Contributors to this book--teachers and teacher educators--explore the positive educational outcomes that are possible for students when teachers share with them what, how, and why they read for pleasure. The book presents 18 essays on a wide variety of classroom approaches for different grade levels. Following a "Beginning" by the…

Outlines one junior high school's method of improving students' reading habits through a book fair, a book exchange club, and a weekly read-in. (MM)

Presents a study of adult reading habits based on time use. Indicates a decline in daily newspaper readership, particularly in the past 10 years, but a revival in magazine and book reading for the same period. (JMF)

Suggests field trips and other community exploration activities to show students that reading exists as a useful skill outside the classroom. (SJL)

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)

Studies the effect of sustained silent reading (SSR) on recreational reading habits after termination of instruction. Finds that SSR students read more than those not in the program, and that SSR has no impact on above average readers, great impact on average readers, and little impact on below average readers. (RS)

Provides a nine-item annotated bibliography of material from the ERIC database focusing on independent reading and its importance in elementary secondary education. (MG)

In 2004, the National Endowment for the Arts published "Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America." This detailed study showed that Americans in almost every demographic group were reading fiction, poetry, and drama--and books in general--at significantly lower rates than 10 or 20 years earlier. The declines were steepest among…

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…

A study examined gender differences in media use with emphasis on reading for pleasure as adolescents. Subjects, 191 freshmen and sophomores enrolled in survey courses in mass media at Memphis State University and Southern Illinois University, completed surveys designed to investigate how young adults established their pattern of mass media use in…

Forty-four secondary school teachers and 43 elementary school teachers were surveyed to determine their reading habits. The survey instrument elicited (1) demographic information, (2) purpose for reading, (3) types and number of books read in a six-month period, (4) types and number of newspapers read, (5) number of professional and…

All sixth grade pupils in the largest elementary school in New Orleans were involved in a study to assess the effects of social reinforcement on the use of library books. The number of library books used by both experimental and control groups was ascertained and compared. Standard arithmetic procedures were used to establish baseline,…

Discusses ways in which reading can enrich adults' lives, aid in problem-solving, and provide information on many vital issues; shows how adults can develop plans for purposeful reading. (GW)

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)