An experimental, intervention group of 4 children with moderate mental retardation received 10 therapy sessions focused on symbolic play development. Compared to a nonintervention group, the experimental children, aged 5-10, demonstrated increased amounts of symbolic play as well as higher levels of symbolism in their play behavior. (Author/JDD)

This article offers teaching strategies in the dynamic assessment of the potential of students with autism to acquire and use multiple graphic symbol combinations for communicative purposes. Examples are given of the matrix strategy and milieu language teaching strategies. It also describes the Individualized Communication-Care Protocol, which…

Discusses the findings of a recent study concerning the ability of an infant to see an object as a symbol. Reports that infants between 36 and 39 months old significantly outperformed informed infants between 30 and 32 months old on a symbolic task. (TW)

Reports on a study in which the symbolic relation between a scale model and the larger space that it represents was displayed by two groups of young children. Three-year-old children outperformed 2.5-year-olds in finding an object in a room after seeing an analogous object hidden in a model. (TW)

This article reflects one session of a course in thinking and communicating for Pace University (New York) faculty. The purpose of the course was to heighten awareness that language can seriously misrepresent events which it describes, thus affecting students' ability to perceive, evaluate, and make day-to-day decisions. Beginning with a concrete…

Presents a way to teach energy, economics, systems and environment as a whole, using symbols. Symbolic representations of energy systems and several teaching activity suggestions are included. (MR)

Visual accents can create unique communication graphics to increase attending behavior necessary for learning symbol/referent relationships by students with severe vision loss. Accenting procedures use size, color, contrast, shape, and graphic pattern to enhance the probability that the learner will self-initiate attending to the visual symbol.…

Discusses the importance of maps in geographical and environmental education. Reports on a study done with elementary school age children using aerial photographs. Indicates that children at age four can name some of the symbols on an aerial map, and by age six could recognize a majority of the symbols. (TW)

A structured system of visual features is seen to parallel the propositional hierarchy of operations usually associated with the parsing of algebraic expressions. Women more than men were found to depend on these visual cues. Possible causes and consequences are discussed. Subjects were secondary and college students. (Author/DC)

This second article in a series on children's artistic learning reviews the developmental process of symbolization and symbol representation by young children and analyzes the symbolism in works by three boys. Practical teaching considerations are discussed. For part one of this series, see the September, 1980 issue of this journal. (SJL)

Suggests the many learning areas that can be incorporated into mapping activities, to help children develop skills in using symbols. (ED)

Your students will be using and building on reading-related skills during the rest of their schooling and throughout their lives. Here are some learning exercises emphasizing reading-skill activities as well as projects related to other curriculum areas. (Author/RK)

The purpose of this series is to provide instructional ideas and materials that support implementation of the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards in local settings. This book addresses in a very practical way the content, pedagogy, and pupil assessment dimensions of reshaping school mathematics. Chapters include discussions and activities that…

Educators are asking about the appropriate role of computers in the classroom, whether computers have a legitimate place in a classroom for young children or will supplant more important activities, and whether children under the age of 8 should use microcomputers. These general questions must be examined in order to discover the real, underlying…

Twenty-eight hearing college students were trained on 30 signs from American Sign Language that had been classified as iconic, opaque, or abstract. Students learned and retained iconic signs better than opaque or abstract. A videotaped presentation mode produced greater consistency in scores than computer-assisted instruction. (Author/JDD)