Reports the results of a longitudinal study that associated reading achievement with volume of reading and the selection of a book with its content, appearance, and its popularity with the reader's friends. (AEA)

This report examines the nature of the modern basal reader, its economics, and use. First, the report provides a history showing how the confluence of business principles, positivistic science, and behavioral psychology led to the transformation of reading textbooks into basal readers. Next, the report examines objectives and subjective factors…

Proposes a technique that allows students to identify with a character in a story as a method of encouraging them to read. Lists prereading and follow-up questions for use with the technique. (FL)

Reports on the construction and validation of a reading attitude scale designed to measure attitudes toward academic, general, and vocational reading materials. (FL)

Concludes that branched stories, which involve the reader actively in a story, can produce better attitudes toward reading on the part of elementary school students than stories from basal readers. (FL)

Investigates children's responses to independent reading and their perceptions of the literary quality of series books and recommended literature. Concludes that students like both kinds of books, and that reading series books does not interfere with their appreciation for literature of higher quality. Recommends assisting children to find quality…

Discusses factors involved in motivating middle school students to read books that interest them to build a positive attitude toward reading. (MG)

Discusses the attitudes and issues of reluctant readers by describing the author's son Jonathan, an intelligent young man who came to hate reading. Offers advice for teachers from Jonathan regarding how they can help students enjoy reading more. Presents annotations of 11 new or overlooked young adult books worth reading. (SR)

This article considers what happened when a teacher posed the following question to her fifth graders during literature discussions: "Why might we read more than one story about a topic or a person?" As the students responded to this question across several weeks, they began to develop a more comprehensive conception of themselves as readers,…

Many factors influence students' reading practices. In the case of international students, home country educational practices and socio-cultural factors may pose a greater influence than for local students. This study reported here, part of a larger study, investigated the intertextual framing practices used in reading by a cohort of Thai…

This study explored girls' and boys' (aged 10-11) attitudes towards reading and writing. Girls enjoyed reading significantly more than boys. Boys liked mostly comics and humorous books; adventure books were girls' favourites. Poetry did not appeal to pupils. Many boys did not enjoy typical school texts. Most pupils, especially boys, did not like…

This research report discusses a study which examined the purposes of reading in six respondents. Chapter 1 introduces the six respondents of the study and the inquirer; reasons for the study are briefly explained. Chapter 2 presents glimpses of several observations of classroom settings. Chapter 3 covers the methodology which guided the inquirer…

The current system of elementary level reading instruction allows no place for reading for pleasure. While few deny the teacher's role in helping children master the mechanics of reading, some question whether it is equally important to help children learn the inherent pleasure of reading literature for its own sake. The current systems approach…

Recounts the experiences of a bookseller in dealing with children's books, including what strategies increase sales, how mothers and fathers choose children's books differently, and giving book talks at parents' nights at preschool schools. (NKA)

Discusses teachers' intentions and practices, parental involvement in the teaching of reading, and the consequent view many children develop of reading as a low status activity. Suggests that teachers' reliance on commercially produced teaching packages for reading denies the intrinsic value of reading, which they claim to be so important. (MG)