This practicum was designed to provide a setting where negative attitudes toward reading in eight eighth-grade literature students (in a small private school in a large southeastern city) would be modified. The practicum aimed to provide students with regular opportunities for successful experiences in reading, and to promote the enjoyment of…

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…

Outlines several ways to teach children to want to read, including surrounding them with books, becoming a role model, reading aloud to students, providing time for pleasure reading, and reading during reading time. (SR)

Describes the successful implementation in a Georgia elementary school of the Reading Millionaires Project, a reading incentive program to promote recreational reading and to create student interest in reading. (SR)

Suggests ways principals can work cooperatively with teachers to support independent reading as an important and integral part of the language arts program. (SR)

Describes a "Saturday Reading Club" that was implemented in an urban school for early elementary school children for the purpose of promoting literacy. Notes that the literature-based project used trained university volunteers. Suggests that the club had a positive influence on children's interest in books, reading comprehension, and…

This article discusses the benefits of an author-in-residence program in assisting students to develop and enhance their reading skills. The author presents several basic guidelines in planning for an author's school visit, which include seeking staff assistance in selecting an author, determining the length of the residency, and making the…

A study surveyed independent reading habits and identified causal factors related to the decline in independent reading from middle school to college. Subjects, 100 students enrolled in a developmental reading course at a state-supported university in Kentucky, completed a 19-item survey instrument. A second survey was developed due to the results…

A study was conducted to determine how often newspaper comic strips deal with the topic of reading and how often a positive attitude is revealed toward the act of reading. From January 1984 through December 1984, daily and Sunday comic strips from the "Newark Star Ledger" were reviewed. Counted or recorded were the number of times reading was the…

Shares the experiences of a class of eleventh grade readers involved in a classroom research project and their understanding of the act of reading. Discusses reading as both a solitary and a group activity. (MS)

In this study it was hypothesized that if a young reader repeatedly chooses a serial book for pleasure reading, then appreciation and ability to choose and recognize quality works will diminish. Four sixth-grade English classes recorded their independent reading choices for five months. Those who habitually read series books were chosen for the…

Highlights the major findings from a study of reading, particularly book reading, among adults. Discusses reading habits, sources of reading material, and attitudes toward reading, as well as demographic information. Concludes that reading does not substitute for, but rather goes along with, involvement in other leisure activities. (JMF)

Investigates the reading genre preferences of 254 male and female high school students in Pennsylvania. Draws comparisons with similar research done 10 years earlier. Finds a substantial change in reading interests. Notes the top 10 areas of interest are adventure, horror, mysteries, humor, murder, love, fantasy, crime, sports, and movies. (RS)

Describes a reading motivation project with a class of fourth-grade students. Shows how the project incorporated strategies shown to promote engagement in literacy: opportunities for choice, reflection, and social interaction. Describes the use of metacognitive activities where students set weekly goals and reflected upon how they were growing as…

Describes the "quick book share," an activity used by a seventh-grade reading and language arts teacher, in which students in small groups share with each other their passion for a particular book, thus getting recommendations from each other, and letting the teacher know what books are being read in the reading workshop. (SR)