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)

A review of the research literature on teaching deaf or hard-of-hearing students to read led to identification of 10 recommended practices for adults reading to these children. Practices include: focusing on the purpose and enjoyment of reading, using the child's dominant language in interactive dialogue, relating the child's life to the text, and…

Control of discourse topic was studied for two book-reading interactions involving 11 dyads of mothers and children (ages 3-5) with language impairments. Topic control was shared during book reading, robust reciprocal associations were evident between maternal and child discourse control features, and three patterns of topic control arrangements…

Examines 339 Israeli first graders, divided into three experimental and one control group, who were read aloud to. Asks teachers of experimental groups to read interactively--that is, to interact with students before, during, and after reading to help them understand the story. Indicates that classroom story reading led to increases in decoding,…

Reports how children's language skills and mothers' book-reading strategies predict mastery of word inflections in a sample of Finnish children. Three theoretical models were tested on the longitudinal data using path analyses. Suggests direct developmental continuity from producing words and multiword utterances on later inflectional growth, but…

Discusses early reading and writing learning as embedded in a larger system of oral communication, and considers the content and valuable dispositions of early literacy instruction. Describes essential early literacy teaching strategies, including rich teacher talk and storybook reading. Includes examples of interactive storybook reading and…

Describes three key developmental reading strategies that content-area teachers can implement in their classrooms: Collect real books and other content-rich materials, read aloud to students, and provide time for independent reading. (PKP)

Offers a system that can make up one element of a program to teach students delivery of broadcast news. Presents a principled approach, based on linguistic research, to teaching students how to decide what words to emphasize, so that they can mark their scripts before reading them aloud. Examines 18 textbooks and their treatment of delivery. (SG)

Examines the read-aloud practices of working parents across the country whose preschool children were enrolled in Kinder-Care Learning Centers. Finds that, despite limited time, most parents reported that they read aloud several times or more a week. Notes that parents were unfamiliar with many well-known characters from respected children's…

Presents a thematic unit on pigs that provides reading and writing activities and encourages parent participation. (MG)

Miscue analysis of Venezuelan third graders' reading of a folktale indicated that, while all three native Spanish-speaking subjects were natural users of their language, they needed to expand and enhance processes to become proficient readers of Spanish. Similar miscues were found between the two monolingual and the one bilingual subject. (CB)

Linnakyla examines definitions of literacy as an object of individual and social development and compares concepts of knowledge and literacy. Gronholm advocates the effectiveness of parents reading aloud to their children for 15 minutes per day in the improvement of children's reading skills. (SK)

Proposes that the best reading advice to give parents is this: parents should read to their children. Explains the reason why this is the best advice, and offers tips for successful read-alouds. (MG)

Nine primary-age children at a residential school for the deaf were read bedtime stories using a Total Communication approach. Every child subsequently demonstrated growth on each of several language assessments, including language comprehension and expressive language. (JDD)

Describes a program developed by the San Francisco Public Library to help parents introduce their infants and toddlers to appropriate literature. The benefits for children, parents and librarians are discussed, and suggestions are offered to librarians wishing to start a program. A bibliography of source materials is provided. (5 references) (CLB)