Suggests field trips and other community exploration activities to show students that reading exists as a useful skill outside the classroom. (SJL)

Demonstrates that when children select library books, there is a generalizable routine or pattern learned and followed by most children--refinements or elaborations on that routine, however, are best demonstrated by "outlier" behaviors atypical to the basic routine. Shows that children typically select books based upon the book's…

Compares second grade and fifth grade students' recreational reading levels (when students self-select library books for recreation reading) in relation to independent, instructional, and frustration levels as determined with an informal reading inventory. Concludes that recreational reading levels should not be viewed as synonymous with…

Studies the effect of sustained silent reading (SSR) on recreational reading habits after termination of instruction. Finds that SSR students read more than those not in the program, and that SSR has no impact on above average readers, great impact on average readers, and little impact on below average readers. (RS)

Presents annotations of five documents in the ERIC database that discuss recreational reading programs. Presents two annotations of documents listing award-winning or favorably reviewed works of children's literature. (RS)

Surveys undergraduate students enrolled in a reading methods course for future elementary teachers to ascertain their attitudes toward reading and the teaching of reading. Finds that a high percentage of the future teachers have high positive attitudes toward both reading and teaching reading but do not consider reading to be their primary source…

The 1994 Florida Library Youth Program is an extension of the successful and long-running Florida Summer Library Program to help librarians provide programs for school-age children, aged 6 through 12, throughout the year. The emphasis is primarily recreational. This manual for program coordinators and library users amplifies a theme called…

Including books that might not be discovered or fully appreciated by children without introduction by a knowledgeable adult, this book presents annotations of more than 150 trade books appropriate for children and adolescents, complete with teachers' suggestions for curriculum use. Entries in the book are grouped into primary (K-2), intermediate…

Reading as a pastime is basic to creativity and intellectual mind expansion as well as to the appropriate development of listening skills. Reasons for the decline of listening and communication skills can be attributed in part to misuse of media, to latch-key children, to decreased support from parents for reading at home, to lack of sufficient…

Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) is a national program that seeks to motivate children to read. Implemented by local sponsors and aimed at disadvantaged groups, it offers participating children a wide selection of attractive paperback books about interesting people, places, and events. The multisite evaluation summarized in this report studied…

All sixth grade pupils in the largest elementary school in New Orleans were involved in a study to assess the effects of social reinforcement on the use of library books. The number of library books used by both experimental and control groups was ascertained and compared. Standard arithmetic procedures were used to establish baseline,…

The booklists presented in this guide are primarily intended to assist Reading Is Fundamental projects and other similar programs in purchasing paperback and inexpensive hard-bound books at the elementary level. Approximately 600 titles with prices and brief descriptions are listed in a general booklist. Separate booklists composed of…

This survey of children's reading interests in New Zealand, conducted in 1969, sought to discover which books, writers, magazines, and comics children read; what determines their choices; what they look for in a book; and where they obtain their reading material. A cross section of children was surveyed at four class levels from Standard II to…

Reports on a project to increase reading frequency in the home among working class disadvantaged White children. Concludes that in spite of many adverse factors decreasing the likelihood of increased reading frequency, the majority of families became and stayed involved with the project over its three-year span. (SRT)

Describes a contest in which students competed for book prizes. (FL)