This article describes a study conducted with four Kindergarten teachers and students. The researchers were the building's literacy specialist/reading teacher and a college professor teaching pre-service teachers on site at the school. This was a naturally evolving teacher research study generated from questions raised as children demonstrated…

The purpose of this study is to ascertain the differences in online reading habits between genders and investigate the relationship between socio-economic status and online reading habits. Using a questionnaire, a quantitative approach was administered to 240 Form-Four students from four secondary schools in Penang Island, Malaysia. Findings…

Teachers recognize that frequent independent reading increases student knowledge on a wide range of topics, enhances vocabulary, and improves comprehension. "Ban the Book Report" inspires teachers to go beyond narrow and analytical book reports by exploring the potential of book talks, alternate book covers, identifying features of informational…

Although children with Down syndrome (DS) can learn to read, few studies have explored parental perspectives on the reading development of this group of children. This article, written by Leila Ricci and Anna Osipova, from California State University, explores visions and expectations regarding reading held by parents of children with Down…

"Reading maturity" is a construct that looks broadly at reading development encompassing not only basic reading skills but reading habits, attitudes, and dispositions. It has a rich history and this article calls for a need to make reading maturity a necessary part of the literacy curriculum. It offers a working description and reviews…

Reading avidness is recognized as one of the predictors for academic achievement and as motivators for adult to be a life-long learner. The fact is that the number of avid readers is dwindling, and a recent survey showed that Malaysians read an average of two books per year. Thus, the focus of this research is to identify the factors that first…

"Eccomi Pronto" is a school counselor-led, story-based curriculum that is designed to promote simultaneously the development of early elementary school students' self-direction, active engagement in school, and pre-literacy skill development. This article reports the results of the first evaluation of a large-scale implementation of…

Since 2009, the author has been using an activity that she calls "book tasting" to help teens select books for independent reading assignments. While she is sure she is not the first to do this kind of activity, the term "book tasting" seems to appeal to the teens. Book tasting has been extremely successful in pairing up students with texts that…

A mixed method study explored a theoretical model that employed, combined, and added to the theories of self-determination, the reading engagement perspective, and the four-phase model of interest to motivate adolescent struggling readers to read for pleasure. The model adds to the existing body of research because it specifies an instructional…

With children growing up as digital natives, they have become accustomed to a fast paced, multitasking environment. In this digital landscape, children's brains learn in a parallel format, with instant information, as opposed to the traditional linear format with one skill being introduced at a time. Today's education methods used to…

The present study investigates the validity of a 4-point rating scale used to measure the level of preschool children's orientation to literacy during shared book reading. Validity was explored by (a) comparing the children's level of literacy orientation as measured with the "Children's Orientation to Book Reading Rating Scale" (COB)…

This study examines the effects of two types of online remedial reading interventions on the reading strategy and comprehension, motivational beliefs, and self-efficacy of 36 low-achieving students (explicit teaching before reciprocal teaching [ET-RT] vs. direct instruction [DI]). We designed a 10-unit online remedial English reading program based…

Recently, the use of children's picture books to teach English has been increasing in Japan. An advantage of these books is the high proportion of basic vocabulary they include. Can picture books also be useful for teaching Japanese students Italian and increasing their motivation? The present study analyses the effectiveness of employing a…

Can students read difficult but self-selected texts--and if so, how? In this article we describe what we learned about middle school students' use of background knowledge and specific vocabulary from interviews and surveys in our longitudinal study of magazine reading habits. Then we discuss the implications of these findings for structuring…

Children's book awards give us a mirror of the culture of a country and the books that children enjoy. While the majority of school librarians are very familiar with the books that win awards in their country, very few are cognizant of books that win awards in other countries. This paper examines major awards for children's books in as many…