Outlines five variations of the Directed Reading Thinking Activity that can help students become independent readers of narrative text. (NKA)

Suggests that while teachers may wish to guide students in their reading of literature--to give them only "good" literature and to help them see the "right" interpretations of it--such guidance leaves students' understanding to chance, and does not help them choose to think and construct values of their own. (JC)

Suggests that both boys and girls are interested in sports and recreation. Describes activities which utilize the topic of sports to highlight diverse vocabulary terms, encourage playing with language, and develop listening and writing skills. Provides an annotated bibliography of sports books for children. (ARH)

A study of highly successful men and women with reading disabilities used a developmental approach to investigate how, and under what conditions, males and females with reading disabilities develop high literacy levels and resilient self-concepts. The 60 participants in the study included a Nobel laureate, a member of the National Academy of…

Argues that the key to helping one seventh-grade boy make the transition from non-reader to reader was in changing his self-image as a non-reader. Shows how he became actively engaged in reading and writing when he felt valued, took risks, and developed his own ideas. Argues for more closely aligning students' lives within school and outside…

The teacher and the librarian are key role models for students establishing reading habits. This paper describes various grant application projects developed in the Little Rock Public School District (Arkansas) to promote reading for pleasure by students and teachers. Discussion includes: student evaluation; developing a communication network of…

This study investigated elementary school teachers' perception of their first grade students' interest in multicultural trade books. The study participants included 151 first graders, 17 experienced teachers, and 65 preservice teachers. The study used 15 multicultural trade books and 15 non-multicultural books matched as closely as possible in…

This study investigated the reading preferences of American Indian and Anglo children with respect to ethnicity of main character, gender of main character, and setting in children's stories. The 160 subjects consisted of 80 American Indians and 80 Anglos from Grades 2 and 3, divided evenly by gender and grade level. The study yielded significant…

One way that success in integrating literature into middle school classrooms has been achieved is by the systematic study of different genres of literature. Through a variety of activities, students can be engaged in comparisons, contrasts, and other higher-level thinking skills. Response journals, in which students react to their reading by…

Applying reader response theory, a study explored the responses of 19 pregnant adolescents and teenage mothers to two dissimilar young adult novels, one about teenage pregnancy and one about adolescent alcoholism. Quantitative analysis, using a modified version of the Purves-Rippere (1968) system, and qualitative analysis of written answers to…

Memorable language that delights children, makes them laugh or gasp, or causes them to ponder and wonder is the literature that will begin the process of teaching them to read and write. Literature is meant to connect, not with reason primarily, but with readers' and listeners' imaginations and emotions, and in the case of poetry, with something…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 19 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the effects of study guides on content retention and reading achievement among community college freshmen; (2) the effects of schemata and text structure on…

Exploring ways of using the arts in humanizing reading instruction and in the development of lifetime readers, the articles in this volume offer many creative approaches to help reading and classroom teachers provide their students with educational experiences that will not only help them master basic skills but also affect their capacity for…

The effectiveness of "preferred interest" materials in adult reading classes was tested by comparing pretest and posttest scores for the silent reading subtest of the Standard Reading Inventory. The study collected data for 20 adults that received reading instruction by traditional teaching methods (large group arrangement and commercial…

Drawing from research concerned with sex stereotypes and reading, this book is intended for use by reading teachers at all levels who wish to understand and eliminate sex stereotyping in the materials and practices they use. The nine articles in the book are arranged under three categories: the cognitive, social, and educational dimensions of sex…