This article offers insights into students' perceptions of writing through the use of drawings and written responses. In a descriptive qualitative study of fifth graders across two diverse elementary schools, students were prompted to draw a picture about a recent experience with writing and how that experience made them feel. Students were then…

Due in part to conflicting opinions and research results, the practice of sustained silent reading (SSR) in schools has been questioned. After a frustrating experience with SSR, the author of this article began a data-driven decision-making process to gain new insights on how to structure silent reading in a classroom, including a comparison…

Describes a cross-age reading and writing program in which sixth-grade students (all average and low-average readers) were paired with kindergarten children to read and write collaboratively on a regular basis. Finds evidence from the students themselves, their parents, the teachers, and the school librarian showing how students' attitudes toward…

Reviews ERIC materials showing some of the effects of homework policies and practices at the elementary school level. (FL)

Explores the implications of attitudes toward reading of both good and poor readers in relation to their performance scores. (DD)

Describes briefly several studies identifying classroom factors associated with literacy motivation in elementary school students. Discusses six research-based factors related to increased motivation to read: a teacher who is a reading model; a book-rich classroom environment; opportunities for choice; familiarity with books; social interaction…

Reports on a study in which elementary level students evaluated rewards commonly used to encourage recreational reading. Finds that the most popular rewards allow students more flexibility and independence. (MM)

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)

Examines elementary students' reading preferences, habits, and behaviors. Reveals four powerful influences on elementary students' motivation to read: prior experiences with books, social interactions about books, book access, and book choice. (SR)

Describes a model of evaluating literacy that places students' understandings in the foreground of assessment and instructional decision making. Describes gathering a variety of data that represent various perspectives, interpreting these data critically, and developing appropriate teaching strategies, which are then refined with student feedback.…

Suggests that the sense of ownership that children have over comic books accounts for the vibrant debate, discussion, and critique of them. Examines whether insights from Archie comics may help teachers reclaim literacy as a meaning-making practice. Concludes that teachers remain ambivalent about the place of comic books within educational…

Reports on a study which examined students' attitudes toward reading basals as opposed to children's novels. Notes that children overwhelmingly preferred novels over the basal series. (MM)

Suggests that pairing emergent readers of approximately equal expertise provides opportunities for collaborative relationships where young readers pool expertise in jointly constructing text. Notes that children's language use contributed to their shared motivation and, by extension, helped to create and support the "shared situations"…

Describes the results of one part of a two-year-long classroom study of sixth graders' engagement with and responses to nonfiction trade books. Considers what motivated these sixth graders to read the nonfiction titles they chose for small-group and voluntary reading. Concludes that when students are given the opportunity to select nonfiction…