Children quickly become bored with repetition requiring the library media specialists to vary their booktalk formats to sustain children's attention and promote recreational reading. This article discusses the four basic booktalk formats: plot summary, anecdote, character description, creation of mood, and a fifth to promote books with a common…

Describes the difference between literary communication ("belles-lettres") and information communication. Identifies 11 possible functions of or reasons for reading belles-lettres. Discusses the importance of literary communication to library users and the library's role in providing belles-lettres to the public. (AEF)

A study examining the impact of ancestral cultural knowledge on student motivation surveyed 61 Mexican American students at a Southwestern middle school before and after a 3-day program on Mesoamerican culture. Findings indicated that students' sense of cultural awareness and voluntary reading preferences were enhanced. Culturally relevant…

Shares how the author designed reading activities to increase students' understanding of nonfiction by adhering to three principles: purpose, classification, and collaboration. Recounts how students responded to the reading materials and each other as they developed an understanding of the information available to them. (MG)

Summarizes work by three researchers in the area of young people and libraries. The first examined library habits of pregnant teenagers; the second explored reading interests of children and adolescents and factors involved in their selection of reading materials; and the third advocated making research relevant to those involved in collecting…

Discusses the opportunity to unite readers of all ages by encouraging reading and discussing books on a given topic. Outlines possible topics and gives book-starter suggestions that are likely to spark broad interest such as the 1940s, World War II, or Growing Up. Suggests preparations that may be made for those who are unaccustomed to book…

A survey examined the reading interests and availability of relevant reading materials for 25 bilingual fifth-grade students in a rural southwestern school. Area residents were primarily descendants of early Hispanic settlers. Discusses the importance of targeting student reading interests and making materials of interest available in classrooms…

Provides a descriptive bibliography of titles that show the significant role books play in a young person's existence. Includes a letter excerpted from "Dear Author" magazine, from a 14-year old to "Charlotte's Web" author E.B. White telling how the book changed her life. (AEF)

Presents an open letter to English teachers outlining what the author hopes English teachers will teach his children about books and reading this year, focused on helping them love reading. Includes some thoughts about how to do so. Presents short annotations of 11 new or overlooked young adult books worth reading. (SR)

Examines two urban 10th-grade English classes of ethnically diverse students in which the teachers diversified literature selections for newly designed ethnic literature curricula. Reports the texts students found most memorable and meaningful, and analyzes the values students found in their encounters with these literary works. (RS)

Examines the benefits of reader response by means of student letters to authors. Notes that students involved in response writing become more interested in reading, are more reflective individuals, and more responsible for monitoring and resolving their own questions. (SD)

Over the past 10 years, traditional elementary history textbooks have been criticized by a number of reviewers. In part as a result, some fifth-grade teachers, many of whom have students who are learning chronological U.S. history for the first time, have begun to augment these textbooks with biographies, historical fiction, literature-based…

Developed by national reading experts for "reading partners" to use with children, ages birth to grade 6, this Spanish-language booklet presents activities that help very young children to get ready for reading and writing, and guide older children to expand their reading and writing interests and skills. The booklet has three sections,…

This manual of activities and reproducible drawings and worksheets is designed to encourage reading and to accompany a reading club program. Each chapter is centered around an Olympic sport. As each chapter begins, a bulletin board idea and nametag pattern are provided. This is followed by several storytime ideas for toddlers and preschoolers,…

Tools for teaching students how to question intelligently are badly needed. Science fiction provides many such tools in a variety of subjects by stimulating the imagination and thus motivating students to learn. Such vehicles are available at all grade levels. From Mark Twain and H.G. Wells to Anne McCaffrey and Isaac Asimov, novels and short…