Presents suggestions for bringing reading and writing to life in the classroom and helping students develop a lifelong love of both. Includes creating a refrigerator door for displaying student work, using digital notebooks, establishing a publishing center, holding lunch-bunch meetings, binding students' writing into class collections, reading…

This article presents strategies for creating elementary-level guided reading groups that are both flexible (based on individual students' needs) and purposeful (offering strategies for making them more effective readers). The article also explains how to set up a guided reading group, choose appropriate books, and run the group. (SM)

New research shows that certain conditions surrounding read-alouds will ensure the greatest benefits. Suggestions for getting the most out of reading aloud include: engage students' interests; make sure the books are at the right difficulty level; spend an appropriate amount of time on reading aloud; offer a range of materials to read aloud; and…

Describes how to help young readers decode multisyllabic words by providing lessons on syllable spelling patterns. The article explains what a syllable is; presents the six common syllable spelling patterns (closed, open, r-controlled, vowel team, vowel-silent, and consonant-le); and offers a lesson on close syllables. (SM)

This handbook is the second volume in a publication supported by the National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE) to explore reading instruction for students experiencing high mobility as a result of high poverty. The initial document, "Reading on the Go! Students Who Are Highly Mobile and Reading Instruction," reviewed the characteristics of…

This guide will help teach phonemic awareness to Pre K-3 students. It presents phonemic awareness as a sophisticated branch of phonological awareness through interactive activities that allows the student to succeed in learning the sounds represented by the letters of the alphabet. The book is designed to provide easy-to-follow suggestions for:…

This latest annually produced Iowa Kids Count data book, "Iowa Kids Count 2009: Trends in the Well-Being of Iowa Children," provides data on 18 different indicators of child and family well-being at the United States, Iowa, substate and county-level. The 18 indicators presented in the data book contain an expanse of data from economic,…

"Focus on Basics" is the quarterly publication of the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy. It presents best practices, current research on adult learning and literacy, and how research is used by adult basic education teachers, counselors, program administrators, and policymakers. "Focus on Basics" is…

This study reports the results of a peer-mediated intervention, total class peer tutoring, on the academic performance of six urban students at risk for reading failure. A multiple baseline design across subjects was used to evaluate the effects of this intervention. The results showed that five of the six students significantly increased their…

Intended for use with youngsters eager to begin reading as well as reluctant starters, this book is filled with time-tested, entertaining, and simple games that build on children's curiosity and sense of fun to teach reading skills. The book contains a brief introduction outlining the methods and goals of the reading games and instructions on how…

An assessment model is presented that breaks reading down into six discrete skill areas that are both teachable and assessable. The six traits of an effective reader are: (1) decoding conventions; (2) establishing comprehension; (3) realizing content; (4) developing interpretation; (5) integrating for synthesis; and (6) critiquing for evaluation.…

Intended for teachers, this book reports an assessment of reading achievement in the Irish schools of first year postprimary pupils. Chapters discuss background information, the research procedure, the survey findings, "backwardness" in reading, and the researcher's conclusions. The book concludes with an abstract that lists some of the…

Describes a districtwide thinking skills program developed by teachers in an Illinois elementary school. (MD)

Dr. Seuss wrote in "Horton Hears a Who," "Don't give up! I believe in you all! A person's a person no matter how small." What a beautiful, encouraging message this is to his readers. Millions of children can't figure out the words on the pages of their books, because they don't know the speech sounds of the alphabet. This is called the alphabetic…

Suggesting that schools can provide valuable reading and writing practice for their students through the implementation of a school post office program, this booklet describes the United States Postal Service's "Wee Deliver" program and provides some materials to get the program started. Participants may model their school after a town…