Spanish-English cognates have been used for decades to facilitate the acquisition of English by Latino English learners (ELs). Using the online program, WordSift, in tandem with the online Find-a-Cognate database, teachers can identify important Spanish-English cognates and noncognate words in text. With this information, teachers can plan and…

As the texts readers encounter in and out of school grow in complexity, the strategies that teachers demonstrate and encourage students to employ need to expand to accommodate the changing nature of these texts. In this article, the authors present a three-part framework for utilizing historical fiction picturebooks as instructional resources.…

Picturebooks tell stories in both words and pictures. Interacting with the printed word, the technical elements of illustration--color, line, shape and composition--work to establish and enhance the story. Sometimes simply by adding description of characters and setting, and, at times, by challenging the veracity of the text with ironic or…

A strong relationship exists between phonological processing skills and learning how to read and write in an alphabetic language. How easily a child can use this phonological information has an impact on his or her decoding. For most children, phonological processing skills develop through literacy experiences at home and in their kindergarten…

This article introduces a framework designed to improve students' awareness of the need to critically evaluate websites as sources of information and to improve their skill at doing so. The framework, called the WWWDOT framework, encourages students to think about at least six dimensions when evaluating a website: (1) Who wrote this and what…

Teachers often use science trade books in the classroom for a number of reasons: to enhance science instruction, to augment an adopted science textbook, or to integrate literacy with subject-area content. Using Patricia Hunsader's mathematics trade book evaluation rubric published in the April 2004 issue of "Reading Teacher" as a model, the…

Reexamines the five criteria for selecting instructional resources: content validity, transfer potential, amount of reinforcement, quality of directions and instructional language, and adaptability and flexibility. Reviews "Listening: The Basic Connection," a listening program for third through eighth grade. (MG)

Describes six criteria for evaluating materials that will be addressed in forthcoming columns: content validity, transfer potential, adaptability/flexibility, amount of reinforcement, quality of directions and instructional language, and bias. Uses this criteria to evaluate "First-Start Read-Along Program 5," a reading series for primary students.…

Concludes that the letter close procedure is an effective instructional tool for most elementary children and becomes increasingly effective with each successive grade level. (Author)

Describes a bilingual education program in Peru that attempted to introduce reading in the native language of that country along with instruction in Spanish. Traces the development and implementation of the language curriculum, sketches the problems that were faced, discusses the materials used, and presents an evaluation of the program. (FL)

Describes how students may be taught to read through the "imitative reading" approach and reviews read-along materials that can be used with this approach. (DD)

Discusses the problem of plagiarism of materials as a problem in educational publications. (MKM)

This article presents well-written and visually exciting informational series books on a range of topics. As children progress through a series, the predictability of the external and the internal characteristics allows them to learn to negotiate various aspects of nonfiction while delighting in the content and deepening conceptual understanding.…

Provides a description of the materials and resources available in the Educational Resources Information System and explains how to gain access to the contents. (RB)

Reviews the literature in the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) on using newspapers to teach reading. (Author/RB)