings that proficient readers impart to words. A repeated-measures design was used to assess the responses of 62 sixth grade readers to target words at three levels: no context, limited context, and expanded context.…

Using Tony Berlant's 1982 collage entitled "I," this lesson introduces students in grades four through six to the variety of materials artists can use when making a collage. (BSR)

This study of 98 sixth graders examined the effectiveness of reading and/or writing instruction in social studies that focused on text organization, main idea statements, and important supporting details. Results indicated that students who received reading instruction generally had better recall of textbook material than students without reading…

To show that in their elementary school years, American students read many pages of inconsiderate text, a segment from a sixth grade social studies textbook is analyzed. Criteria used to determine considerateness are structure, coherence, unity, and audience appropriateness. (RM)

Describes techniques used by a sixth-grade teacher to introduce students studying Greek culture to the methods of inquiry used by social scientists. For example, playing the role of archaeologists, students gathered wastebaskets from all parts of the school. They sorted through the containers as they would historical evidence. (RM)