Notes how the authors visited a sixth-grade classroom in an urban setting to teach students about jazz using children's literature. Describes how they played the music, talked about its basic structure and unique characteristics, read books aloud about the major musicians, and encouraged the students to experience the music for themselves. (SG)

Investigates whether seventh-grade students who were exposed to the Accelerated Reader during elementary school tend to do more reading of books than those who did not have such exposure. Describes Accelerated Reader, a program in which books are given a point value on the basis of length and reading level. Proposes that students do not become…

Examines what motivates students to read by looking at four literacy personalities. Explores readers' beliefs, readers' reasons and purposes, and readers' affective reactions. Proposes that self-efficacy is important at the beginning of a literacy event. Provides some practical ideas for classroom teachers to discover students' literacy…

Discusses how to motivate teachers to read. Proposes that teachers who exhibit the characteristics of engaged readers will help create students who exhibit the same characteristics. Suggests that in order to engage teachers in reading, teachers' social interaction with books and teachers' access to books should increase; existing practices should…

Discusses four books written by teachers for other teachers that share stories of expertise, of new discoveries, of interpretations and perceptions. Argues that these stories will help new teachers feel less isolated and lonely and will help them to become better teachers and learners. (SR)

Offers reflections (by Nicholasa Mohr, writer of children's, young adult, and adult literature) upon how she learned to read and how reading gave her a sense of freedom, as well as pride in her own Puerto Rican heritage, in spite of the nonacceptance and contempt she experienced in school. (SR)

Discusses the legacy of the work of Margaret Edwards for young adult librarianship. Highlights include accepting adult books for young adults; promoting reading and emphasizing the role of librarians in encouraging reading; meaningful outreach services; and youth participation. (LRW)

Describes an elementary school study that investigated how to successfully implement the Accelerated Reader program, an electronic reading management program designed to replace standard book reports and raise students' motivation to read quality literature and help them become better readers. Topics include student attitudes; teacher attitudes;…

Describes the characteristics of the Tech Prep reader and writer. Recommends a language learning environment to foster literacy for these students, and provides a 17-item annotated bibliography of adolescent literature to motivate these reluctant readers. (SR)

Describes the author's voluntary reading program in her second-grade classroom. Describes how her basic Drop Everything and Read program needed to be added to and tinkered with to keep students interested and motivated: paired reading and discussion, visual reading records, and praise and occasional rewards. (SR)

Describes how a committee of children's librarians created a booklist that allowed young readers to talk to other readers through published book annotations. Discusses development, promotion, and judging of a contest that encouraged children to submit new ideas and resulted in a list of entries from children at 55 schools. Includes sample winning…

Examines changes in first- and second-graders' reading motivation across the course of a school year in the United States and Finland. Explores possible developmental patterns in early reading motivation that operate universally across cultural contexts. Finds that in both countries first-graders' reading motivation increased significantly across…

Examined the nature of Turkish students' motivation to read. Objectives were to explore the mean level of Turkish students' reading motivation; to identify students' reading frequencies; and to understand the relation between their reading motivations and their reading frequencies. Students completed the Motivations for Reading Questionnaire and…

Many young adults enjoy graphic novels because the genre differs so dramatically from the books that educators traditionally have encouraged adolescents to read. Growing up with television and video games, contemporary young adults look for print media that contain the same visual impact and pared-down writing style and contribute to their…

Means of organizing a genre study within a reader's workshop to invite students into fantasy worlds is discussed by the teachers of fourth grade. The students can naturally get into critical reading by identifying the characteristics of fantasy.