Proposes an approach to vocabulary development that stresses the integral relationships between words; describes 20 categories of meaning that can be used as a basis for developmental vocabulary lessons; and offers suggestions for the application of these meaning categories in vocabulary instruction in various subject areas. (GT)

How secondary social studies teachers can teach concepts through the skills of categorizing and generalizing is discussed. (RM)

The problem of teaching relational discriminations to people with mental retardation is examined. The limitations of several commonly used teaching procedures are discussed and alternative approaches to simple-discrimination learning are described. Results of two preliminary single-subject studies demonstrating the feasibility of these approaches…

Illustrating the way in which poorly posed questions may adversely affect class participation and learning, this article presents examples of classroom questions that have been classified and analyzed; components of hierarchical questioning strategies; and methods for using questions to stimulate thinking and enhance classroom learning. (Author/JC)

This article introduces a series of papers that explain and illustrate how a higher order thinking curriculum can be designed for a full spectrum of students, including students with learning disabilities. The article discusses an approach in which concepts, rules, and strategies are taught by organizing content around the process of noting…

A local California school developed a program to meet language needs of first graders (70 percent of whom were from minority groups.) The program stresses basic concepts, vocabulary development through categorization and sensory experiences, and many opportunities to practice verbal skills with peers. (DB)

This publication is a collection of 13 hands-on activities that focus on earth science-related activities and involve students in learning about growing crystals, tectonics, fossils, rock and minerals, modeling Ohio geology, geologic time, determining true north, and constructing scale-models of the Earth-moon system. Each activity contains…

The Learning in Science Project has adopted the view that science teaching might be improved if teachers can be given some appreciation of students' views of the world and the beliefs, expectations, and language that learners bring to new learning situations. This investigation focuses on the views that children (N=34) may have about rocks and…

Examined alternative conceptions of animals and animal classification by interviewing fifth grade, eighth grade, and freshmen/sophmore college students (N=62). Subjects were asked to name five animals, state critical attributes, and complete a classification task. Results indicate all ages fail to generalize and discriminate among examples and…

Discussed is the idea that energy is the cause of change. This idea, going back to early cognitive development, means that the teaching of energy needs to confront how, thermodynamically, people can perform actions. The change in energy caused by differences is emphasized. (KR)

This teacher's guide is part of a program of activities that help secondary-level students develop the complex thinking skills needed to succeed in science. This program can be used with current curriculum materials. It is designed to help students integrate ideas and develop concepts that demonstrate higher level thinking. A rich environment of…

A theoretical situation-person-interactions model of learning and performance is presented, and applications of the model through the Instrumental Language Functions (ILF) approach with preschool normal and older variously handicapped children and adults are described. The model is graphically depicted and discussed according to such aspects as…

One area explored in the second (in-depth) phase of the Learning in Science Project was "children's science," defined as views of the world and the meanings for words that children have and bring with them to science lessons. The investigation reported focuses on the concepts of "living" held by 32 students in four different…

Presents the hierarchical structure of quadrilaterals as an illustration of learning a geometric concept by moving from the levels of visualization and analysis to the level of formal deduction. The development discusses the classification of quadrilaterals, the inheritance of properties within the hierarchy, connections between algebra and…

Learning activities and questioning skills that teachers in Tasmania can use to determine a child's mathematics understanding are presented. Covered topics include division, multiplication, subtraction, addition, sorting and classification, one-to-one correspondence, patterns, ordering, and counting. Included for each topic are the aim, needed…