Shares American Indians' reactions to "Little House on the Prairie," provides a short description of critical pedagogy and critical literacy, and then shares fifth-graders' responses to the book and their move toward critical reading. Concludes with five suggestions for working with historical fiction. (SG)

This note discusses a possible method for teaching an example of problem solving to intermediate grade students. Under the guidance of the instructor, students may see the links between the 'guess' method and the arithmetic operation 'strings'. This may help enhance their logical thinking ability as well as arithmetic operation skills. For…

The current study examined the mutual influence of parenting and boys' externalizing behavior from 4th to 8th grade, how these relationships change as children develop, and the stability of parenting and child behavior in a sample of 122 boys. Child behavior predicted poor parental monitoring at 6th and 7th grade and inconsistent discipline at all…

The intervention potential of physical activity programs for intermediate schools (grades 7-9), could be enhanced by an understanding of how students engage with and disengage from physical activity. This study provides an interpretation of how adolescents, parents, teachers, and principals perceive students' involvement in physical activity…

There have been increasing expectations that all primary school students and teachers actively use information and communications technologies (ICT) in their learning. In order to achieve this it is important that appropriate environments are set up to support the varying needs and potential of the different groups within the school context.…

Many teachers bring caterpillars into their class for their students to see the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly. This is exciting and educational, but more can be done using Monarchs across the curriculum. This article describes an integrated butterfly unit for students in grades four to six that starts with identifying the Monarch…

Can children reason the Bayesian way? We argue that the answer to this question depends on how numbers are represented, because a representation can do part of the computation. We test, for the first time, whether Bayesian reasoning can be elicited in children by means of natural frequencies. We show that when information was presented to fourth,…

The common etiology hypothesis proposes that depression and anxiety commonly co-occur because they share etiological factors. This study examined the specificity of the hopelessness theory in the development of depressive and anxious symptoms in children. Students in Grades 3 through 6 (N = 418, 47% boys) completed measures assessing inferential…

A study examined the dimensions of children's motivation for reading. Eleven different dimensions of reading motivations were proposed, including intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for reading, perceptions of reading efficacy, social aspects of reading, and reading disincentives. An 82-item questionnaire was developed to measure each dimension,…

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is the largest, most comprehensive, and rigorous international study of schools and student achievement ever conducted. During the 1995 school year, the study tested the mathematics and science knowledge of a half-million students from 41 nations at five different grade levels. This…

This study examined the theory asserting that partitioning a unit is basic in developing understanding of the different rational number constructs. A fraction sequence was developed in which early experiences with partitioning units were provided. An alternative fraction sequence was designed to include initial activities with pattern blocks in…

A study established whether self-esteem had a positive significant effect on reading achievement. Data were collected from 117 fourth-grade students in a middle class suburban setting. Results of a self-esteem test (the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale) were correlated to standardized reading test scores (California Achievement…

The guide presents enrichment activity information for a language arts unit focusing on vocabulary for gifted and talented students in grades 5 and 6. The information is presented in terms of objectives, entry skills, teacher's approaches, student activities, and resources. Activities deal with such aspects of vocabulary development as synonyms…

This study examined whether post-reading comprehension would be affected by the inclusion of pictorial material with a story and a prereading prediction questionnaire. Subjects, 75 heterogeneously grouped fourth grade students randomly assigned to one of three groups, either (1) read a basal reader passage with pictorial material; or (2) read the…