Describes the organizational framework and implementation of a literature-based reading program with basal themes for a combination of students in grades five and six. Discusses students' attitudes towards the program, which were very positive. (SR)

This paper describes the Motivations for Reading Questionnaire (MRQ), including information on how the MRQ can be used and how to administer and score it. The MRQ assesses 11 possible dimensions of reading motivations. It can be used with children in late elementary school and middle school. Scores on the MRQ have been shown to relate to…

Describes how one teacher uses news articles to teach connections between the present-day real world and the books that her students read. Notes that her intent is to help readers transfer concepts from one domain (their reading) to another (real life). Offers the example of how this was done with the book "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. (SR)

Finds that the 35 middle-school language-arts teachers studied agreed that Self Selected Reading (SSR) is an important way to improve students' reading attitudes and achievement, but that their schools rarely provided funds for buying student-preferred materials, and that finding time for SSR was difficult because of the pressure to prepare for…

Discusses the independent reading choices of students in grades six, seven, and eight at one middle school in Maryland. (MG)

Presents the perspectives on books and reading of two middle school boys, both reluctant readers who were passionate about reading self-selected materials outside of school. Argues that the perspectives of these renegade readers can inform educators who want to improve students' engagement with reading. (SR)

Reveals that the reading performance and dispositions towards reading of three adolescent readers (a successful, a moderately successful, and a struggling reader) observed in day-to-day classroom reading over five months varied according to the context of their reading, the materials they read, and their reading purpose. None, however, could be…

Investigates reading preferences of an ethnically and economically diverse group of sixth-grade students from three middle schools. Shows that light materials (scary series books, comics, and magazines) top the list for every sub-group of students. Finds very limited availability of preferred materials in school; and shows that most students…

This study investigated during a 2-year period how middle school students spend their time when not in school. Nearly 75 middle school students participated in the study. The subjects' out-of-school activities were first investigated in April of 1997 when subjects were in the fifth grade. The same students were studied again in April 1998 when…

A study was conducted to draw attention to how sixth graders use their leisure time and to suggest some implications for reading and literacy instruction. Subjects were 723 sixth-grade students in six middle schools in Northern California. The sixth-graders completed the California Media and Library Educators Association Literature/Reading Survey…

The challenge that middle school age youngsters' rapidly changing sexual, emotional, and physical characteristics present to educators, has made these educators concerned with factors that have a bearing on instructional programs. A study was developed to assess the attitudes of middle school children toward reading and to determine whether there…

Numerous studies have focused on attitudes toward reading and how to measure such attitudes. The present study examined the effects of both the survey format and the reading abilities of 82 sixth graders at a middle school in McDuffie County, Georgia. Since all of the students had taken the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, the language arts composite…

A study determined the perceptions of Indiana public school superintendents regarding their role in influencing the development of a community of readers in Indiana middle-grades schools. In 1993-94, subjects, 292 out of a total of 297 public school superintendents, completed surveys related to 10 selected reading issues, including students'…

Middle school students need to attain well in the affective dimension in reading. Affective objectives emphasize, among other things, students achieving quality attitudes toward reading. Quality literature might well assist the emerging adolescent to enjoy and grow in reading skills. Learners should have ample opportunities to choose reading…

Research shows that middle school students overwhelmingly cite three characteristics that they like in books they read: (1) humor; (2) mystery and suspense; and (3) reality (true stories about real people). Matching students with appropriate books helps turn students "on" to reading, and it is this "electric" reading that…