Summer reading suggestions are offered for teachers and students. Brief descriptions and sources of 11 children's magazines are provided. (DB)

Recommends fine fiction for summer reading, including Nadine Gordimer's "My Son's Story" (1991), Lillian Smith's "Strange Fruit" (1944), Josephine Hart's "Damage" (1991), Jane Smiley's "A Thousand Acres" (1991), and George Eliot's "Middlemarch" (1874). Nonfiction suggestions include Harlan Lane's…

Although basic literacy will continue to be necessary for survival, mass communications and information technology are bringing about an inevitable and lamentable decline in reading for pleasure and in the love of literature for its own sake. (TE)

Argues that, if teachers want to see real writing improvement with their students, they must become advocates of free voluntary reading. Describes improvements the author has seen in his students, and lists some suggested titles for a classroom library collection. (SR)

This article offers a strategy for helping students to choose material they can read during sustained silent reading periods in school and independently at home. The rubric considers the following readability factors: vocabulary, sentence complexity, topic and concepts, clarity of ideas, level of abstraction, organization, design and format,…

A practicum developed and implemented reading strategies to increase the positive attitudes toward recreational reading of a third-grade target group. The practicum focused on five central strategies for achieving objectives: alternative book reports, home leisure reading, guest reader program, read-aloud student response journals, and writing and…

A recent study on the free selection of library books for recreational silent reading periods focused on the difficulty of material chosen and on the relationship between the students' reading ability and the readability of a book. Three groups of 24 students completed an interest inventory form, and their reading ability, sex, and reading…

Independent reading is a necessary adjunct to a school reading program. If caried out with commitment, it can greatly influence students' lifetime reading habits. Unfortunately, today's educators are so involved with reading instruction and competency testing that independent or recreational reading may become a lost art. This paper asserts that…

ELEMENTARY TEACHERS ARE COMMENDED FOR DEVELOPING LIFETIME READERS. ELEMENTARY TEACHERS TELL STORIES AND READ ALOUD WITH ZEST AND NATURAL AFFECTION. THEY STRUCTURE THE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT TO MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE AND CONDUCIVE TO FREE AND ENJOYABLE READING, AND THEY GIVE ATTENTION TO THE BASIC SKILLS OF LANGUAGE AS WELL AS TO THE CONTENT THAT…

Word frequency was determined for library books that primary-grade children selected for free reading. A survey of librarians determined which books these children selected. This list was reduced to 80 books through evaluations by elementary school teachers. A computer analysis of each word in these books revealed 105,280 running words. When…

Discusses the benefits of reading young adult novels. Remarks on their serious intent, careful craftmanship, effective expression, as well as their ability to illuminate the human condition and provide insights. (EL)

This article presents easy computer projects to send students into the summer feeling good about the past year and looking forward to the next. The projects involve printing summer reading book lists, making bridges to the next grade, publishing books of class events, designing reading posters, and creating summer calendars. (SM)

Offers a detailed plan for a book swap, which not only helps place new books in the homes of most children but also places books in the homes of children who may have no books at all. (SR)

Describes a whole school supplemental reading program for secondary schools based upon the development and use of a schoolwide reading list that includes titles of books, the types of teachers (chemistry, history, physical education, etc.) who sponsor the books, and the "linked courses" that bestow academic credit for each title. (SR)