To promote independent reading in middle school, teachers must understand why adolescents choose to read or not read a specific book. Yet, there is limited research on the factors that students consider when evaluating books that teachers have introduced them to in class. This study aimed to describe factors that 43 Grade 7 and 8 students noted as…

The aim of this study is to examine how critically and creatively the students express their feelings and thoughts by using emoticons. In the first part, how the students expressed what they read by using emoticons was examined. In order to assess their skills for reading comprehension and the skills for expressing what they understood through…

History education rests at the junction between historical content, disciplinary literacy, and educational psychology. To understand the sources and strategies that facilitate historical thinking, more inquiries are needed. How do students respond to different historical topics, texts, and tasks? Which sources and strategies best facilitate…

Introduction: Students usually answer comprehension questions from texts as part of their academic activities. Elaborated Feedback (EF) has been found to be relatively effective to improve comprehension and learning from texts. However, there is little research on how computer-based feedback influences the question-answering process. This study…

This article combines interview data from a group of boys of color at an urban single-sex school and content analysis of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" to demonstrate the complexities of readers' responses to literature. Textual relevance, or the ability to construct personal…

In this article, we describe our research involving the administration of the Critical Reading Inventory-2 (CRI-2), an informal reading inventory that places special emphasis on thoughtful response to text and higher level thinking. We administered the CRI-2 to a group of students to obtain diagnostic data for guiding instruction. The data for…

During two multifaceted, classroom-based research projects, Grade 7 students had opportunities to develop their understanding of metafictive devices and art and design elements by reading a selection of picturebooks and graphic novels. The students also had the opportunity to apply their knowledge and create their own multimodal print texts. This…

Describes a survey of seventh grade students' reading attitudes. Presents interviews with three of the surveyed students in which they each describe a book they have read and their response to its special meaning. (HTH)

Describes the use of oral reading, journal writing, and sharing of ideas in a seventh grade class to promote an active interest in literature and thereby increase the literacy level of the students. (SRT)

Examines the approaches students use when reading for literary and informational purposes. Finds four recursive stances readers take in relation to the text: (1) being out and stepping into an envisionment; (2) being in and moving through an envisionment; (3) stepping back and rethinking what one knows; and (4) stepping out and objectifying the…

Describes seven different written response formats (which all use reading response strategies) used with seventh graders. Discusses how the formats improve the quality of thinking put forth in students' responses to their self-selected adolescent novels. Discusses which response formats illicit more higher-level thinking. (SR)

Determines if students' aesthetic involvement would be influenced by the ethnicity of the student or the culture portrayed in short stories. Finds that the level of aesthetic involvement was not significantly influenced by the ethnicity of the student or culture portrayed in the story. Supports the integration of multicultural literature into the…

Studied reading comprehension demands in a seventh-grade social studies classroom to reveal existing classroom cultures and complexities surrounding expository text comprehension. Found that in the particular classroom, the textbook determined knowledge exploration and had a damaging pedagogical effect on the students' literacy practices.…

Explores the reactions of fourth and seventh grade students to two picture books about Columbus written from two different perspectives (white European explorer and Native American). Notes that the fourth graders saw Columbus as either all good or all bad after reading the books but that seventh graders were able to recognize the complexities of…

Describes one teacher's experiences with helping seventh graders become lifelong readers. Discusses the importance of reading aloud to students and how reading, listening, and discussing can help improve writing through the use of reading journals. (MG)