Poor comprehenders from grades five and six were asked to read and rate the comprehensibility of three short passages. Passages with large numbers of modifying words were considered the least comprehensible. Support exists for the hypothesis that poor comprehenders process print in piecemeal fashion. (Author/JN)

First impressions of the well-behaved students in a fourth/fifth grade classroom located in Harlem, New York City. (RL)

The effects of neutral, separate, and interactive imagery instructions on the learning performance of first and fifth graders were compared for both single-item and paired-associate tasks. Results revealed that both younger and older children using images did show facilitation, compared with those not using images. (Author/GK)

Supports the hypothesis that, with time held constant, children instructed to build relationships between text and their knowledge and experience and among the different parts of a text comprehend that text better than do children who are not so instructed. (AEA)

Fifth-grade social studies students who were presented a highly structured lesson achieved significantly higher in comprehension and rated the lessons higher than did those students who were presented a less structured lesson. (CJ)

Fifth- and sixth-grade students were given reading passages of higher and lower interest and tested on their comprehension of these passages. Results revealed that higher interest materials significantly facilitated the reading comprehension of high ability students but had little effect on lower and middle ability students. (JD)

Describes the writing experiences of a group of gifted fifth and sixth grade students in the Active Learning Experiences in Resourceful Thinking (ALERT) program in Abilene, Texas. (HTH)

Describes a five-week unit dealing with ageism, especially in children's books. (DD)

To analyze smoking behavior among students, used cross-sectional data from a multiethnic cohort of 5th-, 8th-, and 12th-grade students (N=368) so as to examine the psychometric properties of two Transtheoretical Model of Change scales. Findings support the concurrent validity of the scales. (RJM)

Studies have shown that adults can recognize and recall material they have learned but not understood. When the material must be understood to be applied, however, comprehenders and noncomprehenders are not equally successful. An experiment using 63 fifth-grade students found the same pattern of results for children. (Author/TD)

Describes Body Parts Writing, an activity which focuses on the reader's own text-based and self-based interpretations of literature. Notes that the purpose of this activity is to invite and support readers' personal responses and give them a forum to discuss their individual interpretations. Concludes that it provides readers with another way to…

This study assessed the influence of emphasizing historical investigation with fifth graders through documentation of classroom activities and students' analysis of historical documents and images before and after the design experiment. Data suggested that the investigative approach holds promise for teaching fifth graders how to analyze…

Describes one pattern of reasoning observed in a mathematical activity with students in a grade 5 class and discusses ways in which the pattern is or is not mathematical. Describes patterns of reasoning in terms of ways of reasoning and degree of formulation of the reasoning. Distinguishes between mathematical reasoning and scientific reasoning in…

Examines the influence of word meanings on lexical processing in high- and low-skill readers. States that rated context availability was a significant predictor of lexical decision times and word reading accuracy beyond nonsemantic factors. Finds that ability to retrieve meanings of low-context-availability words easily is an important component…

Presents a fifth-grade art history lesson that begins with discussion about a group of Canadian artists called the Group of Seven. Explains that the students create their own landscapes following an activity on warm and cool colors. (CMK)