Recognizing the determination of a canon as an ongoing process of discussion and debate, which helps us to better understand the concept of meaningful and important literature, this edited collection turns a critical spotlight on young adult literature (YAL) to explore some of the most read, taught, and discussed books of our time. By considering…

The goal of this practice guide is to offer educators specific, evidence-based recommendations for teaching foundational reading skills to students in kindergarten through 3rd grade. This guide is a companion to the existing practice guide, "Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade", and as a set, these guides…

Designed to provide teachers in early childhood education and other interested educators with criteria for evaluating the quality of plot, characterization, and style in picture story books, this instrument uses a set of eight criteria for evaluating these literary elements. Each criterion is followed by statements that illustrate different ways…

Designed to assess the cognitive requirement expected or implied in beginning reading materials and in their instructional suggestions and to determine whether these materials are appropriate to the cognitive development of the children who will use them, this instrument is for use by evaluators with the first reader in a basal series. It directs…

Noting that few syntheses of research on children's literature exist, this annotated bibliography guides teachers, researchers, and librarians who are searching for research on a particular topic, strategies for using literature in schools, or children's books on a particular topic. Section I of the book focuses on children's literature research…

Research on two exposure techniques--book displays and book lists--supports the idea that browsers need, want, and will use some type of guidance to narrow their book selection. Two reasons for this are given: these techniques require little patron effort and reach large numbers of browsers at one time. (Author/EM)

To test the strength of a booklist as a selection aid, an experimental/control group research design was used in the Lexington Library of the Davidson County (North Carolina) Public Library System to measure the effect of a booklist on the circulation of a group of fiction books that had not been checked out from the library in 4 years or longer.…

At a workshop exploring practical methods that elementary and secondary teachers may use to analyze texts, three parallel texts were subjected to three forms of analysis: subjective analysis, examination of cohesive ties, and linguistic analysis of selected text variables such as word and sentence length. The subjective ranking of the passages'…

A study designed to discover reasons for reduction in public library usage by children as they reach adolescence surveyed 122 junior high students to determine where they obtain reading material, what influences selection, and whether location of young adult books in the children's section inhibits use. Ideas for promotion and improved programming…

A study of genre fiction classification used circulation data and a patron questionnaire to test whether physically separating fiction into categories will increase use; marking spines with category labels will increase use; use of classified fiction will increase with library size; and classification will increase the number of different books…

Designed to assess children's preferences for story settings, the instrument requires children to indicate their preference for a story setting in each of 36 pairs of contrasting pictures, 12 pairs in each of the following categories: (1) fantasy versus realism, (2) past versus contemporary, and (3) geographically remote versus the near-at-hand.…

Making a case for the value of literature-based instruction, this book presents an overview of the extensive knowledge base supporting literature-based approaches to literacy instruction. It notes that literature-based instruction goes beyond simply changing the kinds of texts children read--also required in literature-based instruction are an…

A study examined the effects of sex-typed content and sex role preference on 87 fifth grade boys' and 64 fifth grade girls' reading material preferences. It also explored how high- and low-rated sex-typed reading content and students' sex and sex role preferences influenced reading comprehension. After reading the sex-typed content, which…

Designed to assess and describe the nature and frequency of teaching methods, activities, and materials used in secondary school English courses, this survey consists of 14 questions related to teaching objectives, activities, and materials, each followed by a list of possible responses. Teachers are asked to select a course, and to circle for…

This study examines the following two premises of information-seeking behavior associated with the use of nonfiction books in an electronic mode: (1) individuals generally read nonfiction books for obtaining information; and (2) users read nonfiction books in parts, rather than completely. Study data were collected through interviews with 350…