Looks critically at the theoretical and ideological underpinnings of the practice of story mapping. Discovers a deep contradiction between the author's definition of reading as a constructive process and the reductionist nature of story mapping, which inhibits students' potential to explore a diverse range of personal responses by promoting…

Building on one aspect of a large-scale longitudinal investigation, a study examined first graders' engagement with literature. Subjects, five Euro-American students (two males, three females), were videotaped during two 30-minute storybook reading sessions one week apart. During the reading session, child and adult sat side-by-side in an effort…

Summarizes a descriptive naturalistic study of the literary competence of a class of first and second graders as suggested by their responses during read-alouds of picture books. Finds that the children were sophisticated literary critics, and the storybook read-aloud situation was an important site for the development of their literary…

Examines the strategies first grade students use when reading two types of materials--basal and student-authored. Finds that children used more efficient strategies and had better comprehension when reading student-authored stories. (MM)