Collected observations of parental behaviors of fifth graders and then obtained adjustment measures for the fifth, sixth, and seventh grades. Supportive, aware parenting was associated with early adolescents' positive academic, social, and psychological adjustment in fifth grade and with further improvement in adjustment in seventh grade. (RJM)

Argues the usefulness of timelines for fourth, fifth, and sixth grade history instruction, contending that timelines reveal history's unfolding better than fact-recall techniques. Presents ways to use timelines, including autobiographical, large display, and manipulative timelines, and combining timelines with biographies. Suggests timelines help…

Efforts of 10 Japanese and 9 American teachers in Chiba City (Japan) and Ann Arbor (Michigan), respectively, to socialize their students and the 407 Japanese and 207 American students' judgments of norms were compared. Four domains of classroom life were studied: academic performance; academic procedures; social procedures; and morality. (SLD)

Measures of beliefs and reading performance were collected from 350 Moroccan students over a 5-year period beginning with grade 1 and 464 students over a 3-year period beginning with grade 5. Belief measures covered metacognition of reading skills and strategies, causal attributions, and conceptions of the good reader. (TJH)

Fifty-five boys, aged 6 to 8 and 10 to 12 years, were administered EEGs while they silently read short passages. Subjects were then tested on the passages. Age differences in the relationship between hemisphere activation during silent reading and reading comprehension were discovered. (TJH)

Aided by a small state grant, a Los Angeles County elementary school serving limited-English-speaking students tackled its underachievement problem by involving teachers in setting higher academic standards and expectations. The goal-driven project has provided focus and coherence to classroom instruction and improved fifth-grade reading and…

Describes a pilot project of the Park/School Program which involved graduate students in environmental studies conducting field studies in ecology with 46 fifth graders. Provides an overview of the project's potential for effecting change inside and outside the classroom, and presents recommendations for future programs and research. (LZ)

Presents findings of a qualitative study of musical learning processes. Findings are reported in terms of the nature of strategies used by children as they work with peers to solve compositional problems. Also finds that successful students moved back and forth from holistic approaches to segmented activities. (CFR)

Effects of mothers' need for approval on children's expectancies for success and persistence during failure were studied for 90 fifth graders attempting to solve 4 puzzles, 3 of which were unsolvable. Parental and situational variables affect children's achievement cognitions and behavior. Implications for parental socialization of achievement are…

Describes a longitudinal statewide study of Ohio fifth and ninth graders' knowledge about and attitude toward the oceans and Great Lakes. Results indicate a knowledge score increase except for humanities items. Among science items, earth science topics showed the greatest deficiencies, and oceanic attitudes declined over the period. (15…

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)