Proposes adapting holistic scoring to oral retellings of stories as a means of developing students' concepts of interrelationships and their higher levels of comprehension. (FL)

Lists suggestions for alternative methods of evaluation that will bring teaching and evaluation methods into close correspondence (as opposed to following creative teaching with a memorization test). Contends methods of evaluation should become part of the learning process, not just measure recall of information given by the teacher. (SKC)

Offers a humorous perspective on being a proponent of the whole language approach to reading instruction in the face of those who favor phonics and specific skill instruction. (SRT)

Presents teaching ideas using the classified advertising sections of newspapers, noting that the ability to decipher classifieds ads is an important life skill. (SKC)

Concludes that the Estes Scale is an effective instrument for measuring levels of positive attitude toward books and reading. (RB)

According to the results of this exploratory investigation, the students read better when they were requested to read for meaning and not interrupted during the reading process. (Author)

Sentence combining techniques designed to improve reading comprehension are described and studies showing a positive correlation between the two are cited. (MKM)

Discusses D. Durkin's 1979 study of reading comprehension instruction and J. Heap's critique of the study in a recent issue of "Journal of Reading Behavior." Asserts that the traditional reading lesson is a vehicle for acculturation or teaching cultural knowledge and logic. (SRT)

Suggests that the work of reading researchers may be ineffective because it lacks a practical impact on teacher educators or classroom teachers. (AEA)

Reports that an approach in which college students enacted skits developed around vocabulary words proved more effective than a traditional approach to teaching vocabulary. (MKM)

Describes a hierarchy intended to interpret and promote students' aesthetic responses to literature. Finds that students in grades 7 through 10, in contrast to younger readers, have moved into reflective thinking and evaluation. (SR)

Suggests that content reading strategies should be validated by research. (MKM)

Provides suggestions for using transactional theory, which stresses the importance of interacting with text, in teaching literature at the secondary level. Lists seven principles for teaching that are inherent in transactional theory. (SKC)

Recounts in an amusing style that a colleague of the author has served as his "muse" by sending him materials on reading instruction that might be of interest, and that she often was not amused at how he used her input in his columns. (SKC)

Reviews the research on the relationship of metacognition to fluent reading and offers techniques for developing knowledge of and fluency in reading. (AEA)