Read Across America Day was created by the National Education Association in 1998. This column presents suggestions for classroom activities that can be used to celebrate this day. Suggestions include: (1) Making a Read Across America flag; (2) Taking pictures of staff with their favorite books; and (3) Sending out ballots asking students and…

Presents primary and intermediate level activities that use predictions to help students think deeply about books. The primary activity uses a prediction chart to encourage thinking and enthusiasm about reading. The intermediate activity uses prediction book reports to change writing about books from merely retelling, to higher-level thinking. A…

Discusses how to use sustained silent reading to encourage elementary students in independent reading. The strategies include making independent reading a key part of every day, being sure students know the strategies they should practice, and concluding independent reading sessions by discussing strategies. The paper presents a list of 13…

Responding to the America Reads Challenge and the increasing emphasis on using volunteer tutors to help all children learn to read, the activities and suggestions in this easy-to-use book are from the journal "The Reading Teacher" and are classroom tested. It provides instructional tips for teachers and tutors who are collaboratively…

To motivate students to read, it is important for teachers to teach the reader, not the reading. This article presents three strategies for accomplishing this: studying the child, not the book; focusing on students' reading lives and knowing them as readers; and thinking of students as readers. (SM)

Most educators recognize the importance of home-school connections, especially for the development of engaged and enthusiastic readers. This collection of 33 articles published in "The Reading Teacher" from 1993 to 1999 presents the "best of the best" classroom-tested ideas and approaches for increasing student motivation for…

Presents strategies to help elementary teachers encourage their students to read by matching students with books that contain the right balance of supports and challenges. The four strategies are: getting to know the books, making initial matches, determining reading level, and redirecting students based on findings. (SM)

The most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children at home and in the classroom. At school, reading aloud is important for starting the day, presenting reading and writing mini-lessons, supporting social studies and science curricula, supporting whole-class book studies, and…

This cookbook is designed to help teachers and librarians engage in beneficial collaborations to bring reading to the lips of students in new and "delicious" ways. The more than 200 recipes offered in the book will tempt even the most reluctant reader of any age to "nibble" at a new book. The book's recipes enhance the process…

Presents an annotated listing of books about all kinds of heroes for elementary school students. Stories include the young King Arthur; an assertive, baseball-playing heroine who becomes a princess; an older brother dealing with his younger brother; a Christmas story; civil rights icon Rosa Parks; and the cow who jumped over the moon. (SM)

Shared reading lets elementary teachers show children what reading is about. Teachers read the text aloud and encourage students to read along. All levels of readers can participate. Teachers can do letter or sound searches to help children understand how to use what they know about letters and spelling patterns in order to read unfamiliar words.…

Describes Accelerated Reader (AR), a computer software program that promotes reading; discusses AR hardware requirements; explains how it is used for book selection and testing in schools; assesses the program's strengths and weaknesses; and describes how Grant and Madison Elementary Schools (Muscatine, Iowa) have used the program effectively.…

Teachers can confront issues of students' infrequent reading and infrequent choice of content area texts by using specific instructional strategies that are highly motivating. Five research-based language arts strategies that many teachers use to successfully teach content area information are: (1) previewing vocabulary and content; (2) developing…

This book offers a framework called Learner Support to help teachers, grades 1-6, identify and support children who need extra help in their reading development. During 15-minute, one-on-one sessions using real literature, teachers learn to help struggling readers use reading strategies, incorporate sight word review, complete cloze procedures,…

This resource guide contains worksheets and ideas that can be used to promote reading and library use in a school library setting. The pack provides a framework around which a program of library and information skills training can be built, and suggests activities for reinforcing the lessons learned at each stage of the process. Many of the…