Describes 10 "literacy day" activities that one California elementary school has used successfully schoolwide, typically one such day per month, to make reading fun and purposeful, while developing a sense of community. Includes: spread-a-quilt day; teacher exchange day; turn off the TV; Dr. Seuss day; community readers; schoolwide…

Presents a dialogue between a student and an examiner that demonstrates the difficulty of diagnosing a comprehension problem. (MKM)

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)

Describes how storytelling helps children develop competence in reading and writing skills by providing frameworks for understanding text. Suggests stories that can be used, and discusses possible extension activities. Notes that teachers should choose a variety of fictional, biographical, and informational tales so children are exposed to…

Describes the development and uses of an instrument for measuring how children feel about themselves as readers, that is, their sense of self-efficacy as readers. Appends the scale, directions for administration and scoring, a scoring sheet, and a description of validation measures. (SR)

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

Reprints an exemplary article published in this journal in 1955, which points out that phonics is only one part of a total reading program. Emphasizes the fact that meaning for the reader must be the essential part of all reading instruction. (SR)

Presents an adaptation of a speech given by broadcaster and writer Robert MacNeil at the 1994 International Reading Association Convention. Discusses attitudes towards language, reading and learning to read, and pleasure. (SR)

Shares numerous short descriptions from readers of this journal describing their ideal reading classroom. Includes specific "creative and engaging" ways to teach reading in those classrooms. (SR)

Notes that teachers are now spending a great deal of time teaching reading skills and ignoring activities that encourage students to engage in the total reading process. Recommends techniques and activities designed to encourage reading for enjoyment and comprehension. (FL)

Presents three brief articles containing suggestions from teachers on teaching reading: a summer reading program that successfully kept beginning readers reading over the summer; an inquiry project in which third graders saw the power of being literate and the profusion of literacy activities in the nonschool world; and engaging students in active…

Describes a Community Literacy Day that attempts to involve as many family and local community members as possible in a positive and enjoyable celebration of literacy. Notes that the objective was to begin to form a community as an interacting population of various kinds of individuals with common interests living together in a common area--a…

Discusses Linda Sue Park, the 2002 Newbery Medal winner, and includes excerpts of an interview with her. Notes that her diverse writing career began at an early age. Discusses writing Korean "historicals" and researching her other books. Identifies mentors as an important characteristic of both her life and work. (PM)

Describes the Motivation to Read Profile (MRP), which assesses children's self-concepts as readers and the value they see in reading. Discusses its development and offers suggestions for its use with elementary students. Includes the MRP. (SR)

Concludes that about 10 percent of stories in a basal series (grades one through eight) showed a character reading something for either information or pleasure, but seldom as an important part of daily life. Argues that basals could set a better model of the value of reading. (FL)