The current accountability movement has focused on academic achievement but has circumvented issues of motivation and authentic reading materials. Many educators have challenged this direction of the reading curriculum, particularly criticizing the narrowing of the curriculum, the continued focus of teaching to the tests, the overemphasis on…

Many people do not recognize reading development as a continuum, but the literacy needs of the adolescent reader are far different from those of primary-grade children. This position paper discusses some of those literacy needs and outlines seven principles supporting adolescents' literacy growth. Adolescents deserve: (1) access to a wide variety…

Presents, in the form of a conversation with a vampire, results of a teacher's research on middle school students' reading preferences. Includes a list of favorite books mentioned, favorite authors mentioned, and how students found these favorite books. (SR)

Investigates why children are attracted to scary books, and what they find scary. Addresses children's fears through scary books and the instructional value of scary books. Discusses successful classroom experiences with scary books and notes selection considerations. Offers literature study ideas and a 100-item bibliography of scary books. (SR)

Describes an intervention developed to help overcome reading apathy and motivate high school students to read. The intervention involved teaching students how to select books to read by practicing the creation of book previews in the computer lab. Evaluation of student surveys, book selections, and book reports indicated that learning to preview…

Presents a debate between two English teachers (in the form of a critique of a March 1997 article in this journal, a response to that critique, and a rebuttal of that response) on the classics, student choice in reading, and teaching. (SR)

Discusses the link between adequately developed, current school library collections and better student achievement and highlights the importance of having students become successful critical readers. Offers suggestions for encouraging reading, including knowing the materials in the collection, knowing the students to meet their needs, building on…

This article reports an investigation of the attitudes and opinions of children's librarians towards poetry, and towards its promotion in the public library. It also reports some attitudes towards literature promotion to young people in general. A series of structured interviews with library professionals currently working in the public sector…

The voices in this anthology, i.e., Zora Neale Hurston, Eudora Welty, Anthony Trollope, E.M. Forster, Franz Kafka, Frederick Douglass, Emily Post, Virginia Woolf, Bernard Malamud, and many others, describe the excitement of first learning to read and remind everyone of the unique companionship offered throughout life by books. The anthology…

The Teachers as Readers Project, originally developed by the American Association of Publishers, helps teachers encourage students to become lifelong readers. Teachers as Readers Book Groups consist of teachers and librarians who meet on a regular basis to read and discuss the same literature--at least four quality children's or adolescents' books…

This report describes a program for increasing student reading motivation through the use of cooperative learning activities, differentiating reading instruction, and active reading strategies. The students of the targeted second, fourth, sixth and eighth grade classes exhibited a reluctance to read that interfered with academic growth. Probable…

Middle school students should be involved in seeking and selecting reading materials that ensure the attention of the learner. A wide variety of topics for learners to select from in choosing sequential trade books is a must. Sequential books selected by the middle school student should harmonize with his/her present level of achievement in…

Offers brief descriptions of 12 recently and not-so-recently published books for young adults, that speak to a wide range of interests at a variety of reading levels, and that could be "just the ticket" to help a reluctant reader bond with books. (SR)

Discusses text features that tended to engage boys, and describes their desire to use literacy to share and socialize. Finds that boys were more different than alike, and that very particular conditions in the social context were more important than preexisting interests. Offers brief descriptions of 11 books the author has found to be appealing…

Learning environments have an impact on acquiring skills in reading as well as developing positive attitudes toward reading. Another variable that affects attitudes and aptitude toward reading is the "climate" or "environment" in which children learn their skills. This paper concentrates on the phenomenon that is reaching epic proportions in the…