Linked text sets (LTS) offer a promising approach to bring together adolescent students and complex texts, such as those required by the Common Core State Standards, using strategic scaffolding. LTS include a variety of print and media texts that address a guiding question that is meaningful to students such as, "Why is growing up so…

This qualitative case study explored the relationship between comprehension strategies and graphic novels in one Grade 4 classroom, utilising children as informants. The primary research questions related to children's applications of metacognitive reading comprehension strategies as well as the potential for graphic novels to support the…

Considering the nature of the complex prose that K-12 students today must learn from, in light of the Common Core State Standards, students need to read informational texts on a meaningful level-and with enthusiasm. Teachers, Brozo says, need to achieve three goals: motivate students to read informational texts, expand students' background…

Not long ago, "summer reading" meant settling under a shady tree with a hefty book. Shady trees are still around, but books with pages can seem as out-of-date as vinyl records to many kids, especially older ones. Today, they scroll through content online, swipe pages on tablets, and manage a near-constant stream of media. Teachers can take…

Once fuel for mass book burnings, comic books are gaining a foothold in the nation's schools, with teachers seeing them as a learning tool and scholars viewing them as a promising subject for educational research. Evidence of the rising credibility of Spiderman, Batman, and Archie came last month when Fordham University's graduate school of…

Although graphic novels are an increasingly popular literary format, there is currently little empirical research that documents their use with struggling male adolescent readers in school settings. The purpose of this multiple case study was to examine the ways in which four struggling, eighth-grade, male readers responded to graphic novels…

What kinds of books do children want to read? And how can a teacher find those books? The author provides some ideas for interesting new books in the categories of graphic novels, humorous adventures, poetry, and books about math.

Many young adults enjoy graphic novels because the genre differs so dramatically from the books that educators traditionally have encouraged adolescents to read. Growing up with television and video games, contemporary young adults look for print media that contain the same visual impact and pared-down writing style and contribute to their…

Presents an interview with Greg Bear and David Brin, two science fiction writers who started Reading for the Future, an international project geared toward secondary school students that shows teachers and librarians how science fiction inspires young readers. Discusses programs that have come out of this group; standards for books geared toward…

The author of a new guide to selecting books boys (preschool through junior high) will enjoy discusses the social view of reading as feminine, the limited cultural vision of masculinity, and the ability of books to offset these one-dimensional images. (Author/AEF)