This document discusses the author's personal opinion and feelings on teaching. She expresses her love for literacy and the hope to engage her students with the same feeling, yet not force it upon them.

Using published research studies, writings of experts in the literacy field, and anecdotes from the author's own experiences, this article examines the reading motivation and disposition of preservice teachers and suggests ways that children's literature courses positively affect both. Ideas of social modeling, constructivist course design, and…

The purpose of the study was to examine how reader response journals followed by classroom discussion ("Reader Response Plus") contributed to students' reading comprehension and to their attitudes toward reading. The study was conducted in a rural school in upstate New York. The twelfth grade class that participated in the study…

Due in part to conflicting opinions and research results, the practice of sustained silent reading (SSR) in schools has been questioned. After a frustrating experience with SSR, the author of this article began a data-driven decision-making process to gain new insights on how to structure silent reading in a classroom, including a comparison…

This conceptual essay critiques current understandings of children's motivation for literacy learning, and argues for a reconceptualization of motivation that centers on the learner as agent in the social construction of meaning. The essay is illustrated with vignettes and examples drawn from two ethnographic studies conducted in whole-language…

A study determined the impact of integrating literacy and science programs on literacy achievement, use of literature, and attitude toward reading and science. Six third-grade classes (128 students) of ethnically diverse children were assigned to one control and two experimental groups (literature/science program and literature only program).…

Third of a 4-part longitudinal study examining the unfolding reading cognition of novice teachers, a study focused on seven teachers during their first year of teaching in elementary schools in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The teachers' reading beliefs and practices were identified using a variety of approaches including lesson plan review,…

Children drawn on a variety of experiences when they first become interested in literature. Cultural as well as economic backgrounds may influence their selection. Attitudes from family members may also influence these choices. A study determined the effect of exposure to literacy in the early years on reading in the "formal" school years.…

Developed by students at Harrison Elementary, Cedar Rapids, Iowa for a web site celebrating Iowa's sesquicentennial, this booklet presents a variety of material about literacy in Iowa. The first section of the booklet provides information on professional and state organizations dealing with literacy and presents the school's home page. The next…

A practicum used a program of high interest activities involving reading to address the problem of low reading comprehension grades and test scores of eight students in the second through fourth grades, who were an average of 1 year behind the norm in reading. The program's six units included a listening unit, computer technology unit, daily…

Even though Swedish students (age 9 and 14 years) placed third in the recent IEA study, reading instruction in Swedish schools is apparently no better than in other countries taking part in the IEA study. No strong correlations between type of reading instruction and students' reading skills have been found. Schools in Nordic countries work under…

A practicum report addressed the problem of lack of interest in the literacy of young readers and the need to motivate them to want to read. A cross-age peer-tutoring program was established where primary students were paired with upper intermediate grade students who displayed positive reading attitudes and habits. The tutoring pair worked…

A study tested the hypothesis that students who were required to read a book of their choice for 15 minutes per night would have a more positive attitude toward reading than similar students who did not have that assignment. The Estes Attitude Scale for reading was given to two classes (high group and low group) of sixth graders in central…

A practicum aimed to improve the attitudes toward recreational reading of 12 intermediate grade level English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students so that they would share their enthusiasm and interests in pleasure reading, as well as devote more time to reading. The writer met with parents of ESL students to discuss ways they could encourage…

A practicum was developed to improve the inferential comprehension, the textual and functional skills, and the overall attitudes toward reading of fifth-grade students. A target group of six students in a private school who were deficient in these skills was established. The practicum contained basic strategies for improving reading skills and…