Describes how Gary Paulsen's novels for young adults transformed the author's teaching, and caused her eighth-grade reluctant readers to read as if inspired. Relates how Paulsen's stories about his adventures and misadventures in education and in life stirred students to become active participants in the reading process. Offers a select…

Offers five "images" (personal recollections) of reader response in the life of the author/educator. Suggests that while each image offers insight into the nature of response, each still supports the need for initial personal connections to the text whether the ultimate goal is motivating readers, enhancing reading ability, or creating…

Describes a modified method of reader-response used as a core activity in a literature classroom in which students write a short written response at the beginning of every class to the reading due that day. Describes the procedure, its relationship to effective writing, and its benefits, including reading more critically, writing more effectively,…

Presents tips for giving successful teen booktalks, including advice on delivery, teasing students and getting their attention, selecting books that have sections that will interest them, stretching the truth, and, and limiting the presentation. Includes a sampling of young adult books and examples of scripts used to get teens' attention. (AEF)

Examines non-goal oriented transactions with texts to investigate the information encounter in the context of daily living. Analyzes interview responses that illuminate two aspects of reading for pleasure: how readers choose these books; and books that have made a significant difference in readers' lives. Concludes with five themes emerging from…

Examines print access in a comprehensive way to include home, school, and community resources. Finds that consistent with previous research, convenient access to reading material, regardless of these eleventh-grade students' reading ability, was associated with more frequent reading. Discusses implications for providing students with easier access…

Synthesizes the case study of one struggling fourth-grade reader who participated in a semester-long, literature-based, e-mail collaborative with a pre-service teacher. Explores the nature of this e-mail partnership. Suggests that the authentic, social nature of e-mail serves as a motivating literacy event for the fourth grader. Discusses…

Readers' Theatre is a presentation by two or more participants who read a script. The focus is on effective reading of the script, rather than on a memorized presentation. Discusses preparing the scripts; getting started; the Readers' Theatre Fable Festival; and how Readers' Theatre can be used to enhance the reading and writing program. Includes…

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, audiobooks began to gain a place in libraries and became part of library collections and services. The growing interest in including them in school and public libraries was concurrent with widespread use of audiocassettes at home and in business. Children and adults enjoy listening to audiobooks as much as…

Most people associate read-alouds with bright-eyed preschoolers and elementary school kids--not with struggling at-risk teens. But read-alouds are fun for students of all ages. And studies by education researchers such as Stephen Krashen, Jim Trelease, and Janet Allen have shown that reading to kids boosts their reading comprehension, increases…

In recent years, some prominent scholars and historians of reading have emphasized the gradual nature of change in reading practices in the early modern period as opposed to sudden transitions. This article discusses the varying opportunities to acquire skills consequent on "engaged reading" (defined below) available to the children of different…

Book folders are an effective way of assessing and encouraging student reading of the high school level. The use of book folders, and how teachers utilize them, and how both reading and information literacy skills are promoted when teachers and library media specialists collaborate on this project are described.

This article discusses the benefits of an author-in-residence program in assisting students to develop and enhance their reading skills. The author presents several basic guidelines in planning for an author's school visit, which include seeking staff assistance in selecting an author, determining the length of the residency, and making the…

Students in sixth and ninth grades were surveyed to determine attitudes toward reading and identify factors in the lives of older children and teens associated with the development of a love of reading. A group of 14 students who love to read, as well as an equal number of students who prefer not to read, were then interviewed about their reading…

In this study 251 Australian university students, with a mean age of 26.46, indicated their preference for different types of reading material. A subset of 136 participants additionally reported how many hours per week they typically engage in recreational reading and non-recreational reading, indicated their motivation for recreational reading,…