Supports ideas for implementing John H. Ritter's "Choosing Up Sides" and "Over the Wall" as touchstone texts in a middle school language arts program. Discusses these two novels and the use and power of metaphors. Reveals literary connections made by young adolescent readers and writers strengthening overall comprehension, synthesis and analysis…

Considers some aspects of contemporary picture books that can be especially engaging for readers young and old. Reports a study of readers of various ages who read and discussed David Macaulay's picture book "Black and White." Considers questions of concern that these readings raise for adults who are interested in children's reading.…

Describes one second-grade student's interaction with the picture books of Gerald McDermott. Describes the classroom context, and discusses McDermott's work. Describes the child's thoughtful and creative responses to McDermott's picture books in a classroom that supported students' explorations. Notes the importance of engaging children in…

Suggests two models of how readers create bridging inferences to resolve signals to textual cohesion. Evaluates reading times, verification accuracy, verification latency, and regressive eye fixations to support the model which views bridges as the result of a form of deduction in which the reader tacitly establishes premises that provide rational…

Investigates whether an increased use of techniques of visual design in technical communication improves instructional materials intended for novice writers. Finds that instructional materials incorporating basic visual design principles are more effective than those that are primarily verbal, and that less-capable writers benefit most from…

Investigates the influence of subject-matter setting on comprehension monitoring by secondary school students. Expected comprehension monitoring to decline when material was presented as incontrovertible truth, as in science texts. Concludes that comprehension monitoring depends on subject-matter setting and, contrary to expectations, science has…

Presents a procedural model for discretely testing several of the multiple ways second-language readers comprehend and express themselves about the content and implications of reading passages, reviewing existing measures, illustrating the procedural model, discussing ways to scale the procedural item, and summarizing the practical advantages of…

Shows how some key postmodern ideas about texts forced a teacher and her students to rethink typical writing assignments and typical student responses. Describes the assignments and considers how they invite postmodern critique. Suggests giving up grandiose, romantic notions that Freshman Composition can fix students either personally or…

Suggests that helping children to discover that literary works are related to one another by conventions and recurring elements not only gives shape to their individual literary experiences, it also brings a sense of literature as a body of interrelated works. Discusses 10 works of children's literature that aid in children's growth toward…

Examines the effect of training fourth-grade children to use the regulation strategy of rereading as a means of answering questions about previously read text. Finds that subjects trained in the rereading strategy used the strategy more often and were more likely to produce correct responses than were control subjects. (RS)

In the context of producing academic research that is more accessible to people with intellectual disabilities, this article proposes publishing academic papers with a "parallel text" which would both provide a simplified version but also facilitate access to the main document. Background research on the idea of parallel texts and technical…

Research on text/learner interactions emphasizes control of the following design aspects to facilitate comprehension: graphic organizers, learning objectives, perspective, advance organizers, display, and reader skill level. (SK)

Explains how a teacher comes to learn that primary and intermediate grade students are engaged by fiction and nonfiction both, that they do not associate one with pleasure and the other with learning. Argues that readers of all ages find meaning in a work, fictional or nonfictional, to the extent that it relates to their own lives and experiences.…

Reports results of an observational study of museum exhibit design. Suggests eight communication practices from successful museum exhibit design that could be transferred to information design for the Web. (SR)

Discusses how connecting students to reading requires more than just an energetic approach. Presents a framework for reading experiences: engagement, exploration, collaboration, and individual celebration. Describes a program that gives students varied opportunities to become engaged in literature, choice in what they read, time to actually read,…