When the descriptive interpretations that sixth and eighth graders provided for metaphors selected from fifth-grade readers were examined in a Piagetian framework, the poorest interpretations showed characteristics of concrete and pre-operational thought, while the best interpretations showed characteristics of formal operational thought. (RL)

This study examined how children of different ages process social information from dramatic television programs. Second and eighth graders were shown edited versions of a television program that differed in complexity and the difficulty of inferring causal connections between the scenes. In addition, the scenes in half of the showings were kept in…

Reports on misconceptions held by intermediate grade students concerning chemistry textbook concepts, on the relation of reasoning ability to those misconceptions, and on the extent that textbooks encourage misconceptions. Concludes that the level of understanding displayed for the selected concepts, in combination with the nature of students'…

This curriculum guide is designed to help teachers plan a course of individualized instruction in language arts skills for seventh and eighth grade below-average learners. The guide includes a list of teacher objectives, a list of student objectives, a description of three diagnostic tests in reading and listening skills, and some examples of…