Studies and practices in which parents help children with oral reading are reviewed. The paper argues against techniques which focus on only the mechanical aspects of reading. The paper describes a program for training parents as tutors which uses transcripts of parent/child interactions during the reading process to show reading development.…

Reading books aloud to students can motivate them to read themselves, but teachers and librarians need to learn new skills to read aloud effectively. Selecting an appropriate book, reading with expression, creating an atmosphere, and using the right questioning techniques to start a discussion all have an impact on successful reading aloud. (LAE)

Outlines instructional principles upon which classroom practices in a fourth grade and in a kindergarten class are based that contribute to students' success, love of literacy, and emerging biliteracy. Discusses creating a socioculturally supportive learning environment that (1) affirms the cultural and linguistic resources of all students; (2)…

The author of a new guide to selecting books boys (preschool through junior high) will enjoy discusses the social view of reading as feminine, the limited cultural vision of masculinity, and the ability of books to offset these one-dimensional images. (Author/AEF)

A study in two South African schools investigated the impact of encouraging free, voluntary reading on the English language skills of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners. Subjects were 139 fourth- through seventh-grade students in an experimental group and 105 students in a control group. Pretests of reading comprehension were administered…

Designed to help parents in their important role as their children's most powerful guide to reading and learning, this book contains directions, guidelines, and activities to build a positive environment and a relationship that promotes learning. Chapter titles are: (1) Helping Children with Reading and Learning; (2) Creating Interest and Positive…

Designed to tap the rich collection of instructional techniques in the ERIC database, this compilation of lesson plans offers practical suggestions to help elementary school students discover the fun involved in becoming and being literate. The 40 lesson plans in the book are divided into sections entitled "Classroom Reading Strategies and…

This practicum was designed to address the need for the intermediate and upper grade level English as a Second Language (ESL) students to become independent learners in the literacy process. The subjects, 13 boys and 3 girls from Pakistan, Philippines, Jordan, Israel, Korea, Turkey, and Thailand were dependent on the teacher when they had…

A "Reading Club" approach at Liberty University (Virginia) has been implemented to avoid the stigma that may be associated with elementary and junior high school students receiving remedial reading instruction. Students in grades K-8 from the local schools come to the university campus to be tutored in reading. Elementary education…

Many gifted children enter kindergarten already reading and in need of reading instruction that is different from the regular program. A reading program for gifted youngsters that is literature-based will help develop comprehension skills at the highest cognitive levels and will also foster the desire to read. Beginning with the interpretation of…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 18 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the effect of illustrations on third grade students' attitudes toward the elderly; (2) visual and phonological coding in word processing by fourth, sixth, and…

Approximately 1200 Danish school children aged 8, 11, and 14 participated in a questionnaire study under the caption, "Why I like to read." Data from Denmark formed part of an international study, in which 12 other countries used the same questionnaire to explore various functions of reading and to compare them over different countries.…

A study examined the influence of classroom organization, student age, and student ability on 122 students' perceptions of who were the "better readers" in their classrooms. The students were members of one second grade and one fifth grade receiving reading instruction in a whole-class format; a second-third grade combination classroom taught with…

Focusing on the social nature of reading instruction provides another direction to research and study that both differs from and adds to cognitive research. H. Mehan's theory of social constructivism emphasizes that the development of cognitive processes occurs within the individual through the internalization of interactions between learners and…

One hundred forty-seven students enrolled in a developmental reading program responded to a questionnaire designed to ascertain the reading attitudes and interests of middle school students. It was hypothesized that by overemphasizing basic skills instruction, schools may not be taking the necessary steps to help students develop the ability and…