Describes how the district committee of the West Des Moines Schools (Iowa) changed its reading program. Explains how the role of a basal was redefined, how trade books were incorporated, how the program encouraged independent reading, and how writing was given a major role in reading class. (JK)

A total reading program must provide for the sequential development of reading skills and the deliberate development of interest in reading. The prime means of accomplishing the goals of skills and interest in reading is use of a basal reading program along with independent reading. The basal reader is designed to provide for the sequential…

A study compared the amount of time spent in reading at different grade levels between 1961 and 1985, specifically examining the differences in time allocation practices for formal reading and for other reading, and the ways in which these practices compare in different geographic regions during these years. The 1961 study obtained data from 1,224…

Written from a psycholinguistic perspective to assist teachers-in-training to prepare for reading instruction in grades one through eight, this book can clarify basic issues in reading as well as supplement current knowledge. The three major parts into which this book is divided examine reading in the "human context," the "teaching context," and…

The content of books chosen independently by fourth, fifth, and sixth, graders was compared with the content of four selected basal reading texts at the same three grade levels. The selections of the children and from the texts were classified into twenty-one categories, and then the percentages of the children's choices within these categories…