Defines concepts underlying a supportive group climate in the classroom and suggests ways to develop such an atmosphere in the social studies classroom. The teacher should model supportive communication, help students in skills related to group interaction, and deemphasize interpersonal competition. (Author/KC)

This activity book offers students in grades 3-7 creative, imaginative ways to explore what manners are and are not, why they matter and how to use manners to get more from life. The book is divided into nine chapters: (1) "What Are Manners?"; (2) "Why Do Manners Matter?"; (3) "Getting to Know One Another"; (4)…

Points out the importance of effective group work in all aspects of education. Provides group members and leaders with 15 practical guidelines concerning member behavior in groups and task or structural characteristics of groups. Suggestions deal with issues such as communication styles, group maintenance, group size, and reaching consensus. (JHZ)

Children's (ages 8-12) interactive social responses to computers were examined. Results showed that students had not considered the social implications of using another's data. When infringements of their rights to privacy took place, students demanded penalties. Students showed preference for group problem-solving strategies. (RM)

Describes a specific technique that involves initiative games to assess the level of group cooperation among children ages 11 to 13 in a school setting. Describes the development of initiative tasks used in the evaluation and the observation procedure used. (SB)

Cooperative learning is a generic classroom technique that requires students to work and talk together about academic material while learning effective interpersonal skills. This packet, prepared in conjunction with the Minnesota School Effectiveness Program, describes the benefits of cooperative learning and defines its critical attributes,…

The effectiveness of a set of curricular activities and differing group experience in facilitating interdependent task structuring by seventh graders were examined. No significant differences were found among the experimental groups, but they structured the task and behaved more cooperatively than the control group. (Author/MH)

Noting that collaboration can enhance children's ability to solve problems of increasing difficulty, this paper discusses the theory of collaborative talk in the classroom and how it can be applied. The first section of the paper introduces the notion of collaborative talk by describing a classroom setting and offering an excerpt of two children…