You'll gain plenty of weather resources from this month's issue (temperature concepts, weather instruments, the water cycle/evaporation). You can use that information with these outdoor seasonal connections.

Explains the basics of spherical geometry and describes a series of activities developed for grade 6 middle school students. (YDS)

Algebra is one of the top priorities of mathematics instruction for the elementary and middle grades. This book is designed to help 6-8 teachers meet the challenge of making algebra an integral part of their mathematics instruction and realize both what to teach and how to teach central algebraic concepts. Classroom-tested lessons help teachers…

Reports on a project in which a 6th grade class determined the type of trash being thrown away on their school grounds through data collection, analysis, and graphing. (YDS)

Pupils in the middle school can be motivated to enjoy and write haiku poetry. A student teacher taught two lessons to a sixth grade class in haiku writing. First, the student teacher read three haikus aloud to students. After discovering the characteristics of a haiku from two models, the class as a whole wrote a haiku based on slides from their…

This report describes a program designed to empower students through the use of the democratic classroom to improve students' attitudes toward school. Targeted population consisted of sixth grade students in a growing middle class community, located in a major midwestern city. The problem of poor student attitude was documented through data…

These instructional materials were produced as part of the project, Developing Computational Estimation Materials for the Middle Grades. The introduction to these sixth grade materials covers the following: why teach estimation; how the materials were developed; and how the lessons are organized. The 15 lessons that follow are designed to teach…

The purpose of this curriculum guide is to define a portion of the common core of knowledge and skills that middle school students should know or be able to do to promote health and well-being. It identifies an appropriate score and sequence, and offers suggestions for teaching and learning. It is also intended as a tool for coordinating and…

Describes how one teacher is converting her traditional mathematics classroom into one that more closely reflects the NCTM Standards and shows how communication between professionals can result in rewarding changes in teaching and learning. Presents activities involving data analysis appropriate for middle school students. Includes reproducible…

This curriculum guide provides instruction in assertive skills, personality types, and relaxation techniques for sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students. Is is especially intended to increase the social skills of shy, withdrawn students; but it may be used with any students who demonstrate deficits in social skills. The guide contains 50…

This paper describes a computer integration project implemented with two sixth-grade social studies classes. First it outlines and discusses the following goals: (1) integrate technology meaningfully into the classroom setting; (2) supplement the existing social studies curriculum; (3) enable students to learn to use computers responsibly; and (4)…

Modifications to an existing secondary school foreign language program in Arlington County, Virginia, are described that were developed when the middle school program began in September, 1990, and sixth graders were incorporated into the foreign language program. Lessons were tested in an alternative school prior to adoption in the middle schools.…

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…

This book provides 12 theme-based model lessons for gifted students in grades 6, 7, and 8. Introductory material addresses ways to integrate middle school curricula with established national standards and principles of differentiated curriculum. Each lesson follows a five-part outline: (1)motivation (stimulating the learner); (2) input (providing…

Since the early 1950s, several programs have enticed thousands of rural Mexicans to migrate to California and the Northwest to be agricultural workers. The resultant demographic and cultural impacts have been immense. Hood River County (Oregon) schools are over 30 percent Hispanic. There is much ignorance and prejudice regarding the Hispanic…