Developing and implementing curriculum that is relevant, challenging, integrative, and exploratory is central to successful middle grades education (Erb, 2005; Jackson & Davis, 2000; National Middle School Association [NMSA], 2003, 2010). However, as one language arts teacher suggests, it can be difficult to create curricula that meet these…

Discusses nonprint young adult literature and materials about that literature, and examines resources for those students and teachers who might be interested in audio books, CD-ROMs, films and other visual materials that do not require the reading of print. Explores why recorded books are so appealing to so many people and how they can be useful…

This account of teaching regular and gifted students is based on a university education professor's return to the classroom. Discussion covers: the value of teaching without textbooks, compacting the curriculum to allow students to pursue their talents, and combining affective and cognitive content within the curriculum to promote student growth.…

Examined the differences between primary (grades 1 and 2) and intermediate grade (grades 4 and 5) teachers in the areas of teacher behaviors, teacher communications, grouping, control, and materials. Classroom observations and student questionnaires indicated that primary teachers used significantly more sanctions, procedural communications, and…

A study examined the usefulness of the instructional recommendations in basal reader program teachers' manuals for discussing race in multicultural stories. Three recently published basal reader series widely used in the Capital District of New York State were used in this analysis: Harcourt Brace (1995), Houghton Mifflin (1993), and MacMillan…

This paper reports research on differences between teaching in the primary and intermediate grades. Hypotheses concerning differences in teacher behaviors, teacher communications, grouping, teacher control, and types of materials were developed. Six 1st- and 2nd-grade classes and five 4th- and 5th-grade classes were observed for four 45-minute…

Trends for third- and fourth-grade students were identified from data collected in a longitudinal study of how children learn science concepts. Approximately 325 children from three school districts participated in this study from their first week in kindergarten through the end of sixth grade. A heuristic model of science learning was developed…

This curriculum guide presents principles for teaching emotionally impaired (EI) secondary students in the Jackson County Intermediate School District in Michigan. The first chapter examines management of programs for this population, developing and maintaining relationships, professional development, understanding emotional disturbance, classroom…

Visual representations of the main ideas of information text (frames) help middle-grade students learn from reading. A study investigated frame development by middle-grade teachers. Twenty-seven teachers worked alone and collaboratively to frame experimental passages that had been selected from content area textbooks in social studies and science.…

This paper reports a study that examined the academic language of middle school social studies education, as found in textual and classroom discourse, and the instructional practices effective in guiding students to accomplish academically and socially meaningful tasks. It involved classroom-based research, analysis of textbook discourse,…

This monograph deals with one of the most difficult problems facing the schools--the language patterns which mark one social class from another. The "Cautionary Foreword" points out that teachers have long tried to "correct" the speech of students whose dialects were nonstandard, without much sense of how language is learned or…

This book brings together the methods and philosophy for the extensive use of trade books in the middle school curriculum. Novels, picture books and non-fiction materials are summarized. A section on classroom techniques presents an investigation and description of some classroom organizational and management systems and techniques to facilitate…

Summarizes findings of a survey of middle-school teacher educators to determine what books, articles, and other resources are most used in middle-level teacher education programs. Respondents identified numerous resources that teacher education programs could incorporate. New resources are needed in community resource involvement, family…

The guide is designed to assist elementary school German teachers by giving suggestions on the nature of material, structure, and sequence of linguistic items to be introduced in the first year. It contains suggestions for 10 teaching units, each containing vocabulary, grammar items, cultural information, songs and rhymes to reinforce vocabulary…

This guide presents lesson plans, with handouts, biographical sketches, and teaching guides, which show ways of integrating African American role models into mathematics and science lessons in kindergarten through grade 6. The guide is divided into mathematics and science sections, which each are subdivided into groupings: kindergarten through…