This position statement affirms the need to develop accessible and effective reading pedagogies in college writing classrooms so that students can engage more deeply in all of their courses and develop the reading abilities that will be essential to their success in college, in their careers, and for their participation in a democratic society.…

In this essay I pose questions to literacy teacher educators and classroom teachers to inspire them to review their epistemological beliefs about teaching, learning, and knowledge. I also provide some history of transdisciplinarity, and introduce readers to "Miss Smith", a composite of five middle school teachers who hold a transdisciplinary…

Poetry can be just what is needed to encourage reluctant readers and writers. Poetry's great for reluctant readers. Why? Many poems are short, luring hesitant readers who often say, "This chapter is too long to read."

Vocabulary is the hallmark of an educated person as it not only promotes reading comprehension but also enables to actively participate in the society. The four practices that teachers can use to expand students' vocabularies and improve their reading are presented.

Warns that college reading instructors must be aware that standardized tests do not measure the types of skills taught in reading classes. Argues that reading instructors need to develop an awareness of what the scores on standardized reading tests do and do not tell them. (RAE)

Skilled reading requires attention to many aspects of print at the same time. Some children demonstrate difficulty in attending flexibly to multiple features of print, often focusing solely on decoding or word-level information. These children often lack the insight that reading is more than decoding; they have a difficult time thinking about…

Suggests that the use of newspapers in the remedial reading classroom will emphasize the transfer of the process of main idea from known levels to more extensive contexts by offering realistic application on multiple levels--pictures, words, sentences, and paragraphs. (SRT)

Provides a self-test with answers and a rating chart to help teachers clarify their perceptions about the concept of diagnostic-prescriptive instruction. Asks teachers to evaluate their test results and determine whether myths about diagnostic-prescriptive reading instruction hinder their teaching. (DMM)

More than five years of research offers little evidence that students who attend federally funded remedial and learning disabled reading programs improve their reading skills. The three assumptions underlying these programs are discussed. Ways teachers and schools can evaluate their programs are listed. (MT)

Children who read only when they have no choice will not become good readers. One of the simplest ways to motivate children to read at all grade levels is for teachers to read to their classes. In this column, the author suggests some steps that teachers can take to make reading more appealing to their students.

Revising reading program can breathe new life into the classroom and increase students' confidence. This paper describes how one teacher decided to refine her reading curriculum. She had five non-negotiables for the curriculum: the need for self-selection of quality literature; volume of reading; peer interaction; individual conferences; and…

In this article, the authors discuss the benefits of using multi-voiced journals as a teaching strategy in reading instruction. Multi-voiced journals, an adaptation of dual-voiced journals, encourage responses to reading in varied, cultured voices of characters. It is similar to reading journals in that they prod students to connect to the lives…

Notes that children often fail to interpret metaphors correctly and that instruction in basal readers is not always helpful. Offers a strategy that shows students how to figure out metaphors on their own. (FL)

Background knowledge is a critical relationship in reading comprehension. Includes a discussion on the classroom application of background knowledge in reading instruction. (MD)

This pamphlet presents a position statement by the National Council of Teachers of English on reading, suggesting that reading is a complex act of constructing meaning from print. It argues that during interactions with other readers, people learn to read critically, to question what they read, and to respond in a certain way. To make sure that…