In one Colorado fifth grade classroom, math period begins with Mathematician's Chair, an activity allowing students to share their problems with entire class. Using this technique, students became adept at writing math problems, solving their own and peers' problems, using math-related writing as important medium of social discourse, and making…

When 54 second graders, 54 fifth graders, and 54 college students listened to stories that varied in extent of discontinuity, even the second graders showed an ability to detect discontinuity. Sensitivity varied with extent and location of discontinuity, and with variations in instructions and titles of stories. Verbal reports may underestimate…

Examines the effects of 2 levels of prior knowledge and 2 types of text structure on the recall and question performance of 90 fifth graders who were average readers. Finds that prior knowledge has a greater effect on question performance than on recall performance and that it only enhances the recall of one section of the text information. (MG)

Administered 1930s version of Pintner General Ability Tests: Verbal Series to 138 fifth grade students. Compared to scores from current intelligence and achievement tests, Pintner means were similar. Correlations of Pintner with other tests were of same order as those typically reported among contemporary measures. Item difficulty appeared similar…

Examines the effects of modified instruction and high ability fifth-grade students' use of metacognition on spelling achievement. Notes that the instruction was modified to match the visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic preferences of the group. Finds positive results. (RS)

The Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt addresses concerns related to constructivism and instructional design that were raised in an earlier issue. Relationship of ecological psychology and constructivist theory is described, constraints on constructed knowledge are discussed, and the complexity of the Jasper series of math problems that…

Describes an interdisciplinary instructional approach that links historical content and literature to develop historical literacy in fifth-grade students, fostering understanding and encouraging interpretation of stories told through the voices of the past. (SR)

Discusses how storytelling was used in a fifth-grade class as a tool for promoting literacy and language development by having children write and tell their own tales. Highlights the positive rewards for children. Includes suggestions and techniques for teachers to follow in their classrooms. (RS)

Presents a study in which 13 fifth-grade students were given an assignment to invent their own numeration systems following a unit on bases and a look at early events in the history of numbers. Offers an assessment of student understanding of numeration provided by analyses of the patterns embedded in their invented systems. Contains 13…

Develops an attitudinal instrument that can be used over the course of a funded local systemic change project to measure the changes in attitude toward science of African-American fifth grade students. (Author/CCM)

Explores students' conceptions of the relationships among 31 environmental issues using multidimensional scaling analysis. Suggests that both male and female grade 5 subjects develop meaningful conceptions of relationships among issues which have personal relevance to them. Contains 27 references. (DDR)

Explores the verbal reflections of a competent fifth-grade speller as he performed word sorts, spelling lists, and creative writing activities. Finds the accuracy or inaccuracy of the student's statements were related to his level of spelling development, and each literacy task appeared to have a predominant category of responses. (RS)

Investigates forms of logical thinking in 75 students from three fifth-grade classes. Uses as instruments categorical and propositional syllogisms with unknown, doubtful, and contradictory facts. Shows relevant differences among the three classes, with increasing difficulties at resolution between the categorical and propositional syllogisms.…

Presents an annotated bibliography of 31 titles suitable for young readers in grades four though six that were published in 1998. (LRW)

Describes the results of a curriculum-aligned assessment comprising selected items from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS). The assessment was administered to fifth grade students involved in a local systemic change project to address questions such as, How does the performance of students involved in the project compare…