In this article, Charlie Taylor offers a commentary on Yang et al.'s 2021 "Reading in a Foreign Language" article, "Text Difficulty in Extensive Reading: Reading Comprehension and Reading Motivation." In their study, Yang et al. analyzed the effects of text difficulty on the reading comprehension and motivation of high school…

Reflecting on 45 years of teaching and research, Lee Galda argues that practice based on transactional theory is essential for the effective teaching of literature.

Schools and teachers act to a limited degree in "loco parentis", thus assuming the role of parents, especially in the health and safety of minors in attendance at public school, but also in setting educational standards. Public schools have been delegated this role and implement policies, programs, and procedures that sometimes, unintentionally,…

By forcing gifted educators to teach in preparation for state testing and national assessments, the joy of discovery is becoming an endangered species, and learning is becoming a chore rather than an opportunity. Is it possible to strike a more reasonable balance? Kelly Gallagher suggests a 50/50 approach. Half of academic endeavor should be in…

Great literature gives students a window to other places and times, but it often requires students to step outside their comfort zones and take on challenges they wouldn't usually attempt. Unfortunately, research shows that many schools are not assigning literature that pushes students beyond their current reading level. Jago encourages teachers…

In the past few years, there has been increasing demand from school librarians for books for "reluctant readers"--despite the impressive offering of children's literature published each year and the success of blockbuster series like "Harry Potter, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Twilight," and "Hunger Games," among others. This is also in addition to all…

Noted scholar, teacher educator, and IRA past-president Linda Gambrell answers readers' questions about motivating young and struggling readers.

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) "Standards for the 21st-Century Learner" is filled with objectives that are mostly unobjectionable--and that would have been just as applicable in the twentieth century. Who, after all, would oppose the idea of "organizing knowledge so it's useful"? Who's going to deny the value of effective…

There is always a new supply of books coming into the school library, and students make great reviewers for these new titles. This article shows how library media specialists can create a student book review group as part of a program to develop school-wide incentive for reading.

The authors had the most fantastic teachable moment when they shared book club time with 24 students they teach at Health Sciences High and Middle College. As they reflect on their conversation with the students, they are convinced that the impetus for the students' interest in what they were reading and discussing with their peers was that they…

After watching an instructional film informing that only 26 percent of today's college students do the reading for their courses, the author announced to a colleague that she gives reading tests; the colleague looked at her with what seemed a mixture of shock and pity. Indeed, the video in no way suggested that instructors compel students to read;…

In current-day criticisms of consumer culture as well as of the performativity culture of the work place, the originally religious concept of the vice of acedia or sloth is reinterpreted as a virtue. Art, especially poetry, is put to the fore in that connection. The image of the reader is addressed when the question of the relationship between…

The author has identified three kinds of readers: (1) resistive and struggling; (2) apathetic and reluctant; and (3) effective and motivated. The resistive and struggling reader is often the reader who needs help building reading competency and confidence while creating ample opportunity for practice. These readers often respond to relationships…

The Reading Agency has been backing and building a movement in libraries called reader development. The movement is creating a livelier, more interventionist reading service that's both much more attractive and socially relevant. A focus on reader development is changing the way public libraries work, and transforming people's lives in the…

In this article, the author talks about "Developing Early Literacy," the report of the National Early Literacy Panel. The panel, which consisted of nine experts, was convened by the National Institute for Literacy to synthesize the research on the development of literacy from birth through age 5. Over the eight years of their work, only 190…