A teacher tells how he turned a class of difficult students into a class of eager learners by risking an offbeat teaching method. An inset briefly features seven other success stories. (MT)

Sixty-four learning disabled sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students were assigned to 24 small instructional groups which were in turn assigned at random to mnemonic and control conditions. Instructional groups were then given three daily lessons on dinosaurs in counterbalanced order. The lessons involved dinosaur vocabulary, attributes of…

Presents four activities suitable for upper elementary and middle/junior high school students. These activities focus on: (1) a customized spelling program; (2) designing fashions; (3) a student-generated form letter to parents; and (4) computer debates. (JN)

Presents a collection of teaching activities suitable for middle grade students. They include a program for an Apple sketch pad and a Logo procedure to determine what angles produce polygons. Comments related to inputing variables, replicating patterns and figures, and using electronic spreadsheets are included. (JN)

Presents a collection of computer-oriented teaching activities for the middle grades. They focus on Logo activities to sharpen visualization skills, use of spreadsheets, various uses of Apple microcomputer paddles, and writing a program from program output. All activities may be adapted for lower or higher grade levels. (JN)

Miniperformances require less extensive preparation than formal concerts and offer performance opportunities to children with a wider range of abilities. Among those who have the most to gain from giving miniperformances are junior high and middle school students. (AM)

The effectiveness of a modeling technique on the acquisition of long division was demonstrated with eight middle school learning-disabled students. The intervention included demonstration, imitation, and key guide words. (Author/DB)

An intermediate-grade art teacher describes how she teaches her students about Henri Matisse. Students learn about the life and background of Matisse, study his reproductions, and apply techniques that they have learned to their own art works. (RM)

A middle school science teacher describes approaches for teaching mildly handicapped mainstreamed students. Suggestions are made for content (beginning with a study of the human body), methods and materials, and the importance of good discipline. (CL)

The following factors can influence the form and quality of what is stored in memory: (1) position of new learning; (2) meaning in new learning; (3) transfer of information; (4) verbal cues; (5) image cues; (6) spacing effect; (7) rehearsal and practice; and (8) organization of new information. (MLF)

The paper reviews research dealing with spatial cognitive ability differences in gifted children and cites implications for reading instruction of gifted readers. A study is detailed which found (1) different spatial profiles for 62 gifted middle students, and (2) that Ss had either three-dimensional transformational excellence or outstanding…

This article describes the training process developed for teachers when the Columbus, Ohio, public schools decided to introduce Student Team Learning in the middle schools and the intermediate elementary grades. (MT)

Reports the results of a quasi-experimental study designed to assess the effects of values development lessons on students' self-reported attitudes and behaviors. Results showed that the 48 10- to 15-year-old students involved in the study improved in the behavioral measure but not on the self-report scales. (JDH)

Describes five computer-oriented activities suitable for middle grade students. Activities focus on use of spreadsheets to record nutrition data, programs that cause lights to twinkle on a Christmas tree and balloons to burst, an arithmetic problem, and a mathematics exercise using a spreadsheet. (JN)

Intermediate and junior high school students became very involved with this learning activity which involved detective work. Working in groups, students had to solve a riddle based on a sequence of clues. The answer to each set of clues was either a person, an event, or a place. (RM)