In 2001, the Australian Centre for Youth Literature released "Young Australians Reading," a report on the reading attitudes of Australia's 10- to 18-year-olds prepared by Woolcott Research, that suggests there is a large body of young people who are waiting for guidance, support, and inspiration if they are to become lifelong readers.…

Discusses how to use sustained silent reading to encourage elementary students in independent reading. The strategies include making independent reading a key part of every day, being sure students know the strategies they should practice, and concluding independent reading sessions by discussing strategies. The paper presents a list of 13…

Discusses engaged reading and its consequences. Focuses on the contribution of children's motivation. Presents instructional contexts that foster reading engagement and motivation. (RS)

States that reading educators are becoming concerned with aliteracy and that research is only now focusing on reading habits. Studies 39 avid readers and non-avid readers to examine home and personal factors related to leisure reading habits. Discovers differences for some aspects of reading attitudes, for motivation, and for several home factors.…

Suggests that the school year is like a growing season, but with planting in the fall and harvest in the spring. Discusses ways teachers can "prepare the soil" for cultivating students' love of reading. Presents a baker's dozen ideas to build the desire to read. (RS)

Describes how one elementary school developed and carried out the Million Minute Reading Incentive Program over the course of the 1996-97 school year to improve reading fluency in class and encourage students to read more at home. (SR)

Shows how one of his ruling passions, the weather, led a teenage boy to engage in a variety of reading practices (and associated writing practices) in a variety of semiotic modes, drawing in different ways on numeracy knowledge. Concludes by arguing that both research on multi-modality and the New Literacy Studies point in a similar direction:…

This paper outlines the first stage of a research project on the topic of boys (aged 11-17) and literacy and the mediating role that families play in building interpersonal relations around reading and guiding boys into a broad range of literacy practices in the home. Findings from this research will inform a comparative study of boys identified…

This book provides educators, parents and caretakers with a variety of instructional strategies for engaging K-8 students. These approaches are designed to enable all students to read easily and enjoyably by utilizing different styles and approaches. The techniques are not generally found in conventional classrooms, but are specifically targeted…

Three families with at-risk children were taught lap-reading techniques and provided with books for lap reading over a 12- to 16-week period. The resulting changes in children's behavior included choosing books and reading as free-time activities, developing positive attitudes toward books, and persisting in attending to books in the face of other…

If a child does not learn to read in the early grades, there are few opportunities for them to catch up. Therefore, the extent of a child's exposure to reading before the early school years is not only important, but critical. In this column, the author suggests ten easy ways to make reading a part of every young child's day: (1) Read and reread…

Providing students with time to read during school has been questioned by researchers and practitioners. This article reports on the efforts of one school to resuscitate a schoolwide initiative to provide students the opportunity to read. A single comment made by a student led to committee work and significant policy changes. A chronicle of events…

This document discusses the author's personal opinion and feelings on teaching. She expresses her love for literacy and the hope to engage her students with the same feeling, yet not force it upon them.

Reading for pleasure is associated with numerous educational and social benefits. For example, it has been associated with increased reading attainment and writing ability, greater breadth of vocabulary and greater general knowledge (e.g. Cox and Guthrie, 2001). Children who read very little do not reap these benefits, and studies show that when…

The problem is that with each passing year it becomes increasingly harder to maintain student motivation to read and improve reading comprehension. The purpose of this project was to increase reading motivation in elementary and middle school students through the use of multiple intelligences. This project was conducted by four teacher researchers…