Investigates the functions of reading across diverse cultural settings by examining children's purposes for reading in 13 countries and then identifying functions of reading common across age levels and nationalities. Finds three common factors identified by 10 and 13 year olds: utility, enjoyment, and escape. (KEH)

Argues that the use of literature in elementary schools has been shown to promote achievement in reading, positive attitudes toward reading, social understanding, and content area learning. Describes five literature-based classroom reading programs which differentially arrange the organizational variables of whole-class, small-group, and…

Lists four characteristics of strategic readers: establishing goals, selecting appropriate strategies, monitoring comprehension, and displaying a positive attitude toward reading. Discusses how these characteristics provide readers with the necessary skills to profit fully from the reading process. (MG)

Proposes an end to the "Great Debate" in reading instruction between the proponents of data-driven approaches and proponents of concept-driven approaches by offering two major principles of reading instruction. Explores characteristics of each approach and the danger of overemphasizing either aspect of reading. (MG)

Outlines an observational album assessment device, which describes children's reading behavior, taking into account attitudes, responses and strategies to produce a profile of each reader's achievements. (NH)

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)

Describes the Learner Support project designed to help both students who are struggling to learn to read and teachers who want to help them. The intervention is carried out by the classroom teacher within the classroom in a one-on-one setting. Illustrates a specific strategy session between a classroom teacher and a child who is having difficulty…

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)

Describes Accelerated Reader (AR), a computer software program that promotes reading; discusses AR hardware requirements; explains how it is used for book selection and testing in schools; assesses the program's strengths and weaknesses; and describes how Grant and Madison Elementary Schools (Muscatine, Iowa) have used the program effectively.…

Examines preservice teachers' definitions of reading at the beginning and end of an introductory methods course in English language arts. Finds that, at the beginning of the course, 85% of the preservice teachers characterized the process of reading as a decoding task, while only 42% maintained that characterization by the end of the course. (RS)

Describes the Reading Is Fundamental, UK program. Argues for taking books to children and families in areas where there is little or no book culture. Notes that through free book distributions and accompanying high-quality motivation events, the program has shown that children who choose reading for pleasure are more likely to use reading for…

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…

Finds that students with learning disabilities who received reading instruction in special-education resource rooms expressed reading attitudes that equaled or exceeded those expressed by low and average non-disabled students in another nationwide study, and that their attitudes remained more stable across grades 1 through 5 than those expressed…

A brief review of the literature on the various approaches which have been used to help children formulate their emerging attitudes towards reading and literature helps clarify the goal of creating lifelong readers. Samway (1991), discussing literature study circles, relates that students read the book they have selected, answer assigned…