Experiences with books before age three predict children's motivation to read (Bus et al., 1995), and can support the development of vocabulary, communication, and symbolic skills (Scarborough, 2001). Sharing books with infants and toddlers is different than reading aloud to older children. For example, it is important to attend more closely to…

All over the world, great strides have been made in conquering illiteracy. Yet, many adults and children do not spend sufficient time reading to benefit from the well-documented rewards of reading for pleasure. In many countries, literacy achievements have not inherently solved the problems of low reading comprehension and limited engagement with…

This article describes some of the methodology, practice and effect of reading groups run by Prison Reading Groups (PRG), which currently operates in 60 prisons across the UK, and is supported by the charity Give A Book. Groups choose what they want to read together and how they will read it. Reading aloud can aid literacy as well as being a force…

Enjoyment of reading books is related to reading proficiency, and fostering students' enjoyment of reading is imperative to support continued reading engagement. However, not all students understand that reading is important, and not all students are regularly engaged in recreational reading. Children typically read for pleasure less often as they…

Many sixth grade students think they are telling the truth when they complain, "Reading is boring." However, they don't realize what sort of activities encompass reading. As a teacher with a few years of experience, I am finding new ways to engage reluctant readers and show them reading can take many different forms. In this essay, I…

Each year, teachers are overwhelmed with too much to cover and an endless list of things to accomplish between the first bell and the final report card. In addition to helping students master mandated curriculum and prep for standardized tests, there seems to be a never-ending stream of surprise fire drills and last-minute assemblies that rob…

Paula Worth was concerned that her low-attaining set were only going through the motions when tackling causal explanation. Identifying, prioritising and weighing causes seemed an empty routine rather than a fascinating puzzle engaging intellect and imagination. She was also concerned that her usual efforts to solve this problem had been misplaced.…

Reluctant and struggling readers, many of whom are boys, are placed in reading intervention classes; however, often the environmental conditions of these intervention classrooms are not conducive for fostering a student's love for reading. This article describes Cambourne's optimal conditions for literacy learning and the results from implementing…

Describes a teacher's experiences reading aloud with two preschoolers in a homeless shelter and how the interaction increased the children's print awareness and ameliorated the stress of being in the shelter. (HTH)

In this article, the author relates how he had found solace and diversion in reading aloud while caring for his father who was undergoing chemotherapy. One particular incident left him completely immersed in reading that he did not noticed his father had been awakened from a deep sleep. From those experiences, the author observes how engagement in…

To increase the reading level of students who come from homes where reading is not valued or modeled, a social context was created where inexperienced readers could interact with adults and books. Three students from homes where reading was not valued were read to by adults two to three times each day for six weeks. Discussion of the book was…

A practicum was designed to encourage 60 at-risk young children in a Chapter 1 reading program at a rural primary school to read for pleasure so that they would eventually increase literacy development. The parents, teachers, and volunteer readers would increase the amount of time spent reading aloud to the children in the Chapter 1 reading…

Discusses the reading habits of a writing teacher and her teacher education students--a few of whom confessed that they had never read an entire book all the way through. States that the educator's goal was to increase her students' reading of informational and pleasurable materials over the semester. (PA)

Encouraging the love of reading is a vitally important priority that has positive consequences for students' literacy growth, both now and in the future. Children need daily, in-school opportunities to enjoy reading and become immersed in reading as a lifetime activity. Although a wide variety of considerations are useful for promoting the reading…

Relates how an eighth grade teacher read an unfamiliar book for the first time along with her students, thus seeing the story through their eyes and modeling for them the kinds of strategies a good reader naturally employs. Notes that students responded positively, doing most of the talking and much of the discussion and class preparation. (SR)