The authors present a plan for classroom teachers and literacy professionals to conduct case studies, particularly of students' reading motivations and engagement. The authors argue for case study as a way for practitioners to contribute important knowledge to the field that is grounded in practitioners' deep, contextual understanding of the…

Encouraging pleasure reading is not traditionally seen as the role of academic libraries. Those students who take time for reading, however, are better poised to succeed in college. Declining rates in reading among young people are cause for alarm, and many libraries at academic institutions are developing programs to promote this pastime. This…

This qualitative case study of the ReadDeVry reading circles program, a DeVry University funded project, identifies the theoretical and practical considerations for reading circles programs serving college students. As designed, the program addresses a number of the issues raised recently by national organizations such as the American College…

The purpose of this paper is to examine the predictors of children's media use in the USA, comparing cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Data come from Waves 1 and 2 of the Child Development Supplement (CDS-I; CDS-II), a nationally representative sample of American children aged 0-12 in 1997 and 5-18 in 2002. Twenty-four hour time use…

Shows how one of his ruling passions, the weather, led a teenage boy to engage in a variety of reading practices (and associated writing practices) in a variety of semiotic modes, drawing in different ways on numeracy knowledge. Concludes by arguing that both research on multi-modality and the New Literacy Studies point in a similar direction:…

Considers how singular views of formations of the self as either identity or subjectivity create problems for understanding the complex interrelations between the two concepts within critical literacy. Uses the popular culture literacy practices of an adolescent male to illustrate how differences in conceptualizations of identity and subjectivity…

Chronicles significant changes in an elementary school teacher's perception of herself as a reader as revealed through her journal entries and contributions to class discussions while taking a graduate course in children's literature. Suggests that personal beliefs and habits of reading can influence how teachers teach children. (RS)

Explores how social constructions of gender, race, and class were evident in three adolescent boys' literacy practices. Suggests each boy enacted his literacies in different ways, suited to his own subjectivities, rather than using traditional male hegemonies. Concludes that considering individuals' enactments of gender, race, and class may be…

Examines the literary practices four children chose to engage in outside of their inner-city school located in Sheffield, England. Suggests that children use literacy in richly diverse ways for purposes they see as meaningful. Concludes that while literacy presented by these children reflected community literacy practices, children also acted with…

The purpose of this study was to compare children's acquisition and use of reading strategies and their evolving stance toward reading in two instructional settings, skills-based and whole language. The authors used test-score and descriptive data to select case study children who represented a range of reading development, e.g., from emergent…

Looks at the lives of two well-known writers to explore how diverse experiences produce literate adults. Discusses Agatha Christie and Jack London who used reading and writing to earn a living and to gain international reputations. (MG)