Describes a small scale study of children's experiences with books read aloud in nursery schools. Explores what young children learn from hearing books and stories read aloud, and shows how data from this study and a larger scale study conducted simultaneously can illuminiate thinking about early literacy. (HTH)

Attempts to verify or identify a valid operational definition of literary response by determining its constituents through the use of a refined version of the Response Preference Measure. (HOD)

A study examined whether students' reading ability affected their level of aesthetic reading response when reading level-appropriate literature. During the study, 28 fifth graders read books and wrote responses to what they read. Responses were scored on a rubric valuing aesthetic responses that demonstrated personal experiences. Students' reading…

Finds that second-grade students of all reading abilities eagerly participated in posing and discussing questions in response to literature, asking more "why" questions than any other type. Offers recommendations for teachers interested in creating opportunities for students to discuss their own literature questions. (SR)

Explores how students constructed their own texts and meanings when they were required to read, interpret, and critique unfamiliar text written about underrepresented people. Presents the concepts "conditions,""concessions," and many "tender mercies" of learning through multicultural literature when presented as new literature to a heterogeneous…

Examines recall of three feature articles by rating paragraphs according to degree of mental imagery evoked, affect evoked, and importance of the article as a whole. Finds that readers are more likely to remember content that is subjectively important than content viewed as objectively important. (KEH)

Examines reading interests and reading responses to American young adult fiction among students from the multiracial culture of Singapore. Finds that Singapore teenagers need little motivation in reading American young adult fiction because of their positive attitude towards language acquisition. Notes that the teenagers can be sidetracked by the…

Reviews several theoretical perspectives and presents data pertinent to what makes a story likable. Examines the contribution of two story characteristics to adults' and elementary students' ratings of story liking and storyhood: the importance of the goal the protagonist pursues and the difficulty of attaining that goal. (JAD)

Analyzes, from a reader-response perspective, children's free responses to story characters in nontraditional roles. Investigates the relationship of gender for these responses. Finds that only 20-30 percent of the responses expressed opinions regarding appropriateness of nontraditional gender roles and that the most common response type was…

Examines effect of teaching approaches on students' responses to three picture books. Finds that students in a "literary analysis" group focused on identification of literary elements; students in a "literary experience" group indicated more involvement in the story world; and students who did not discuss the stories were more…

Investigates the importance of time in literacy acquisition of second graders. Finds that the children wrestled with such complex issues as chronology in dialog, time/space relationships, and the way their culture defines time as they try to show the dimension of time on a page or work to understand the time element in the books they read. (RS)

Presents a classroom discussion episode broken into narrative segments with the teacher's reflective commentary on each. Uses this narrative to help understand the nature of student response to literature and the demands that response-centered teaching makes on teachers. (SR)

Investigates whether responses to literature of South African adolescents from three subcultures varied with reference to values inherent in a text and whether these differences might be attributed to differences in the value systems of the respondent's subcultures. Confirms these expectations. (SR)

Studies the relationship between a teenager's current reading strategies and that same person's reading history. Shows how this investigation was carried out with a single teenager named Derek. Considers the difficulties and complex questions regarding attempts to define and analyze adolescent readers. (HB)

Suggests that the essence of whole language is students developing literate voices. Discusses a seven-month partnership in which the authors participated in and reflected on literature discussions with small groups of fourth graders. Explores how literate voices are developed in real classrooms. (RS)