Research during the past 15 years has repeatedly demonstrated the beneficial effects of dialogic reading (DR), a form of shared storybook reading, on the development of language in preschool children. Although much is known about the effects of DR on children, little attention has been paid to the role that adult caregivers play in the DR…

Glossary and reading aloud test items are often listed as allowed in many states' accommodation policies for ELL students, when taking states' large-scale mathematics assessments. However, little empirical research has been conducted on the effects of these two accommodations on ELL students' test performance. Furthermore, no research is available…

In this article, a reading specialist tells her own story of making parental involvement work with kindergarten children in her school. Using a research-based instructional routine that involves parents and children in repeatedly reading a rhythmical text followed by a brief activity involving letter learning, phonemic awareness, and phonics, this…

The one year the author was an elementary librarian, she organized a Read Across America (RAA) celebration involving three different elementary campuses. This included bringing in community members to read, free books for students, and the piece de resistance--campus principals dressing up in the Cat in the Hat suit and reading to the entire…

The purpose of this study was to compare 2 methods for directly teaching word meanings to kindergarten students within storybook read-alouds that varied in instructional time and depth of instruction along with a control condition that provided students with incidental exposure to target words. Embedded instruction introduces target word meanings…

Creating research-based expectations and education strategies for all teachers to implement consistently are the beginning steps in giving all students access to standards-based curriculum and in creating readers, writers, and content learners. Reading aloud is one research-based practice that enhances achievement for all students, whether they…

A Day in the Life is an interdisciplinary study of thriving 2-year-old girls and their families in diverse communities around the globe. We understand development to be active participation in cultural systems of practice, and examine children's interactions with their caregivers, other companions, and the environment. We focus upon children…

This article explores how reading strategy instruction that targets children's literature can unwittingly interfere with the development of a reading life. It compares the use of story-based children's literature for reading strategy instruction with the "untaught" story. It asks: What, if any, role does a read aloud that is unfettered by formal…

As teachers have struggled to implement scientifically based instructional practices in reading, some researchers have begun to focus on ways to "boost the value of reading aloud to young children". Such studies seek ways to promote oral language as well as comprehension and vocabulary through read-aloud experiences. Interactive read-alouds…

Reading to children improves vocabulary acquisition through incidental exposure, and it is a best practice for parents and teachers of children who can hear. Children who are deaf or hard of hearing are at risk for not learning vocabulary as such. This article describes a procedure for using books read on DVD in American Sign Language with…

Music represents an integral part of the human culture, and particularly language and communication. Music can be a powerful tool in the learning experience. The purpose of the present study is to investigate whether English native-speaker students learning a foreign language can benefit from integrating music into the curriculum. Students' text…

This report is a compendium of indicators about our Nation's young people. The report, the 20th produced by the Forum, presents 41 key indicators on important aspects of children's lives. These indicators are drawn from the most reliable Federal statistics, are easily understood by broad audiences, are objectively based on substantial research,…

Teachers frequently read aloud as a part of writing instruction so that children's book authors can serve as mentors for students' writing. Despite extensive anecdotal reporting of the significance of reading aloud children's literature within writing workshop, the intertextual connections students construct between interactive read alouds and…

In this article we describe our experiences using picture books to provide young children (five- to six-year-olds) with a learning environment where they can explore and extend preliminary notions of mathematics-related concepts, without being taught these concepts explicitly. We gained these experiences in the PICO-ma project, which aimed to…

This article describes the visual nature of the reading process as it relates to reading speed. It points out that there is a physical limit on normal reading speed and beyond this limit the reading process will be different from normal reading where almost every word is attended to. The article describes a range of activities for developing…