Adolescence is a critical time period when it comes to fostering lifelong interest and practices in reading, yet a decreasing number of middle school students are performing at Proficient and Advanced levels in reading. The purpose of this study was to examine whether providing middle school students with an increased level of choice in their…

Many reading programs today overlook an essential component of literacy instruction--helping children develop an enduring love of reading. This authoritative and accessible guide provides a wealth of ideas for incorporating high-quality children's books of all kinds into K-6 classrooms. Numerous practical strategies are presented for engaging…

Provides a list of 118 reasons why the author's students claim they study American literature, including: (1) to broaden their vocabulary, (2) to learn from other people's experiences, and (3) to develop an open mind about different kinds of literature. (JD)

This article reports on investigations into whether students starting secondary school should, among other adjustments, adapt their concepts of literacy. Interviews with 24 11- and 12-year olds are used to explore their perceptions and expectations concerning their literacy and its ongoing development at this pivotal stage. (Contains four…

In this article, the author advocates the use of literacy narratives--assignments in which students are asked to describe and reflect upon their experiences with reading and writing. Among their other uses, she believes that they provide a sense of students' prior literacy experiences and of their general feelings toward reading and writing, and…

Describes how an elementary teacher encouraged her students to read novels using cooperative group activities based on popular television shows. Students divided into groups, took different roles, read a novel, and made a presentation to the class. When they finished the novel, they selected a new activity. (SM)

Five strategies to help elementary teachers encourage a love of reading in their students are showing how reading fits into one's life, identifying all children as readers, focusing on good reading experiences, pointing out when reading works, and encouraging talk about books. A sidebar provides suggestions for positive reading reinforcement. (SM)

This book adopts the point of view of a child to consider young children and how they think about reading. A premise of the book is that beginning readers have rich understandings of reading and are able to share these insights with any adults who care to listen. The book argues that reading instruction can be improved by listening to children and…

Discusses (1) strategies that make learning disabled adolescents independent in subject area classrooms, (2) the use of medieval rhetoric to help modern students expand their writing, and (3) students' opinions of sustained silent reading. (NKA)

Describes New York City teachers' emphasis on independent reading, with the rest of their reading curriculum growing out of needs identified during that time. They begin with mini-lessons, then create social supports for reading, make independent reading central and collaborative, reinforce what works, make time for solitary reading, and learn…

A series of articles explores the role of the school library in generating reading motivation among students, and suggests strategies for changing student and teacher attitudes through cooperative programs with teachers, library activities, special activities for reluctant readers, learning strategies, and computer assisted instruction. An…

This booklet presents a collection of seven practitioner research reports conducted by individuals employed through adult basic education (ABE), Graduate Equivalency Diploma (GED), and English as a second language (ESL) programs and funded by the Iowa State Staff Development Committee. The practitioner research presented in the collection gives…

One component of the Reading Plan for Michigan is to develop and implement methods of assessing children's progress in acquiring early literacy skills and of communicating their status and progress to other teachers and parents. This document presents an assessment and instructional system, the Michigan Literacy Progress Profile 2001 (MLPP 2001),…