Indicates that passivity in poor readers seems to be tied to several interrelated factors, including frustrating materials, repeated failures, and differences in teacher treatment of good and poor reading groups. Suggests that direct training can mitigate these problems. (FL)

Reports on a survey of teachers in the American southeast showing that they attach great importance to fostering students' positive attitudes toward reading. Other findings, however, indicate that they spend little classroom time developing these attitudes. (FL)

Discusses ERIC resources that examine the values of reading aloud to children, that outline ways to involve parents in reading to their children, and that suggest specific materials to read aloud. (ET)

Reports results of a three-year longitudinal study exploring the evolution of young children's ideas about reading. Finds that there was only moderate consistency in the ages at which concepts emerged and that the sequence of conceptual development was quite uniform across these children. (SR)

Asserts that cooperative reading teams--reading groups composed of students at varied reading levels--motivate poor readers to learn by developing positive feelings about reading. Describes several reading, language, and content area activities for cooperative reading teams. (MM)

Describes the rationale, implementation, and evaluation of the Book Buddies Project, a school-university collaboration for providing meaningful and authentic written dialogs between school children and university students, which resulted in improved student attitudes toward literacy. (SR)

Presents the strategies and guidelines upon which effective school outreach programs can be built and offers a look into one elementary school's efforts to involve parents in an innercity district. (SR)

Investigates how discussion influences young children's preferences for science texts. Finds that discussion can result in the preference for a science text that students may initially find of limited interest or even unappealing. (SR)

Describes a teacher's first efforts to implement Reading Workshop in her classroom. Reports the study she conducted that convinced her that Reading Workshop successfully improves reading comprehension and counters students' negative attitudes toward reading. (RS)

Argues that captioned video is an innovative and promising approach for improving students' reading comprehension, vocabulary, and motivation. Describes its use in a fourth-grade classroom, and makes suggestions for getting started. (SR)

Offers the response of a professor and former elementary and secondary teacher to the question posed by a seventh-grade teacher regarding what teachers can do to encourage students with negative attitudes toward reading to read both in and out of school. Discusses ways that both reading aloud and reading along are effective strategies to entice…

Describes "Character Interviews," a class activity that guides children, especially reluctant readers, to the meaning of a story through a thoughtful understanding of character as they consider a character's emotions and motives, to respond to a question as that character would. Describes the interview process. Offers sample interviews…

Suggests that using the game of finding answers to mystery clues can encourage children, particularly reluctant readers, to use the library. (JC)

Offers eight activities designed to promote positive reading attitudes in elementary school students. (FL)

Examines research concerning the effects of cultural expectations, school structure, and parent expectations on the reading attitudes and performance of boys and girls in different countries. (FL)