Readability formulas applied to materials for hearing-impaired students do not account for important factors in reader-writer-text interaction. Factors include the reader's purpose, cultural background, and extent of background knowledge; writers' assumptions about readers; the text's structure, content, and cohesion; and the role of…

Asserts that using children's literature in primary grades enhances learning and helps achieve social studies objectives. Reports on survey of educators that identified 10 books, 7 book series, and 7 common characteristics of books or series that led to their selection. Includes chart indicating how these characteristics corresponded to social…

This article describes several techniques for structuring storybook reading interactions to best promote emergent literacy development for young children with disabilities. Techniques are presented for increasing the appeal and interactive nature of shared storybook reading and ways to promote children's awareness of naturally occurring literacy…

"Beit midrash" or "house of study" refers to a place where Jews, traditionally men, gather to study classical texts, often in pairs or "hevruta." In this "Beit midrash" for Teachers, the selection of texts, the language of instruction and the purposes of learning differ from those in a traditional "Beit midrash" where the study of Talmud is…

Designed to assess and describe the nature and frequency of teaching methods, activities, and materials used in secondary school English courses, this survey consists of 14 questions related to teaching objectives, activities, and materials, each followed by a list of possible responses. Teachers are asked to select a course, and to circle for…

Because the teacher librarian has an important educational role to play in assisting students to become independent learners by applying the inquiry process to library research, this booklet has been designed to assist teacher librarians in teaching students the information skills appropriate to stage three of the inquiry process, i.e., analyzing…

The articles in this journal issue suggest techniques for classroom use of literature that has "withstood the test of time." The titles of the articles and their authors are as follows: (1) "The Storytelling Connection for the Classics" (Mary Ellen Martin); (2) "Elizabeth Bennet: A Liberated Woman" (Geneva Marking);…

Intended for administrators and policymakers as well as teachers, this digest explores the relationship between television viewing habits and reading achievement. The digest first examines recent research indicating a negative relationship between television viewing in excess of ten hours and reading performance. The digest next focuses on the…

To address the gap perceived by classroom reading teachers between research findings and reading process theories and the realities of classroom reading instruction, this paper poses six questions/problems often asked by reading teachers, and answers them with information drawn from current research and theory. Topics covered in the questions…

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of several techniques for teaching reading to students with mental disabilities. Basic considerations include the following facts: (1) the effectiveness of the teacher is more important than the teaching method used, and (2) the teacher's view of reading should match the reading approach…

Faced with the task of reading literature on themes perhaps foreign to their own experience, students can explore their reactions to these issues by using a case study approach, bridging the gap between the novel and the student's own experience. In a case study, the issue of racial hatred can be objectively discussed as students gather evidence…

The author's analysis of reading material content of second language texts examines achievement of graphemic-phonemic contrasts, sequence of association in the process of reading, and control of sounds, grammar, subject matter, and cultural content. Because the orthography-sound association skill cannot be separated from the sound-meaning skill,…

To demonstrate how well-selected literature of the second language can play an important role in the curriculum of the fourth-and fifth-year high school School Spanish course and reinforce language learning, an outline for an analysis of the poem "Dedalo" by Jaime Torres Bodet is presented. Steps in this analysis include explanations of the…

The practice of teaching reading should be based on the nature and dignity of human beings. The major problem in the study of reading is that the reading model on which pedagogy is based is inconsistent with this view of persons. The view that reading is a skills-determined, linear process in which readers decode, process, and retrieve information…

Discusses the U.S. Department of Education's publication "What Works: Research About Teaching and Learning," focusing on those sections that are most pertinent to the goals and methods of social studies teachers. Reviews and draws implications from its suggestions for improving education at the levels of home, classroom, and school. (AEM)