Argues for inclusion of more written input in first-year programs, and describes an experimental reading collection of children's books accompanied by guided tasks. The description includes results of a post-year survey that explored student perceptions of the cultural and linguistic benefits of working with children's books in a reading lab.…

Describing the characteristics and attitudes of a nationally representative sample of 36,000 students in grades 3, 7, and 11, this report details the specific features of reading instruction, how students approach their reading tasks, student reading experiences, and the home and school supports to academic achievement. The report is based the…

This study revealed that in the 31 junior and senior high schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, North Carolina there was discernible growth in written composition from grade to grade when students were measured and analyzed by total group, academic and nonacademic curriculum, and boys and girls. Each student's writing ability was measured by a…

This book is the product of a collaborative partnership between the two authors to develop a year-long literary/literacy program for first grade children based on bridging learning in the library and the classroom. Some of the objectives of the program described in the book are: to provide opportunities for children to experience personal…

One Israeli junior high school initiated an extensive reading program that promotes independent English reading and increases acquisition of English. This article explains how to get such a program started, develop guidelines, and handle problems. Student surveys indicated that similar numbers of students enjoyed reading English and reading…

This comparison of students' learning from reading books and from watching television uses Gavriel Salomon's model of learning effects, which is based on the amount of mental effort invested (AIME) in a medium as determining how deeply the information from that medium is processed. Mental effort, in turn, is predicted to depend on two perceptions…

Suggests that educators can help new readers develop the habit of reading by exposing them to easy-to-read, high-interest books, giving them time to practice reading, reading books aloud in class, and having students share their reactions to books with each other. (MM)

To provide data for examining the variables that distinguish effective writers from ineffective ones, 1821 mid-west 10th-grade students wrote three themes at 3-week intervals. From a first reading of these papers, the sets of three themes from 432 pupils, which were judged strong or weak in effective writing, were submitted to four judges for…