A diagnostic evaluation was conducted on Thomas, a fifth-grade student, to identify levels of reading and major word identification strategies. Initial testing conducted at Thomas' home revealed that he appeared to have an unusually positive attitude toward reading, considering the difficulties it had presented him since kindergarten. Learning…

This study presents students' responses to the question: "Why do you think they teach you American history in school?" It also provides responses to a second related question: "How might learning history help you in your life away from school?" The study also discusses the types and nature of the rationales students offered and places them against…

This study compared the reading comprehension abilities of learning disabled (LD) students with the performance of both their age-peers and their reading-level peers. Subjects were 16 seventh- and eighth-grade LD students, 16 normal achieving eighth graders, and 16 normal achieving fifth graders. To assess the use of prior knowledge under varying…

Sixty-three fifth-grade children completed daily activity diaries indicating how they spent their non-school time for 15 days. From these diaries, estimates of the minutes per day that were spent in various activities were derived. The estimate of book-reading time from the activity diary correlated with new measures of individual differences in…

A year-long thematic unit for fifth-graders combines critical thinking and whole language frameworks to help students retain, understand, and make active use of knowledge within and across domains. Using systematic instruction in critical thinking, students explore the fundamental human concepts of race, sex, age, and power. David…

Teachers' responsiveness to and empathic understanding of students' perceptions when they are not motivated are critical in promoting students' ownership of the literacy learning agenda; in helping students with their motivational difficulties; and in establishing classrooms that focus on the enhancement of caring. An interpretive study, conducted…

A practicum was designed to enhance students' knowledge of well known children's literature that is represented by the Newbery and Newbery Honor Award winning books. One fourth-grade and one fifth-grade class comprised of students reading at or near grade level at a metropolitan school with a nearly 97% Hispanic student population worked within a…

This document is the Spanish language supplement to "Second Step, Grades 4-5," a violence-prevention curriculum designed to reduce impulsive and aggressive behavior in young children and to increase their social competence. The supplement, which cannot be used alone, translates portions of the curriculum, such as stories and discussions,…

A study is reported that examined the relative effectiveness of four computer-assisted-instruction (CAI) manners of presentation and response for teaching irregular verbs to English/Spanish bilingual students in South Texas. Each of 4 types of CAI presentation gave the same 46 selected irregular verbs in context to fifth-graders in 4 subject…

A special needs teacher and a fifth-grade teacher developed a literature-based reading program based on the principle that no child, particularly the unskilled, should be excluded from a literature group. The program places a high value on talk and uses heterogeneous grouping of students. Students in the class choose the novels they wish to read…

This study examined two models of stress in early adolescence during the transition from elementary to middle school. One model suggested that role strain would predict self-esteem, with perceived competence and social support serving as moderators of strain. The second model predicted that self-esteem, perceived competence, and social support…

A study investigated connections between reading difficulties and short term memory processes in order to explore the psychological basis for some individual differences in reading comprehension skills. Drawing on previous research indicating that poor readers were inferior to normal ones in judging whether two patterns of long and short tones…

As part of a larger evaluation of the Individually Guided Education (IGE) system in Wisconsin elementary schools, a comparative study was conducted of the effectiveness of reading instruction and the Wisconsin Design for Reading Skill Development (WDRSD) program in IGE and non-IGE settings. Data on students in grades five and two in 11 different…

Proposing that teachers can help children learn more effectively by promoting metacognition and the acquisition of problem solving strategies, this report describes research studying the effectiveness of the experimental curriculum, Informed Strategies for Learning (ISL), in increasing third and fifth grade students' reading comprehension skills.…

In 2002, the University of California, San Diego ArtsBridge America program initiated a project that was designed to address the lack of standards-based geography content and culture-based arts instruction within San Diego elementary schools.