Research indicates that reading aloud to children, a key activity in early childhood classrooms, can result in improved reading comprehension, decoding skills, and language skills. Suggestions are presented for using this technique in elementary classrooms. (CB)

The article describes an elementary school's "celebrity reader" program, where students invite representatives of various professions to visit their class and read one of their favorite stories. Suggestions are presented for identifying and inviting guest readers and follow-up activities. (CB)

This project is designed to engage families in shared literacy activities. The K-2 students take turns taking home a book bag that includes a stuffed toy, a book, art supplies, a topic to discuss with their families, and a journal to share their thoughts and ideas. Through the experience they build positive memories of literacy activities. During…

Considering the debate in reading instruction between whole language and phonics, this paper suggests personalizing the teaching of reading using both methods of reading instruction. It gives two examples of how personalized units of reading instruction were used. The paper suggests giving pupils ample opportunities to choose and read a library…

A special section examines the advantages of using big books with young children. One big book author discusses her work, noting the importance of big book reading. Other authors present teacher-tested tips for using big books, titles of big books, and ideas for do-it-yourself big books. (SM)

This paper urges primary grade teachers to be certain that pupils are off to a good start in reading. A fundamental goal of beginning reading instruction should be to move each child toward the understanding that readers reconstruct texts by using multiple strategies to interpret the language encoded in print and, at the same time, to make it…

Nine primary-age children at a residential school for the deaf were read bedtime stories using a Total Communication approach. Every child subsequently demonstrated growth on each of several language assessments, including language comprehension and expressive language. (JDD)

This book is about teaching beginning reading and writing. It is based on the belief that children can be taught to be more observant and conscious of the patterns at work as people communicate--particularly through reading and writing--and that teachers can use what children are able to do and what they are able to see to bring them rapidly and…

More than a list of activities or descriptions of strategies for teaching reading in the primary grades, this book is organized around a series of interconnected interactions with the learner: assessment; demonstration; practice; and response. After describing the role of the teacher and setting up the classroom environment, the book shows how…

In addition to a teacher's having the enjoyment and appreciation of poetry as an educational objective for his/her students, there are numerous objectives that stress learners becoming proficient in hearing phonic elements, such as in rhyme in verse read and written. For example, a student teacher and a cooperating teacher in a second/third grade…

Describes the shared book experience, which involves having a teacher enlarge a story book, place it on an easel where everyone can see it, and then read it aloud to students. Discusses the advantages and disadvantages of this technique. (FL)

Indicates that oral reading, turning the text into a big book, interpretive activities, and repeated shared readings can give even young children a command of the text. (FL)

At Bank Street College of Education, the Children's Book Committee annually reviews approximately 3,000 books to select the 600 or so considered the best books for children published that year. In selecting books, high priority is given to a book's appropriateness to a child's stage of emotional, social, and cognitive development. Since individual…

To enable all children to learn to read with confidence and fluency, beginning reading instruction programs must offer balanced instruction that provides children with a variety of experiences. A full discussion of all the dimensions of a balanced program of beginning reading instruction is beyond the scope of this booklet. Rather, this booklet…

Discusses the use of predictable literature as a method of helping beginning or slower readers become more proficient readers. Offers a list of predictable literature and ideas for classroom activities to accompany each story and ways to record children's behavior as they read. (JC)