Concludes that students involved in a peer-interaction model and an individual teacher-student conference model of recreational reading instruction obtained higher scores on a reading attitude measure than students in a sustained silent reading and a control model. Students involved in the peer-interaction model received significantly higher…

A program was designed and implemented to improve vocabulary knowledge and attitudes toward reading by focusing on direct vocabulary instruction. The targeted population consisted of 23 fourth grade students in a middle-class suburb north of Chicago. The community is very multicultural, so many of the students speak English as a second language.…

This study, involving 8 Hispanic males (ages 7-10) with speech/language impairments, found that having the teacher discuss a story's key words and read aloud while students read the story silently was more effective than just having students read orally and more effective than discussing key words and having students read silently. (Author/JDD)

Intended not only for parents and teachers, but also for grandparents, siblings, and librarians, this handbook promotes reading aloud as a way to stimulate students' interest in reading and to improve their reading achievement. Following an introduction and first chapter that stress the value of reading aloud, the book's second chapter explains…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 12 titles deal with the following topics: (1) reading and writing as a transaction process; (2) a literacy study among the Amish; (3) readers' representations of writers' aims in expository, persuasive, and ironic discourse; (4)…

An experiment was conducted with twenty native French speakers using a set of four reading passages, each followed by five multiple choice comprehension questions. Each subject was tested twice when reading aloud and twice when reading silently. Other test materials included a pre-test designed to check whether certain lexical items from the…

This paper contains descriptions of activities that have proven successful in one middle school's reading program. Each description contains a commentary on the activity, its objective, the skills it reinforces or teaches, and the materials needed. Among the activities presented are a method of teaching vowel sounds; a creative writing activity…

The purpose of this study was to determine if the comprehension of 33 second grade students on a standardized test is the same whether the test is read silently or orally. The students silently read Level B, Form 1 of the "Gates MacGinitie Reading Test"; during the month that followed, individual students read Level B, Form 2, of the test orally,…

Once a year, all children in grades two through four in the schools of a suburb of Copenhagen, Denmark, are administered silent reading tests. The test scores become the basis for an hour-long dialogue between the respective classroom teacher and a reading specialist. The focus of the dialogue is the improvement of instruction for each child, and…

The Pennsylvania Comprehensive Reading/Communication Arts Plan (PCRP) is a flexible guide designed to advance student competence in reading, listening, and oral and written expression, and to nurture positive attitudes toward reading and the effective use of language. Intended for use on every educational level, preschool through adult, the PCRP…

Using selected student variables, an attempt was made to predict retarded readers' true reading gains after remedial tutoring. The independent variables consisted of IQ and subtest scores obtained on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), pretutoring reading levels on the individually administered Diagnostic Reading Scales test, age,…

A model of the decoding process as utilized in silent reading on the college level was reported. The model was conceptualized as a pyramid, whose apex represented silent reading comprehension. The body of the total reading model rested on the foundations of basic reading skills and higher-level reading skills which were followed by tentative…

Describes how a remedial reading teacher, over the course of three years, helped a nine-year-old nonreader progress toward becoming a reader. Points out the importance of increasing the student's confidence, gaining his trust, and providing remedial instruction which is closely connected with other areas of the student's life. (ARH)

Suggests that a remedial English classroom should be simple, emphasize respect, and make students comfortable. Notes that regardless of the special challenges each student may bring to the classroom, basic language skills improve through practice. Describes a remedial English class, which incorporates journal writing, reading aloud, sustained…

Average performance on subtests of the Iowa Tests of Educational Development was compared for 177 high school students taking the test under silent reading (standardized) conditions and time limits and students listening to audiotapes of test material as they read the test. Poor readers were helped by the tapes. (SLD)