Background/Context: Student motivation typically has been studied as it relates to extrinsic (e.g., reinforcement) or intrinsic (e.g., personal choice) sources of influence, with scant attention to sociocultural context. This article builds on a previous article in this special issue that (1) addresses the role of opportunity in the motivation of…

The abstract nature of mathematics requires the communication of mathematical ideas through multiple representations, such as words, symbols, pictures, objects, or actions. Building representational fluency involves using mathematical representations flexibly and being able to interpret and translate among these different models and mathematical…

Objective: To assess hyperactivity (H/I), inattention (IN), and oppositional-defiant (OP) symptoms in a nonclinical Brazilian sample of adolescents, and to investigate the association between scoring profiles of teachers and parents, symptom levels, and gender. Method: Symptoms were assessed through the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelhman (SNAP-IV)…

In May 2006, the summer-reading committee in the author's middle school debated the relevance of "So Far from the Bamboo Grove" by Yoko Kawashima Watkins and decided against using the book as a required summer-reading selection. Therefore, the author was interested in the controversy that erupted a few months later in Dover-Sherborn, a district…

This study asks whether bullies have higher social status than their victims. Social status was measured by social preference, popularity, and physical competence as perceived by children and teachers. A survey instrument was introduced to enable identification of specific victims associated with specific bullies. The sample was 508 fourth and…

Some high achievers are not as easy to engage. Sometimes motivating high achievers is "a matter of being more sensitive to what they are interested in," says Don Ambrose, a professor of education at Rider University in New Jersey. But too often classrooms are not set up for that kind of sensitivity. Research shows that schools are…

This article applies Engestrom's Activity Theory (AT) as an analytical lens to identify defining characteristics of the collaborative creative music making activities of composing and arranging. Attention is paid to the complex interrelationships among the various elements of interaction in children's collaborative creative music making as…

Barriers to and facilitators of walking and bicycling to school were explored through 12 focus groups made up of fourth- and fifth-grade students and their parents who lived near their respective schools. The barriers and facilitators reported by parents and children generally fell into one of three categories: intrapersonal and interpersonal…

Mathematics is often thought of as a purely intellectual and unemotional activity. Recently, researchers have begun to question the validity of this approach, arguing that emotions and cognition are intertwined. The emotions expressed during mathematics work may be linked to mathematics achievement. We used behavioral measures to identify the…

A study was conducted to determine the best match between the ability of elementary school students to detect ambiguity and two instructional strategies: analogizing and practice. To identify subjects' initial abilities in detecting ambiguity, 57 participating fifth graders were administered a task similar to the Park-and-Shop board game.…

Results demonstrated no significant differences among groups who received immediate or delayed feedback with either similar or dissimilar interpolated activities and no significant difference was demonstrated between retention tests administered either immediately or three days after feedback. (RB)

Explores the patterns of interrelationships among the part scores and total scores of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking and the Welsh Figural Preference Test for a sample of fifth grade pupils. (Author/RC)

This teacher's manual represents the second book in a three-book series. Part One focuses on the fourth grade and Part Two focuses on the fifth grade. The work of each year is divided into 10 chapters, each consisting of approximately 18 lessons. This arrangement allows flexibility and enables the teacher to repeat lessons that are difficult for…

This textbook is a teacher's manual for The Boys' and Girls' Readers series. Attention is directed to the following features of this intermediate series: To widen the experiences of boys and girls, a rich and varied content is furnished in the readers, organized according to dominating fields of thought; and to provide a truly efficient working…

This textbook is second in a series of arithmetic books that apply the principles discovered by the psychology of learning, by experimental education, and by the observation of successful school practice, to the teaching of arithmetic. Parts One and Two are intended for grades five and six respectively. Part One provides for mastery of the four…