This guide represents the final experimental version of a pilot project which was conducted in the United States between 1973 and 1976. The ideas and the manner of presentation are based on the works of Georges and Frederique Papy. They are recognized for having introduced colored arrow drawings ("papygrams") and models of our numeration…

The summer program for junior high and intermediate school pupils in 1969, supported by the State Urban Education Aid Program in New York, offered a six-week remediation and enrichment program for public and non-public school pupils. The program included an Academy in the Creative Arts, an Institute in Mathematics and Science, a school for the…

This study used a sociolinguistic and micro-ethnographic approach to examine whether the setting of a mathematics task had an impact on the type and quality of classroom discourse, and it described the teacher's conflicts and resolutions in facilitating student discourse in a sixth-grade mathematics classroom. Data collection occurred from January…

Twenty learning-handicapped and 20 nonhandicapped intermediate-grade children worked on a mathematics problem-solving task on a microcomputer. Their social and instructional interactions were compared as group configuration (individual, homogeneous dyad, and heterogeneous dyad) and task difficulty changed. The computer's effect on the conversation…

Presents six strategies to develop appropriate mathematical applications for middle school children: (1) change the name; (2) make problems appealing; (3) encourage group work; (4) let students generate story problems; (5) encourage a positive attitude; and (6) keep students motivated. Illustrates strategies with three examples involving…

Describes a library media skills unit for middle school mathematics that identifies specific subject material, develops questions based on the sources chosen, addresses student motivation, involves cooperative learning, and culminates in a "Jeopardy"-style game. (LRW)

Discusses how technology can fit into a middle school curriculum. Highlights include examples of curriculum development; the Higher Order Thinking Skills program for math; instilling excitement in students; family involvement; the mission statement of the National Middle Schools Association; and a sidebar on early childhood education and school…

Describes activities that use the geometric construction capabilities of the Geometer's Sketchpad computer software to explore triangles. Topics investigated include angle measurement, the sum of the measures of the angles of a triangle and a five-pointed star, triangle classification, and area and perimeter of a triangle. (MDH)

The teaching behavior and instructional methods of elementary school teachers were investigated to determine whether teachers with positive attitudes toward mathematics employ different methods in mathematics instruction than those with negative attitudes. Overall, teachers with negative attitudes employed methods that fostered dependency whereas…

To examine how performance-based assessment changed mathematics teaching under conditions of moderate and low-stake assessment, middle school teachers were studied in five districts in Maryland and Maine, with interviews of 82 teachers and administrators. Findings suggest that effects of state testing on teaching may be overrated by both advocates…

Based on the 1993 California Learning Assessment System Middle Grades Mathematics Performance Assessment, this study explored whether schools provided students equal opportunities to learn that which is assessed. Classroom observation of assessment administration and interviews with students and teachers at 13 schools found some differences…

Discusses integrating mathematics/science with measurement for grades 6-12. Provides Web addresses for companies manufacturing data grabbers (instruments for gathering data in electronic form for graphing and analysis by graphing calculators and computers) and for sites offering instructional materials. Describes projects in architecture,…

This teacher's manual contains a series of activities geared toward the teaching of career education in an integrated manner that can show students, particularly those from urban areas, the integrated nature of the career world and the importance of acquiring a variety of life skills as they prepare to enter the work world. The manual is divided…

This document reports on a small-group teaching experiment whose goal was to understand how fourth- and sixth-grade children develop concepts of common and decimal fractions. Both the Grade 6 and the Grade 4/5 children were taught common and decimal fractions through discussion and by using manipulatives, beginning with basic concepts of common…

In this unit, part of the Seeing and Thinking Mathematically in the Middle Grades series, students use mathematics to design and construct a model home from the ground up. Through the process of designing floor plans, constructing walls and roofs, and making cost estimates, students explore key concepts in geometry and measurement and engage in…