In this informal survey, questionnaires about reading and television were distributed to 212 fifth and sixth graders in eight states. This article summarizes responses on favorite authors, favorite titles read in the last year, favorite kinds of books, and preferences for reading or television. (SJL)

Describes a model using a group of fifth-grade students to better understand the assessment standards. Discusses the activity, the lesson on tessellation, and instructional decisions from the perspective of the assessment standards. (ASK)

Describes a study of fifth graders that investigated whether students who compose on the computer write expository texts of longer length, and of better quality, than students composing by hand. Results indicate that the computer alone is not the key to facilitating highly proficient writing. (LRW)

Aspects of reading motivation and the amount and breadth of reading done were studied with 105 fourth and fifth graders. Children's reading was found to be multidimensional, and their motivation predicted reading amount and breadth even when previous amount and breadth were controlled. Intrinsic motivation was a better predictor than extrinsic…

Explores cognitive operations such as coordination, integration, and structuring as manifested in a spatial context. Relates spatial thinking to enumeration strategies. Interviews with 45 third graders and 78 fifth graders suggest that students initially see arrays of cubes as uncoordinated sets of faces, later as space-filling structures. (FDR)

Children's views of social approval for electronic game playing were studied with 364 fourth and fifth graders, 203 of whom were female. Many children endorsed statements indicating that social approval for game playing is consistent with common gender stereotypes. The greatest differences in perceived approval were found for "fighting…

Presents an art lesson used when teaching about North American Indians to fourth- and fifth-grade students. Explains that the students learn how to make baskets using a coil-wrap technique with colored yarns and beads. Provides a step-by-step explanation of how to create the baskets. (CMK)

Discusses the role and nature of pedagogic discourse. Suggests that teacher talk plays an important role in the learning of radically, ethnically, and linguistically diverse students. Examines the way a teacher uses her talk in teaching and how her 5th grade Latino students develop control over the mathematics discourse. (Author/KHR)

Investigated the effects of cooperative learning on achievement in and attitudes toward mathematics among fifth graders of color in a culture different from that of the United States (Bermuda). Participants completed parts of the California Achievement Test and Penelope Peterson's Attitude Toward Mathematics Scale. Pre-test and post-test data…

Study examined effectiveness of a substance abuse prevention program in preventing tobacco and alcohol use among elementary school students in grades 3 through 6. Program teaches social resistance skills and general personal and social competence skills. Findings indicate a school-based substance abuse prevention approach previously found to be…

Determines if students' aesthetic involvement would be influenced by the ethnicity of the student or the culture portrayed in short stories. Finds that the level of aesthetic involvement was not significantly influenced by the ethnicity of the student or culture portrayed in the story. Supports the integration of multicultural literature into the…

Focuses on five fifth-grade students for whom student-led literature discussion was not working. Tells what happened when all five of the students were put in one group, and shows that students who seemed to be resistant eventually engaged themselves with the books they were reading. (SR)

The role of executive control in the revising difficulties of 12 fifth and sixth graders with writing and learning problems was studied. Procedural support made revising easier for participating students, but their difficulties were not due solely to difficulties with executive control. Implications for instruction are discussed. (SLD)

Discusses African American othermothering in the role of providing the psychoeducational needs of the urban child. Presents two biographical portraits that examine othermothering by a elementary-school principal and community othermothering by a fifth-grade elementary-school teacher with 25 years of experience in the urban classroom. (GR)

Examines how much developing beliefs about the causes of academic outcomes, goal orientation for learning, and study strategy use affected changes in children's self-assessments of their ability to master academic material. Presents the results in terms of a developing academic self-image. (CMK)