A study evaluated a program designed to improve the reading attitude of students who had the skills to read independently but chose not to during their recreational reading time. Subjects, 25 third grade students enrolled in a public school in a rapidly growing city in Florida, performed in the 80th percentile or above on county, state, and…

Describes a book award for which only children vote and claims that the children's participation in the award has promoted discriminating reading. (SRT)

Discusses the issue of capable high school students who are excellent readers but don't read outside of school assignments. Suggests that the school librarian's role in solving this problem is to provide a variety of reading materials and to encourage reading both in the library and in the school program. (BK)

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…

Argues that teachers should facilitate and promote the admission of children into the "literacy club," but notes that many teacher-education students are not yet active, passionate members of the literacy club. Describes using "reading clubs" in teacher-education courses to expose preservice teachers to the passion and joy of…

In this article we describe the leisure reading practices and attitudes towards reading of two cohorts of teenage boys and their parents from one educated, middle-class school community in Australia. Leisure reading refers to free choice or recreational reading across a range of genres (e.g., fiction/nonfiction) and modes (e.g., print/electronic).…

Children's voluntary reading positively correlates with school grades, vocabulary growth, reading comprehension, verbal fluency, general information, and attitudes towards reading. Drawing on qualitative interviews collected alongside six waves of longitudinal survey data in an urban setting in eastern USA, We argue that voluntary reading by…

A practicum addressed second graders' negative attitudes and habits toward recreational reading. Students were not reading for pleasure at school or at home. A recreational reading program, which used a variety of thematic units, was implemented. Subjects were 20 second graders (mostly Hispanics) in an inner city school. Several innovative…

One of education's most important goals should be to promote the lifetime love of reading. However, the standards initiative, the debate about creating a national curriculum, and the bashing of whole language efforts are among the high visibility trends that are causing teachers and administrators to focus on phonics, spelling, vocabulary, and…

Seventy-five fifth grade students were administered an interest inventory to determine their attitudes toward reading and the kinds of reading materials they preferred. In addition, an observer completed reading behavior checklists for each student, and the students completed a second inventory to discover the amount of reading they did as opposed…

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…

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)

Concludes that reading interests of children were similar across achievement levels. Offers tips to help low-achievers choose recreational reading materials. (FL)

Describes the use of a reading development strategy of group prediction, of encouraging children to decide and to justify what is going to happen next in a selected story, as a means to motivate students to become active readers. (HOD)

Lists reading materials that can help students learn more about topics in which they are interested, learn to do new things, and entertain themselves. (FL)