Literacy in the Middle (LIM) is a sixth- through eighth-grade literacy initiative being implemented in the Houston Independent School District (HISD). The initiative is an extension of the Literacy by 3 initiative being implemented at the elementary school level, district-wide. LIM focuses on literacy across the curriculum, including the core…

Structured independent reading among students is often a vital missing component in many school districts' literacy curriculum. The nationwide implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) requires districts to re-think their literacy curriculum and what instruction might entail in order for students to demonstrate proficiency in…

"READ 180®" is a reading program designed for struggling readers who are reading 2 or more years below grade level. It combines online and direct instruction, student assessment, and teacher professional development. "READ 180®" is delivered in 90-minute sessions that include whole-group instruction, three small-group…

In 2011, a national strategy "Literacy and Numeracy for Learning and Life" was published in the Republic of Ireland. One key aspect of the strategy was that it placed a renewed focus on reading for pleasure in post-primary classrooms. The researchers involved in this article worked for the Professional Development Service for Teachers, a…

This article explains how to create and use a daybook in the literacy classroom. Readers learn what a daybook is, how the daybook in one fourth and fifth grade classroom is structured, and how students in this classroom use that daybook during reading instruction to engage, record important information, and discuss a text.

This article presents findings on teachers' implementation of a reading reform in an urban school district. Findings are based in observation, interview, and document data related to 12 elementary teachers' responses to a new reading program, the Teachers College Reading and Writing Workshop. Utilizing coupling theory and the concept of routines,…

The author, a veteran second-grade teacher, has spent the past three years developing a system to help her students find appropriate books to read during independent reading time. The article describes how the CLICKS system evolved and how to introduce it to a classroom of young readers. (Contains 7 figures.)

This article draws on a study which was designed to extend understanding of habitual and committed adolescent readers. The study brought together four theoretical perspectives -- the social, cultural, spatial and historical -- as a way of re-imagining the field of reading. The historical perspective is the one foregrounded here, offering views of…

The purpose of this nonequivalent, control group, pretest-posttest design study was to evaluate the effectiveness of leveled book programs on first-grade students' oral reading fluency rates and comprehension levels. This study was conducted over a 10-week time span with four first-grade classes. All of the students in each class were given a…

This dissertation study examines the effects of four teacher-led reading activities recommended by the reading teaching policy and student independent reading activity on the development of English language learners (ELL) reading proficiency at fourth grade in U.S. elementary schools. In this study, I first introduce the significance of studying…

Reading instruction often does not focus on appealing to student interests, offering choice, or responding to the needs of advanced readers. In this experimental study, we examined the effects on achievement of an instructional approach involving choice, differentiated instruction, and extensive, supported, independent reading, with corresponding…

This teaching tip manuscript demonstrates how picture book illustrations can be used as an inquiry tool that facilitates one's connecting of visual investigations in a picture to the process of generating self-questions. Techniques suggested to promote self-questioning are (1) introducing young readers to an interactive picture book read aloud…

In late 2015, Scholastic, in conjunction with YouGov, conducted a survey to explore family attitudes and behaviours in Australia around reading books for fun. The key findings of this research, based on a nationally representative sample of 1,748 parents and children, including 358 parents of children aged 0-5; 695 parents of children aged 6-17;…

Developing silent fluent reading is an important goal to be achieved in elementary literacy instruction. This article reviews characteristics of effective silent reading fluency instruction and practice. Next, the authors make the case for four components of effective silent reading fluency practice routines. Finally, the authors describe two…

The purpose of this paper is to review the literature published during the last 20 years that investigates the impact of approaches that describe themselves as integrating science and language arts on student learning and/or attitude at the elementary level. The majority of papers report that integrated approaches led to greater student…