Maintains that in the face of today's largely negative debate over immigration, reading fiction about immigrants can provide students with historical background, empathy, and an understanding of different perspectives. Notes that people's reasons for wanting to come to the United States remain fairly constant. Includes a five-item annotated…

Focusing on the theme of what literacy is and how it grows, this book presents 25 essays and studies that explore literacy growth in young children, teens, college students, and adults. Essays and studies in the book are (1) "Kindergarten Children's Uses of Oral Language and Social Interaction in Literacy Activities during Unstructured Play" (J.K.…

Sharing concerns and interests of New York State educators in the improvement of literacy, this annual journal raises educational issues such as current thoughts about literacy instruction, educators' roles, literacy in its many forms, college-community literacy partnerships, and recommended reading materials. Articles in the journal are "Who…

As Mexican Americans are the largest language-minority population in U.S. public schools, an investigation of literature that authentically reflects Mexican American students' cultural experience is necessary for any teacher. This chapter outlines strategies for integrating Mexican American children's literature into the structure of a classroom…

A study examined critical literacy and how texts, transactions, and talk enabled girls to examine their positions as readers and negotiate their identities in relation to novel characters and one another. Participants were eight sixth-grade girls of European American, African American, and Latina backgrounds and the participant researcher, a white…

A study determined the relationship, if any, between students' learning styles and the types of books they choose to read independently, as well as the amount of time they spend reading independently. Study participants were 72 seventh-grade students attending a middle school in Cobb County, Georgia, who had scored 70 or above in any of the four…

This scope and sequence chart was developed in South Carolina to aid adult literacy tutors. The chart is divided into four strands that represent the major components of reading: phonics; comprehension/critical thinking; communication; and life skills. Each strand is divided into skill areas that were considered to be major areas of need for adult…

Noting that most junior high level curricula do not take into account students' rapid mental and physical changes, the articles in this focused journal issue recommend works and teaching strategies that harmonize with these student needs. The titles and their authors are as follows: (1) "Adolescent Development and the Growth of Writing…

This guide familiarizes teachers with children's books and ways that they can be used to highlight and reinforce reading skills. Each of the 10 sections provides annotated lists of books, suggesting practical follow-up activities for skill development, extension, or enrichment. The beginning of each section includes remarks concerning the nature…

Focused on embracing individual children in language/reading experiences through instructional guidance combined with acceptance and understanding, this teaching guide for beginning reading provides teaching-learning activities which are organized for easy reference. The first section presents a self-corrective pretest for teachers, with an…

Child abuse education in the migrant classroom can accomplish five major goals: (1) provide support to the child who has suffered some form of maltreatment; (2) teach children abuse prevention strategies; (3) teach all children to accept those who have special problems; (4) improve children's self-concepts; and (5) encourage the abused child to…

Intended to help librarians develop summer programs, this manual contains suggestions for activities and events based on the theme "Star Spangled Summer." The manual includes suggestions for promoting the program, decorating the library, getting the participants registered, and participating in projects, activities, events, games, and giveaways.…

Intended to help teachers both improve students' text comprehension and better understand the teaching-learning process involved, this book focuses on comprehension and concept development as the central core of an effective educational program. The book's five sections deal with teaching explicit comprehension skills, precomprehension and…

With a multicultural approach to education, picture books and story books which provide children with their first experience in art and literature must be selected with consideration of the needs of the individual child, and of the culture he or she belongs to. This paper provides a list of criteria that children's literature should adhere to,…

Based on the premise that comprehension must be the true and final goal of all instruction in reading, this book is designed to provoke teachers' reflections about their own ideas, reading, language, and experiences as teachers of reading comprehension and to help them base their teaching decisions on a knowledge of theory and research about how…