Presents guidelines for reading/listening activities for the holiday season. Eight suggested stories about Christmas or Hanukkah for grades 2 through 6 are listed. (MES)

Presents five ideas for helping second through fifth graders make important gains in reading fluency, including: model fluent reading; do repeated readings in class; promote phrased reading in class; enlist tutors to help out; and have a reader's theater in class. A sidebar offers poetry books for repeated and phrased readings. (SM)

A children's poet offers suggestions to overcome the reluctance to read poetry, teach the difference between poetry and prose, help children follow their natural instincts, enjoy poetry, and share it with others. (MT)

New research shows that certain conditions surrounding read-alouds will ensure the greatest benefits. Suggestions for getting the most out of reading aloud include: engage students' interests; make sure the books are at the right difficulty level; spend an appropriate amount of time on reading aloud; offer a range of materials to read aloud; and…

Weekly poetry fests, using poetry throughout the curriculum, and giving children a sense of the tremendous variety of poetry are discussed as methods for helping children appreciate poetry. (HTH)

Reading aloud is an essential part of the classroom instructional program, along with direct instruction and sustained silent reading or book contact, and should not be slighted despite the numerous time demands from other sources. Reading aloud to children provides opportunities for introducing children to good literature and encourages language…

Presents a summary of practical experiences with oral reading in a format that gives insights into why listening to children read empathetically is important. Offers guidelines on how to organize and use such a process. (FL)

Argues that choral reading of poetry can help children develop fluency in reading and offers some techniques and some poems for use in choral reading. (FL)

Four contributors offer tips on (1) creating an elementary school newspaper, (2) reading aloud to children, (3) using the newspaper in the classroom, and (4) using a multisensory approach to teach reading disabled students. (FL)

The most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children at home and in the classroom. At school, reading aloud is important for starting the day, presenting reading and writing mini-lessons, supporting social studies and science curricula, supporting whole-class book studies, and…

This book brings together 48 read-aloud stories that parents and teachers can share with children ages 5 through 9. Each story in the book has its own introduction and suggestions for further reading. Sections of the book are: Tell Me a Story!; Tales from Long Ago; School Days; Food for Thought; Families; Folk and Fairy Tales; Animal Tales;…

Created for teachers, parents, storytellers, and anyone who works or plays with young people, this collection of 29 stories for children (and adult children) grew from the belief that the chance for survival of humanity in these difficult times may be improved by having stories grow in the hearts of the world's children. The stories in the…

Despite periodic efforts, traditional social studies teaching methods continue to be used in grades K-6. Research suggests that elementary students do not like or value social studies when these traditional methods are used to organize and teach its content. The goals of the social studies curriculum in grades K-6 are to transmit citizenship…

Describes how elementary teachers can give students a boost in content area reading by reading aloud paired nonfiction and fiction text sets, explaining: why nonfiction is so important; how to teach children how nonfiction works; how to carry out a paired text read-aloud; and how to look for evidence of learning in the reading/writing workshop.…

Demonstrates how peer interaction during writing helps children experience connections between reading and writing. Describes children's responses to unfinished pieces, a peer's "published" piece, other students' published books (read aloud by a student other than the author), and to books written by professional authors. (HTH)