A longitudinal study investigated the effects of leisure time reading (reading at home for pleasure or fun) on pupils' reading achievement in school. Subjects, 736 students in grades 3, 4, 5, and 6 in 30 schools located throughout the Netherlands, had their reading achievement determined five times: at the beginning and end of grade 3 and at the…

This practicum report describes a reading program that was designed and implemented to help improve reading attitudes among fifth grade children. A target group of 17 fifth-graders were unmotivated and uninterested in reading, and TV occupied a great deal of their out-of-class time. Solution strategies involved encouraging parents, teachers, and…

The current system of elementary level reading instruction allows no place for reading for pleasure. While few deny the teacher's role in helping children master the mechanics of reading, some question whether it is equally important to help children learn the inherent pleasure of reading literature for its own sake. The current systems approach…

A daily 20-minute period was established during which deaf students (ages 5-10) and their teachers engaged in sustained silent reading. Despite some initial difficulties in obtaining compliance among both students and teachers, students have begun to spend more time on a single book and are more willing to reread books. (VW)

Seven well-known people describe their early experiences with books and reading and tell how they became avid readers. (MD)

Describes a behavior modification program aimed at encouraging students to increase the frequency of leisure reading done at home. (EL)

Offers suggestions for use by parents and teachers to encourage children to read for pleasure. (FL)

Investigates the applicability to upper primary school children of a multidimensional conceptualization of attitude toward reading that previous research has shown to be useful for characterizing the reading attitudes of secondary school students. (FL)

Concludes that preschoolers, unlike older children, view books and reading as masculine objects and activities. (AEA)

Explores the enormous attraction for young readers of series books (such as Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and currently "The Baby-Sitters Club"). Discusses what children might learn from such reading, often thought of as pap literature by adults. (SR)

This document discusses the author's personal opinion and feelings on teaching. She expresses her love for literacy and the hope to engage her students with the same feeling, yet not force it upon them.

Even though Swedish students (age 9 and 14 years) placed third in the recent IEA study, reading instruction in Swedish schools is apparently no better than in other countries taking part in the IEA study. No strong correlations between type of reading instruction and students' reading skills have been found. Schools in Nordic countries work under…

A practicum aimed to improve the attitudes toward recreational reading of 12 intermediate grade level English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students so that they would share their enthusiasm and interests in pleasure reading, as well as devote more time to reading. The writer met with parents of ESL students to discuss ways they could encourage…

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT: For the last three years, in the Flowing Wells Schools in Tucson, Arizona, Reading Specialists Susan Heintz and Carol McPheeters have directed a continuous program which involves a total schoolwide commitment to developing positive feelings toward reading. The name of this program is "Paperback…

A survey was conducted to determine how much and under what conditions students read voluntarily. Subjects, 844 secondary students, completed a questionnaire that was then analyzed using the Crosstabulation Subprogram of "Statistical Package for the Social Sciences" to correlate results with students' sex, grade level, scholastic…