An essential element in teaching children to effectively comprehend text is the use of teacher-led think alouds. The article follows a semester-long project with 31 inservice teachers, who planned, implemented, transcribed, and reflected upon think aloud lessons to build student comprehension. Through multiple exposures to think alouds, teachers…

Explores the effectiveness of using television and video to motivate student writing. Describes how, following a series of motivational and brainstorming sessions using television, video, and popular literature, 23 fifth-grade students wrote and videotaped dramatizations of short "teaser" scripts in cooperative groups. Notes that these…

Multigenre texts are a recent trend in children's books. These types of books can enhance students' comprehension and provide models of various types of writing genres. They can be used in differentiating instruction and increasing fluency when transformed into readers' theater texts. Many examples of multigenre books are provided in this article.

The need to use language skills and abilities in scripting a radio presentation also makes the production of an audio presentation easy to relate to vocabulary study, spelling, and writing, as well as composition, sequencing of ideas, and organizing thoughts and expressions. (HOD)

Analyzes the language of five popular children's shows on public television. Suggests that the public television shows provide a superior language model than that of commercial television. (HOD)