Discusses the problems of teaching critical reading and the lack of progress toward the solutions to the problems. Suggests a definition of critical reading and methodologies for its teaching. Presents a classroom observation checklist to evaluate students' critical reading processes. (MG)

Reviews research on reading and writing development, comparing the whole-language approach with the Montessori approach for teaching reading and writing at the elementary school level. Also discusses techniques to teach students how to write poetry and short fiction, stressing the importance of both freedom and structure in evolving reading and…

Many factors influence a child's development of reading skills. Without effective instruction in reading, students fail to realize their potential. Limited English-speaking students and students in rural communities appear to lose the most. Reforms for disadvantaged students must address their needs directly, rather than assume that raising…

Explains how the Sophistic tradition, an alternative to the Platonic-Aristotelian rhetorical tradition, provides the historical foundation for a paralogic rhetoric that treats discourse production and analysis as open-ended dialogic activities and not as a codifiable system. Argues that teachers must examine the powerful paralogic/hermeneutic…

Describes the Metacomprehension Strategy Index, a multiple-choice questionnaire, and its supporting validity and reliability data. Discusses how teachers can use and interpret this information to evaluate middle and upper elementary students' knowledge of strategic reading processes. (MG)

Discusses how reading aloud to students improves their reading competencies, including language processes, reading and listening skills, and reading motivation. Concludes that reading aloud should be a regular part of a daily classroom schedule. (MM)

Intended for teachers and prospective teachers, the purpose of this book is to provide information about reading instruction from kindergarten through the elementary grades. Part 1 deals with "Background Information" and includes chapters on: (1) The Reading Process; (2) Silent or Oral Reading? and (3) Reading Instruction. Part 2 discusses…

This article presents an account of how one teacher and one student work through James Joyce's short story, "Eveline," illustrating an important reconceptualization of literacy--the teacher struggles to make public those aspects of reading which are often only assumed or left covert, namely, entering the world of the text, groping for…

Describes an informal assessment procedure that uses think alouds (readers' verbal self-reports about their thinking processes) to obtain information about how they attempt to construct meaning from text. (MG)

Discusses guided reading as an approach that teachers can use to help young students better comprehend what they are reading. Notes that guided reading allows teachers to talk, think, and read through a text with children, offering questions, comments, and prompts to the children to stimulate their interest and understanding. (MDM)

This booklet offers 10 ideas to transform instruction in reading and heighten literacy for all students. The booklet states that these principles and ideas, interrelated and built one upon the other, are based on solid research findings and practical experience and that they are already being used in classrooms across the country. The 10 ideas…

This document discusses basic knowledge about the reading process, in order to help school psychologists make effective recommendations for educational programming. The paper begins by identifying and describing three models of the reading process, a traditional "bottom-up" model, a more emergent "top-down" view, and an interactive model which…

Explores several concepts relevant to instructional materials that emerged from seminars sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association. Describes how basal readers--so prevalent in instruction--fall short of these concepts, and what can be done to improve instruction. (HTH)

Presents an interactive instructional model of reading instruction, in which teachers have a central role in determining the goals, materials, and methods of instruction. Suggests that this approach would improve students' reading performance. (MM)

Pointing out that the label of dyslexia carries an acute stigma of mental incompetence (and the researcher/author is herself dyslexic), this booklet intends to provide educators and parents with a frame of reference regarding the topic of dyslexia. Defining dyslexia broadly as "characterized by a consistent difficulty with processing…