This study examines the current state of food preparation in elementary schools in life environment studies, periods for integrated study, and special activities, (i.e. food preparation that takes place outside of home-making classes), and focuses on the cooking methods employed therein. The experimental results show that over 50% of elementary schools have introduced actual cooking tasks into life environment studies, periods for integrated study, and special activities. However, an analysis of the food items prepared and cooking methods used in these tasks indicates that insufficient consideration is given to the difficulty of such tasks.

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A metaphor compares an idea to other things, and expresses it. In this research, it is thought that a metaphor becomes the key for discovering something through cognitive noticing. This research investigates the role of metaphor in a Life Environment Studies lesson. It also investigates whether the use of metaphor changes according to the intervention of others. First, when investigating first grade elementary school students, it turns out that metaphors have the following roles: (1) A child compares a concept to other things, and explains it. (2) A child builds a concept using a metaphor. (3) A child expresses his/her outlook using the "Customized Metaphor". This investigation showed that metaphor was the key to discovering the intellectuality of a companion. Moreover, when others interrupted the conversation, it appeared that metaphors were seldom expressed. Teachers should listen attentively to children and try to understand their intentions. If teachers can observe a child's use of metaphor, it can be concluded that cognitive noticing took place. In this case teachers should accept and encourage the child.

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The aim of this case study is to examine the teaching method for developing biological materials on the basis of the result of experiments. Our study consisted of three science lessons. In the first lesson, the students dissected the tip section of chicken wings. They found muscles, bones and tendons, and they understood the structure and movement of the tip section of chicken wings. In the second lesson, they made models of the arm on the basis of the result of the experiments. In the third lesson, they presented their models of the arm, their characteristics and their reasons for making the models, to other students. The findings of this case study are as follows: Their models were matched with the actual structure of chicken wings. They understood very well how their arms moved. The teaching method involving the development of something on the basis of the result of experiments suggests some possibilities for improving learners' understanding, and motivation.

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The subject of "Information" was included in the new course of study revised in 1998. In order to achieve the aims of "Information", a curriculum was developed in which the time allocated to "Information A" was increased by one class unit per week. Problem-solving modules which included both self-evaluation and peer evaluation in study activities were developed, and used in the lessons. Through such lessons, students discovered their study problems using self-evaluation and peer evaluation. In addition, students could better understand the problem-solving process.

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Instructional materials were developed for the functions and the mechanism of transformers that transmit electricity under an alternating current. Instructional materials comprising three units were developed as follows: (1) An experiment to compare the situation where a transformer was not used with the case where it was used. (2) An experiment to observe that the transformer works only at the time of the alternating current. (3) An experiment to observe electromagnetic induction occurring in the inside of the transformer. These instructional materials were piloted on the ninth grade students. The effectiveness of these instructional materials were determined by tests given to the students before and after the class. A follow-up test was given three months later to determine whether students still understood what they had studied. The follow-up test confirmed the effectiveness of the instructional materials. At the same time, it revealed that 21.9 % of the students didn't understand.

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The development of literary materials has been discussed in relation to adaptation. Adaptation necessarily causes the degradation of 'literary' features in literary works. As a result of this, literary materials cannot function as literature. In spite of this, studies aimed towards alleviating the problem have not been carried out. In this study, literary materials which can function as a literary work are named as 'literary literary materials', and a way to develop such materials is focused on. After defining the notion 'literary', the principle of equivalence, internal deviation, and external deviation are shown to be important factors for making 'literary literary materials' function as literature. Next, it is designated that these 'literary' structures can facilitate second language learning and make 'literary literary materials' function as teaching materials. ・ In conclusion, as a way to develop 'literary literary materials', two suggestions are put forward: (i) the principle of equivalence and internal deviation should be retained after adaptation; (ii) the preservation of external deviation should be determined based upon learners' proficiency and the way materials are used in teaching.

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The study of colors is taught in junior high school art courses. For this type of study, color cards and solid color models are often used in addition to the textbook. However, colors have a variety of characteristics including a connection to emotions. With conventional instructional methods, such as using color plates in textbooks to help students imagine mixtures of colors, it is difficult to help students understand some of these characteristics. In addition, teaching the use of color in everyday life requires the preparation of a large number of teaching materials in a variety of forms, such as supplementary reading material, slides, and wall charts. However, through the use of computers, we can readily create simulations of mixtures of colors, as well as easily and freely show examples of the use of color in everyday life and the techniques used in the color schemes of famous works of art. This research was implemented to develop software to support the study of colors in order to help students to easily understand the characteristics and uses of colors, and to create coursework on colors that is closely related to our everyday lives. This paper discusses the design concept of the software.

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This paper has two aims. The first aim is to explain the concepts of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) and oral reading fluency. CBM is considered reliable and valid with characteristics of both formative and summative assessments (Fuchs & Fuchs, 1999). Oral reading fluency is one of the most effective CBMs in reading instruction for LI elementary and special-education students Jenkins, Fuchs, van den Broek, Espin & Deno, 2003). The second aim is to report investigations, which were conducted on thirty-nine Japanese second-year senior high school students of English, concerning: (a) whether oral reading fluency could index the English reading comprehension for Japanese learners of English; and (b) whether oral reading speed could take the place of oral reading fluency in indexing their English reading comprehension. In the experiments, reading comprehension, oral reading fluency and three types of oral reading speeds of the participants were measured, and the correlations between them were computed. The three types of oral reading speeds were speed-focused, content-focused and comprehension-adjusted. The main results were: (a) there was a significant correlation between their reading comprehension and oral reading fluency (r=.482, p<.01); (b) there were significant correlations between their reading comprehension and three types of oral reading speeds (rs=.375-.479, p<.05), with the comprehension-adjusted one being the highest (r=.479, p<.01); and (c) there were significant correlations between their oral reading fluency and three types of oral reading speeds (rs=.690-.770, p<.01) Findings based on the results were: (a) oral reading fluency can be a rough indicator of learners' English reading comprehension; (b) oral reading speed, which is much more handily measured than oral reading fluency, can also be a rough indicator of their English reading comprehension; and (c) comprehension-adjusted oral reading speed can be a better indicator of their reading comprehension than the other types of oral reading speed. Implications for reading pedagogy were: (a) we should introduce the measurement of speed-focused oral reading speed into our reading pedagogy so that we may understand learners' decoding skills and deal with their deficiencies; and (b) we should also introduce the measurement of comprehension-adjusted oral reading speed into our reading pedagogy so that we may understand learners' comprehension skills as well as decoding skills and deal with their deficiencies.

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The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between second language anxiety and motivation. The investigation was carried out with 78 students who were studying Japanese as a second language in Japan. From the results of a factor analysis of motivation, two factors were identified as "desire to acquire the Japanese language" and "interest in, and enjoyment of learning, the Japanese language". There was no correlation between these two motivations and Motoda's Japanese Language Anxiety Scale (JLAS). However the analysis of variance, including the scale for self-efficacy constructed in this study, indicated that among the students who felt anxiety there was a tendency for "desire to acquire the Japanese language" or "the self-efficacy of the Japanese language" to be high, whilst "interest in, and enjoyment of learning, the Japanese language" was found to be low. On the other hand, there was a tendency among students without anxiety for "desire to acquire the Japanese language" or "the self-efficacy of the Japanese language" to be high and "interest in, and enjoyment of learning, the Japanese language" to also be high.

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The purposes of this study were to reveal teachers' understanding of the terminology "metacognition", and their awareness and practice of metacognitive support, support that promotes metacognitive activities; and to draw implications for the development of children's metacognitive skills. The findings of a questionnaire investigation of elementary school and junior high school teachers are described as follows: (1) Many teachers did not understand the terminology "metacognition"; (2) Although teachers were aware of the importance of metacognitive support, they could not bring this awareness to their practice; (3) The teachers who understood the terminology used metacognitive support more frequently than those who did not; (4) Teachers with average to high levels of experience used metacognitive support more frequently than novice teachers. This study implies the following two points. First, it is important to make teachers aware of the importance and the need for metacognitive support, including the understanding of the terminology. In addition, it is important to recommend teachers to learn concrete ways of providing metacognitive support.

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