Identifies and measures process variables in the home environments of 84 fifth-grade students that might directly relate to their leisure reading behavior. Finds a direct linkage between socioeconomic status, home characteristics, and learning environment and children's reading habits. (DR)

Scores of 149 third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade pupils, on a reading attitude inventory correlated .17 with combined reading scores on the Metropolitan Achievement Tests. Although statistically significant, this finding suggests that the inventory did not reflect an attitudinal construct that was a major factor in reading success. (Author/BW)

This article considers what happened when a teacher posed the following question to her fifth graders during literature discussions: "Why might we read more than one story about a topic or a person?" As the students responded to this question across several weeks, they began to develop a more comprehensive conception of themselves as readers,…

An informal study examined the impact of a simple behavior modification procedure on the reading habits of second and fifth grade students. Behavior modification theory was pared down to two rules ("reinforce proper behavior" and "reinforce anything close to proper behavior") so that no additional burdens would be placed on…

This report describes a cross-age tutoring program implemented to improve reading comprehension skills in a group of regular students in a rural elementary school. A targeted group of four fifth-grade students and four second-grade students were matched for cross-age tutoring sessions. The students developed reading comprehension skills through…

The purpose of this study was to determine if cross age peer tutoring of fifth grade and kindergarten students would have an effect on reading achievement. For eight weeks one group of fifth graders and kindergartners paired together four times a week, while the other group was not cross age paired. Both groups were given a Reading Interview…

This study investigated the reading styles of 57 students in grades 3, 4, and 5. Special attention was given to the independent variables gender, grade level, and at-risk status. A total of 224 comparisons were made from which 8 main effects were observed: (1) females reported greater preference for music while reading than males; (2) special…

Eighty-one fifth grade students from a suburban parochial school were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups in a study designed to determine the effect of daily sustained silent reading (SSR) on student reading habits and attitudes toward reading. One teacher supervised 40 students in daily fifteen-minute periods of SSR, using…

Represents a collection of normative data for the survey of reading attitudes using a sample of (N=90) inner city remedial readers. Reliability estimates for Expressed Reading Difficulty and Reading as Enjoyment justify their use in making inferences about students. Lowest reliability was for Alternative Learning Modes. (JAC)

A study attempted to determine how students in literature-based reading programs compare to students in basal-based, skill-oriented reading programs in terms of their interest in reading. The study was carried out on a sample of 215 pupils in 9 third and fifth grade classrooms from school districts in Eastern Kansas and Northeastern Oklahoma.…

A study investigated the relationships between reading interests, habits, and attitudes of third, fourth, and fifth grade students and the variables of teacher/parental influences, ethnic background, gender, and grade levels of the students. Subjects, a random sample of 101 Black, 92 White, 2 Chinese and 1 Arab low-to-middle socioeconomic-level…

The development and evaluation of Informed Strategies for Learning (ISL), an experimental curriculum to enhance children's reading comprehension, are described in this report. The report opens with a summary of the project, in which 20 modules--each focusing on a different strategy--were designed and 60 lesson plans were developed. This section…

A study investigated the frequency of teachers' oral reading to students at the first, third, and fifth grade levels. Forty-eight teachers completed a survey designed to determine their frequency of oral reading to students, and their attitudes and beliefs about the practice. The results indicated that teachers viewed oral reading in a positive…

A study (involving 100 children in grades 1-5) investigated whether children thought of reading as especially a male or female activity. Findings indicated that in grades 1-4, boys regarded reading as mostly a feminine activity, while in grade 5 boys regarded reading as mostly a masculine activity and girls regarded it as mostly a feminine…

Results of two studies that investigated the effects of guest readers on the reading attitudes of second- and fifth-grade children in the Meridian (Mississippi) schools are presented. Twenty-nine second graders and 29 fifth graders participated. Local television personalities, school personnel, former teachers, and parents were among the guests…