Guidelines for developing performance assessments in science education allied with current research and reform are presented. The guidelines are applied to 3 hands-on science investigations performed by over 300 fifth and sixth graders and scored by science educators. Although difficult to develop, such assessments can be scored reliably. (SLD)

Describes the use of poetry in U.S. history instruction. Contends that using simulations, historical documents, and literature help make students keenly aware of conflicts and the human impact of historical events. Recommends that students write poetry related to historical topics and includes five examples of student-written poetry. (CFR)

The impact of personalizing mathematical word problems and rewording them for explicitness was tested with 68 second and 59 fifth graders. Second graders benefited from personalization and rewording in combination; fifth graders benefited from personalization, not rewording. Personalization makes problems more motivating and easier to represent…

The working memory hypothesis that the development of span in children is related to increasing proficiency in the use of an articulatory loop was tested in two studies with 120 Canadian children in grades 5 and 6 and 11 and 12. Some support was found for the hypothesis. (SLD)

Presents five pictures of fifth grade low-achieving students involved in reading-writing activities. Presents two alternatives to current classroom practices for nonmainstream students: prize the culture of nonmainstream students; and view storytelling as another literacy. (MG)

Reports results of a qualitative study that examined what a group of fifth graders thought about using the "Research Buddy," a World Wide Web site designed to help them do a research project. Findings center on the comparison of student perceptions with observed student behavior. The data collection instruments are appended. (MES)

Recalls a week-long field study trip to a reconstructed historic site, Barkerville, British Columbia. Ten years later the participants remembered the experience. The students overwhelmingly agreed that the experience sparked their imagination and created a real connection to the historical past. Includes brief excerpts from the interviews. (MJP)

Explores the evolution of postmodernism and the many differences between modernism and postmodernism. Describes two strategies (authentic instruction and discipline-based instruction) for structuring a postmodern curriculum. Highlights an activity that helped fifth-grade students learn about postmodern art and real-world issues by studying the…

Describes a project whereby preservice teachers and young adolescents collaborate to interview local citizens who experienced life during World War II. Details the project stages including learning through oral history, preparing, interviewing, writing, celebrating, and evaluating. Notes how the project increased student interest in history and…

The current study examined the provision of corrective feedback and learner repair following feedback in the interactional context of child-to-child conversations, particularly computer mediated, in an elementary Spanish immersion class. The relationship among error types, feedback types, and immediate learner repair were also examined. A total of…

This article details the implementation and empirical evaluation of an elementary school violence program. The problem of school violence and the significance and focus of the study are discussed. The general research question in this study was to examine the potential for a computer-mediated anger management program to enhance or improve the…

Changing global and local conditions have given rise to complex issues of identity. Within such conditions, the challenge for educators is to help students to develop a language with which to describe the new and dynamic cultural identities and relationships constitutive of what Hall (1996a, p.223) describes as "New Times". Students need…

Spelling pronunciations are hypothesized to be helpful in building up relatively stable phonologically underpinned orthographic representations, particularly for learning words with irregular phoneme-grapheme correspondences. In a four-week computer-based training, the efficacy of spelling pronunciations and previewing the spelling patterns on…

The major purpose of this study was to attempt to understand some of the reasons for Mathematics perception of Taiwanese children compared to American children. The study was conducted with elementary schools in the Denver metropolitan area and Taipei, Taiwan in which fifth graders in each city (21 and 37 respectively) were selected as target…

The present study examined whether specific item characteristics, such as mode of acquisition (MoA) of word meanings, make reading comprehension tests particularly difficult for deaf children. Reading comprehension data on nearly 13,000 hearing 7-to-12-year-olds and 253 deaf 7-to-20-year-olds were analyzed, divided across test levels from second…