This study explores literature reading and reception of narrative texts among Swedish middle school students. Through a written assignment and a think-aloud protocol, students' comprehension and interpretation of narrative texts are investigated. The study shows that Swedish middle school students tend to focus mainly on the plot. The main…

In order for students to learn how to construct meaning from text, teachers must apply instructional strategies that will help readers transition from simple decoding of words to fluent word identification. This article will provide an overview of the literature related to the role of fluency in reading; explain research-based recommendations for…

This document presents the proceedings of the 19th Annual Research Forum held June 26, 2014, at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Included are the following 17 action research papers: (1) Using Voices to Change Minds: Oral Performance and Poetry in the English Classroom (Erika Bunpermkoon), (2) Imagining Audiences: The Use…

Readers theatre is a presentation by two or more participants who read from scripts and interpret a literary work in such a way that the audience imaginatively senses characterization, setting, and action. This book offers 50, two-page reproducible scripts to entice the preschool and kindergarten group into beginning to read. These patterned…

Test scores across the country show American students are far more able to read narrative than nonfiction text. Some research speculates this is due to a great lack in the background knowledge of many children. Librarians are beginning to realize that a unique fit for the school librarian is as a provider of background knowledge materials for…

This study investigated the impact of Readers Theater on eighth-grade students, the majority of whom were reading below grade level. Over six weeks of a short story unit, one class participated in Readers Theater. The comparison group of like-ability students received more traditional literary and vocabulary instruction. Quantitative measures…

The art of reading refers to the act of representing and interpreting text through oral dramatic reading. To the dismay of many teachers, reading is becoming a "lost art." Students are expected to apply specific literacy techniques rather than use their imagination to learn to enact text. Based on a study of the reading perceptions of natural oral…

Stressing the communicative aspects of oral reading, the author suggests ways to make oral interpretation more than a gauge of word perception. (MM)

This lesson plan contains poetry-related activities that aim to help students read and interpret English poetry, and write their own poems. The activities are introduced in each of the following parts: talking about poetry, understanding poetic devices, interpreting poems, using poetry for language acquisition, writing original poems, performing…

Describes how performing Shel Silverstein's poems is an effective method to practice oral expression. Notes that although this activity was used in a fourth grade class, it could be adapted to any grade level. (MM)

Readers' theater has much to offer at all levels of student development. When incorporating readers' theater into the curriculum, definite principles of learning from educational psychology need to be emphasized, including: meaningful experiences for students; provision for individual differences among students; and appropriate sequence in…

Choral reading can be used by teachers to enhance children's appreciation for poetry and to develop their personal, social, psychological, cognitive/affective, and language values. It is useful for teachers to begin by creating an awareness in children of the basic elements of choral reading: tempo, rhythm, pitch, stress, and juncture. Then an…

A teaching technique that has proven successful for many reading teachers, especially those working with remedial students, is oral interpretation. In this approach, the teacher reads passages to students using animated expression and enthusiastic body movements to liven the reading experience. A well-performed oral interpretation by a teacher can…

Explains steps in teaching students from grade 8 to read a selection orally with interpretive skill. (MKM)

The author explains how she changes folk tales into simple two-actor plays geared to the oral reading ability of her remedial reading students. Two of her plays are included in this article: "A Halloween Tale" and "The Three Wishes." (SJL)