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

Provides support, drawn from classroom experience and research, for the use of drama in the reading class. (ARH)

Presents an autobiographical narrative on the importance of teachers and testing and on how the ways in which they teach can affect a child's life sometime in the distant future. (SR)

Presents specific ideas for using television as a springboard to instruction in reading, writing, and other subject areas. (FL)

Discusses recent work on the nature of children's motivations for reading, in particular a reading-specific measure of motivation called the Motivations for Reading Questionnaire. (SR)

Shares a sampling of the core educational principles of the late French educator Celestin Freinet, who emphasized active learning in a democratic setting in order for the democratic way of life to survive and flourish. Discusses respect for the child's integrity, bringing real life into the curriculum, motivation through meaningful work, and…

Describes a project which increased motivation for reading by involving students in real-world problems using the Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction approach. (SR)

Shares the author's vision of literacy engagement. Offers a portrait of an engaged fifth-grade literacy learner and then discusses what engagement in literacy is, why it is important, how classroom contexts foster literacy engagement, and how teachers can build engaging classroom contexts. (SR)

Children who read only when they have no choice will not become good readers. One of the simplest ways to motivate children to read at all grade levels is for teachers to read to their classes. In this column, the author suggests some steps that teachers can take to make reading more appealing to their students.

Presents materials that contribute to students' excitement and interest. Reminds teachers that with a new curriculum and new guidelines from local or national educational agencies, the goal is to help students become joyfully literate and experience the pleasures and the rewards that most educators associate with learning. Reviews materials for…

Reprints a classic article published in this journal in 1970. Considers the interplay between interest, motivation, and self direction on the one hand, and the reading levels concept on the other hand. Warns that the concept of reading levels is often focused on errors, and that this tends to distort perceptions with regard to the primary goal of…

Argues that humorous books have the potential to brighten the classroom environment, motivate students, and develop reactive, thinking readers. (FL)

Lists benefits of children's magazines as educational resources, discusses their educational implications, and offers specific activities involving the use of such periodicals. Provides a list of children's magazines available around the world. (FL)

Reviews a number of beginning reading materials that can be used in improving children's reading skills in a variety of content areas. (FL)

Outlines ideas used by two reading teachers to make their school aware of their services, help students lose their fear of the reading room, and enhance their overall image. (FL)