Fifth graders interpreted the book "Doll Bones" by Holly Black through visual representations from the beginning to the end of the book. Each visual representation was analyzed to determine how students responded. Most frequently, they moved to inferential ways of understanding. Students often visually interpreted emotional plot elements…

Fifth graders' interpretations of nonfiction or informational text were explored. Each literature circle group read and responded to informational text. Discoveries included that students' conversations and written responses were closely connected to text and that students created multimodal responses.

Purpose: In this discussion as part of a response to Catts and Kamhi's "Prologue: Reading Comprehension Is Not a Single Activity" (2017), the authors provide selected examples from 4th-, 5th-, and 6th-grade texts to demonstrate, in agreement with Catts and Kamhi, that reading comprehension is a multifaceted and complex ability. The…

Reader response theory provides the framework for the present study that explored literary elements and cultural responses of fifth-grade students to two modified versions of a cross-cultural text, "Homesick: My Own Story" by Jean Fritz. One group of students read the first chapter of the book and another group read a modified basal…

This article examines classroom practices that draw upon students' understandings of race and equity as they engage in critical literature inquiry to explore issues of power in our society. Our research team, comprising a fifth-grade classroom teacher, a doctoral candidate, and a university professor, analyzed students' written and digital…

In this study, the authors tested the effects of Tekster [Texter], a comprehensive strategy-focused writing instruction program, using a switching replication design with three measurement occassions. The program was implemented by fourth, fifth, and sixth grade teachers (N = 76) in 60 general education classrooms in the Netherlands. Students (n =…

This article combines interview data from a group of boys of color at an urban single-sex school and content analysis of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" to demonstrate the complexities of readers' responses to literature. Textual relevance, or the ability to construct personal…

This qualitative case study addressed a lack of research concerning literature discussions for students with learning disabilities in reading. Fourth and fifth grade students with reading disabilities participated in twice-weekly literature discussions, 30-to-60 minutes each, for 12 weeks. The students attended a Title I school and most were…

Many of today's students are reading below grade level and schools are investigating methods for increasing student achievement in the area of reading. This mixed method research study investigated the achievement of students who were reading below grade level. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between reading response…

The study reported in this article examines how teachers read and respond to their students' Stanford Achievement Test 10 (SAT 10) scores with the goal of investigating the assumption that data-based teaching practice is more "objective" and less susceptible to divergent teacher interpretation. The study uses reader response theory to…

Metacognitive strategies are needed for readers to be successful in comprehending nonnarrative social studies texts. The purpose of this study was to investigate the metacognitive strategies used by proficient readers (students reading above-grade-level) and struggling (students reading below-grade-level) readers comprehending social studies…

Reader response theory and research on book interest underpinned a study of the appeal of celebrity-authored children's storybooks to elementary school students. We engaged fifth-grade students in selecting and reading from a set of 41 celebrity-authored books and completing reader response forms. Utilizing the survey research design and a…

This study explores the social construction of gender perceptions among U.S and U.K. fifth grade students engaged in book club. Using a reader response framework, this study endeavors to discover how meaning is negotiated through print and film literacy, specifically related to gender. By using four Newbery and other award winning pieces of…

This article examines the process and results of a two-year cross-cultural blogging project conducted between American fifth-graders (15 students) and Taiwanese tenth-graders (23 students). The two groups of students used a blog to correspond with each other and share their reading responses of culturally relevant picture books. The goal of the…

The purpose of this study is to examine textual features in Native American children's literature and Native children's responses to these textual features. Culturally authentic children's literature was used to gain insights into children's perspectives as they engaged in responses within literature circles. This study utilized qualitative…