Most people have struggled with reading in one situation or another, depending on their appreciation for the content, their prior experiences, and the texts. This department column shares ways for educators to help literacy learners unlock their potential with instruction anchored in their skills, knowledge, ways of learning, interests, and…

Although the relationship between attitudes toward reading and reading achievement has been well documented, the causal relationship between these constructs remains unclear. Using longitudinal covariance structure modeling, this study tested the hypothesis that 3 reading-related constructs in the primary grades (2nd-3rd grade) - reading attitude,…

Defines self-directive dramatization as activities in which children direct themselves in acting out characters in stories they have read and suggests that such activities can influence children's self-concepts and their attitudes toward reading. (FL)

Simultaneous presentation of a picture book and a sign language interpreter on split screen television allows hearing impaired children learn from oral storytelling experiences. (CL)

Tutoring teenagers is as much about building self confidence as teaching skills. This paper states that teenagers who have disengaged from reading probably had difficulty learning to read in the primary grades. According to most research, at this critical age, they missed the pleasure of getting lost in a story or discovering new information in…

Teachers have long surrounded young students with a print-rich environment within the classroom, but the purpose of this lesson is to bring the print-rich environment of the community into the classroom through the use of environmental print, enabling emergent readers to delight in the realization that they are indeed readers. During 10 to 20…

Presented are 35 activities guaranteed to nurture healthy attitudes toward reading. The author's original article, containing 30 related ideas, appeared in the November, 1977, issue of Instructor. (Editor/SJL)

The reader contest as a tool for increasing readership of student newspapers is discussed, with some guidelines for devising contests and objectives. (HTH)

Suggests that first impressions are a vital element in the reading process and offers illustrations from the journal of a 15-year-old student. (MKM)

Describes the Preschool Reading Attitude Scale which was designed to examine three- to five-year-old children's attitudes toward reading. Provides suggestions to researchers and teachers on implementation of the scale. (RJC)

Describes a program at a branch of the Chicago Public Library which uses videocassettes to entice children to read the book from which the video was made. Criteria for selecting the videos and an annotated bibliography of 14 videos are included. A copy of a user questionnaire accompanying the book-video package is appended. (MES)

Provides a list of 118 reasons why the author's students claim they study American literature, including: (1) to broaden their vocabulary, (2) to learn from other people's experiences, and (3) to develop an open mind about different kinds of literature. (JD)

Describes three reading modeling techniques for use with exceptional learners: (1) repeated readings (students reread a short, meaningful passage several times until satisfactory fluency is reached); (2) neurological impress (the child and adult model read aloud, simultaneously); and (3) imitative or echoic methods (the child repeats phrases or…

Sharing poems that celebrate books and reading throughout the school year can foster enjoyment of poetry as well as appreciation for reading. A variety of easy to read poems exist that vary from old and new, long and short, free-flowing verse and rhymed verse, and for young children as well as older children. Such poems can be read at odd moments…

Describes the use of six children's poems by the poet Shel Silverstein to encourage children to read. (HTH)