The impact of high school and college students' prior knowledge of literary and social conventions on their attitudes toward fictional characters is examined. Differences were found in attitudes toward the teaching of literature and in evaluations of a fictional teacher's behavior. A model for research in this area is proposed. (PP)

Six contributors suggest ways to (1) improve handwriting, (2) help children choose reading materials, (3) develop sight vocabulary, (4) use phonics with ESL learners, (5) use Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading, and (6) teach reading comprehension. (FL)

Readers share information on the use of the uninterrupted silent sustained reading method to change the reading attitudes of adult Native American students and on the use of taped books with high school remedial reading students. (MKM)

Results of a study in which four instructional methods (involving different amounts of preparation and guidance in reading short stories) were used with 48 seventh-grade students demohstrate that it is possible to simultaneously prepare able and less able readers for discussion of the same story. Reading attitudes were also assessed in the study.…

Reports that the Estes Attitude Scale suffers from the influence of cultural biases that make it inadequate to measure attitude about reading among low-income, Black students in grades three through seven in the rural southern United States. (FL)

Reviews studies that explore the nature of the relationships between reading and writing and that suggest the influence of writing on word recognition, reading comprehension, and reading motivation. Offers six recommendations for classroom instruction based on the available information about the reading/writing relationship. (GT)

In this interview, a tutor in a correctional reading program, himself a former drug addict and jail prisoner, describes his childhood failures in reading, the public shool's failure to help him and other Spanish-speaking students, his eventual reading success in the jail reading program, and factors that account for the program's success. (GT)

Presents tips for school librarians to encourage reading based on Stephen Krashen's analysis in "The Power of Reading" of more than 200 research studies, articles, and books on reading and literacy. Highlights include the effects of reading on student achievement; recreational reading; and reading aloud. (LRW)

This follow-up of the effects of the national Bookstart pilot study compared samples of urban families through structured interviews. It found that two years later those families whose babies had been introduced to books in the original experiment gave more priority to looking at books, buying books as presents, and book sharing between parents…

Highlights research important to understanding struggling middle school readers, and based on that research, suggests principles for instruction. Argues that knowing students as readers, maintaining a wide range of reading material, and allotting time for reading in class can support readers regardless of motivation, interest, or ability. (SD)

Summarizes current research on teaching children to love reading, and identifies techniques that can be used by parents, teachers and librarians to foster this attitude. The topics discussed include the value of reading aloud to children, selecting children's books, the different interests of boys and girls, and reading to develop values. (six…

Describes Focus on Teenage Parents, a project with an integrated approach that incorporates material on child development, personal identity, and parenting issues to immerse high school students, many of them parents, in children's literature and process writing. (SR)

Reports a study of replacing a basal reading program with a curriculum emphasizing science activities, science process skills, and science-content-based reading in three fourth-grade classrooms (n=51). Results showed these students displayed significantly greater sores on tests of reading and science, and more positive attitudes toward science and…

Compares the processing strategies of Indonesian and U.S. university students using an international news story attributed either to a high- or low-constraint source. Finds that audiences in censored news environments are more critical in distinguishing among news sources but less critical of the unconstrained news itself. (SR)

Describes one New York City teacher's project to establish a book store in school offering quality, low cost titles to children. Covers the funding process, physical set-up, parent involvement, staffing with student workers, stocking the store, hours of operation, and positive student and parent response. (JB)