Maintains that the literature curriculum should reflect our pluralist society, not a canonical tradition. Suggests pairing canonical works with works instantiating pluralism. Describes a unit on the novel for a ninth grade honors class and the use of an "adolescent problem novel" in a sophomore intermediate class. (SR)

The impact of two methods of individual instruction, guided reading and the learning center approach, on undergraduates in an educational psychology course is investigated. Objectives are (1) to determine which method is more effective in terms of cognitive gains, and (2) to compare attitudes toward the two methods. (JMD)

Claims that readers can conduct dialogue with many inner audiences through reading, and readers who manage to do so are likely to develop more sophisticated strategies for learning. Describes different kinds of dialogues, specifically, dialoging with reader's experience, with the author/illustrator, with genre, with problems, and with culture.…

Instruction in narrative text structure on first graders' listening and reading comprehension was examined with a view to documenting strategy instruction and transfer of learning in beginning readers. Of interest was whether or not first-grade students (n=35) would, following instruction within the context of listening to stories, gain in…

Designed to help teachers provide high-interest independent work for their first grade students, this manual contains plans to increase students' reading, spelling, and speaking vocabularies by using original poetry. After a short introduction, the first section describes bulletin board plans that can be adapted for use throughout the year and…

A study examined the use of literary models in teaching written composition to children, and, as secondary goals, examined the relationships between written composition and such factors as age, sex, and intelligence. Four fifth-grade classes in Clarke County, Georgia, completed Sequential Tests of Educational Progress (STEP) Writing Tests and…

The purpose of this study was to determine the critical and pedagogical emphases of professionally superior high school literature teachers. Almost 100 reportedly effective lesson plans (submitted by 63 teachers) were evaluated by the use of a classification scale which was established from five conceptions of literature identified in professional…

The three books reviewed in this article represent the continuous effort to make visible the significant bridge between theory and practice in the fields of literacy and children's literature. While the authors maintain distinct purposes for their creations, the texts each speak to a strong theoretical support for the practices they describe. The…

Seeking to foster in children a love of books and reading, this 3-week curriculum module is designed to encourage third graders to read independently and to develop an awareness of the intrinsic value of reading by helping students acquire those library skills necessary to access literature, setting up strategies for students to use to assess…

This paper describes a program at the Technical University of Budapest which is designed primarily to teach scientific English while at the same time improving everyday conversational English. The program combines the traditional textbook method and a new method whereby students in the first term read and translate technical material on a homework…

Extensive reading (ER) programs involve students in silently reading large quantities of materials. These materials are usually at a level that permits students to gain at least a fair understanding of what they are reading without outside help. Such programs' benefits for first- and second-language (L1 and L2) learners are well documented (Coady,…

A strategy for teaching reading in college preparation courses of English as a second language that attempts to help students achieve reading independence, is presented. Skills of independent, flexible reading are outlined and a taxonomy of skill types (passive, active, and synthetic) and levels (mechanical, knowledge, transfer, response, and…

To make sense of unknown words encountered in their reading, children must relate what they read to their prior knowledge. It is important to use children's language in early reading instruction, through the use of language experience stories that provide children with a natural transition from oral to written language. Nursery rhymes may also be…

Presents lists of exercises to be done in conjunction with students' independent reading that emphasize the affective domain. Includes activities that were developed for high school literature and college poetry classes. (MM)