Describes the types of mathematical games or puzzles that can be used in foreign language courses and dicusses the purposes they serve. Emphasizes their effectiveness as motivational learning stimuli and points out that they can be used either as instructional or reinforcement devices which force the student to "think" in the foreign language.…

The effects of a social model on first- and second-grade children's persistence in problem solving were studied using a wire-puzzle task. Both duration of effort and success of the model significantly affected children's persistence,compared with that of a control group. (Author/RD)

Presents a puzzle using chemical element clues leading to animal names. (YDS)

Presents a 30-word wordsearch puzzle on nucleotide sequences used in proteins in terrestrial organisms. (YDS)

Spatial language in English and American Sign Language (ASL) was compared by asking 10 native signers and 10 English speakers to solve a set of spatial puzzles. The study highlights the ramifications of a linguistic system in which space itself is used to convey spatial information compared to one that conveys the same information via an auditory…

Investigates three gender pairs of preschool and elementary school childrens' task solving using floor and screen versions of the Logo turtle. The study provides insights on the strategies and interactions of young children in a novel problem-solving context. It reveals gender differences showing that, although girls take more time and make more…

Describes the use of a preschool Parents' Box, a set of activity kits for parents and children to use together, including books, puppets, puzzles, music and dance supplies, and art projects. Provides examples of the labels for the activities, each providing instructions and a suggested age level. Notes that parents and children responded…

Describes several riddle and game settings used in preschool classrooms, reports observations of responses from young children, and suggests avenues of intervention. Addresses importance of the teacher's role, careful orchestration of questions and discussion, listening with skill, and appropriate positive feedback in assisting children in…

This exercise is intended to teach the sense of sentences and their place in the larger fabric of paragraphs as they are woven into organized papers. Based on the five-paragraph theme (introduction, three body paragraphs, and conclusion), the exercise divides "What I Haved Lived For," the prologue to "The Autobiography of Bertrand…

Factoring puzzles can be used to review computational technique and build readiness for factoring trinomials. (SD)

Forty fifth and sixth graders, matched on sex and measures of test anxiety, defensiveness, and IQ, were divided into two groups, each of which solved Porteus maze tasks and a marble puzzle, with and without memory support, respectively. An anxiety-by-memory support interaction occurred in the number of errors made prior to solving the marble…

The procedures by which children from lower and middle class backgrounds attempt to obtain rewarding outcomes from each other were observed under semicontrolled conditions. Ten male and 9 female dyads, each composed of 1 middle class and 1 lower class preschool child, were required to complete 12 simple block puzzles in which each was given some…

To determine the effect of verbalization on the acquisition of manipulative skills in young children, a puzzle-assembly experiment was designed. Each of 65 Head Start children between the ages of 47 and 58 months was randomly assigned to one of the four treatment groups: practice with verbalization (PV); practice with no verbalization (PNV);…

Twenty puzzles originally posed by Sam Loyd (1841-1911) are presented. Solutions are provided. (SD)