In this article, the author describes a day in the life of Sandy Meagher, a librarian for 22 years at the Honesdale, Pennsylvania, elementary school. On a normal day in the library, Meagher's activities include conducting sessions of read-aloud time, assisting children in selecting research materials for a class project, and guiding Internet…

Purpose: The primary purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the influence of context on interaction patterns used by mothers who are homeless with their preschool children during book-reading and game-playing activities. The impact of mothers' previously determined language functioning on their contextual use of facilitating language…

In this article, the author shares the lessons he learned from Aaron, a 12-year old kid who had never been to school, on the importance of crafting systematic fluency lessons. The following are strategies that worked for them: (1) Demonstrate what fluency sounds and feels like; (2) Read aloud to the students at least three times a day from a…

This article examines the curricular possibilities within critical inquiry-based primary classrooms. The children in this first through third grade multi-age, multi-lingual classroom participated in a two-year critical and collaborative inquiry around issues of segregation and the Jim Crow laws. A touchstone text, Freedom Summer (Wiles, 2001) and…

Intended to be read aloud to children ages six to nine and read alone by children nine and up, this book presents 24 versions of the Cinderella folktale from around the world, thus representing a broad range of cultures, geographical areas, styles, and variations on the basic theme. The folktales in the book are intended to enhance children's…

This book brings together 48 read-aloud stories that parents and teachers can share with children ages 5 through 9. Each story in the book has its own introduction and suggestions for further reading. Sections of the book are: Tell Me a Story!; Tales from Long Ago; School Days; Food for Thought; Families; Folk and Fairy Tales; Animal Tales;…

A practicum addressed the high percentage of students lacking oral reading fluency in a primary resource class. The project used two basic strategies for increased oral reading fluency: repeated reading and paired reading. To measure the success of this project, the Brigance Oral Reading subtest was administered to 17 first, second, and third…

A study investigated how elementary teachers use literature in their classrooms, focusing on what instructional philosophies drive elementary literature programs; elementary teachers' knowledge of children's literature; and which books are being read to children and which books they are reading on their own, so that their "literary"…

In order to assess current ideas, reveal their shortcomings, and suggest steps for future investigation, this review of the literature on teaching poetry discusses definitions of poetry, references on teaching poetry, teaching methods, poetic forms, experimental research, and the benefits of poetry. The paper concludes that the lack of empirical…

This booklet is intended to provide adult basic education students with some tips on reading to their children. The booklet emphasizes that it is important for parents to read to their children (regardless of how well they read themselves). The benefits that parents and children derive when parents read to children are discussed. Tips on finding…

This collection of short stories contains tales of a mythical animal called the "Tajar." Tajar tales are a tradition among campers who attend summer camps. The stories are to be read aloud, and approximate reading times for the stories are provided. Tajar looks something like a tiger, a jaguar, and a badger. He is a friendly, but mysterious…

Nonsense poetry can make a valuable contribution in reinforcing children's reading skills and developing their literary appreciation. This paper describes several nonsense poems and books for children, points out their appeal, and stresses the value of reading such works to children. It also offers a few suggestions on techniques to use in reading…

Suggestions are offered to parents of hearing-impaired children of ways to develop literacy skills. Recommendations include reading to the child, helping the child begin to interpret print, encouraging functional literacy, and helping the child develop strategies for understanding textbooks. (DB)

Assessed a one-month, home-based intervention, designed to optimize parental reading of picture books to young children. Children in the experimental group scored significantly higher than control children on posttests of expressive language ability and had a higher mean length of utterance and a lower frequency of single words. (SKC)

Taped passages read by different aged tellers were orally recalled by college students. Results suggested that physical qualities of older voices led to more effective oral transmission, listeners expected certain information from elders, and mismatch between physical vocal quality and age attribution effected speaker evaluation, not information…