Offers the response of a professor and former elementary and secondary teacher to the question posed by a seventh-grade teacher regarding what teachers can do to encourage students with negative attitudes toward reading to read both in and out of school. Discusses ways that both reading aloud and reading along are effective strategies to entice…

Discusses three ways that high school English teachers can use young adult books: as books for whole-class study, as read-alouds, and as "classroom library" books to recommend to students for independent reading. Presents criteria for selecting novels for classroom study and for reading aloud. Mentions 53 young adult novels to consider for these…

Shows how teaching students the basic principles for reading Shakespeare aloud (and approaching Shakespeare from a dramatic production perspective) is a valid and valuable approach for the high school classroom. Shows that the key is to examine the dialogue within the dramatic context of the play and use dialogue and actions to tell the story. (SR)

Claims that reading and writing are closely related at all grade levels. Points out that reading aloud; sharing quality children's literature; and incorporating activities such as recitation, singing, and poetry can facilitate the transition from oral to written language codes. Proves that teacher participation in such activities can encourage…

Start Making a Reader Today (SMART) is a book and reading program for children in kindergarten through second grade in 13 Oregon counties. The program aims to create a relaxed and safe environment in which children can practice their skills, one-on-one, with caring adult volunteers. A volunteer tutor recounts her experiences with the program. (SAS)

Determines how often 1,874 elementary teachers read to their students. Reports how many of the last 10 school days they read to their students. Concludes that teachers reading aloud to students is a practice that is more common in primary-grade classrooms than in the intermediate grades, and that older teachers read less often to their students…

Explores and theorizes a foundering, unfriendly cognitive apprenticeship in reading between a college student and a child. Explores assumptions of benevolence in social constructivist pedagogical practices. Presents and discusses a model incorporating relevant issues such as communication, power, trust, identities, and relevance within an…

Describes an "educational evening out," an idea materialized when parents expressed interest in reading during their first-quarter conferences with teachers. Notes that the parents showed so much interest in learning how to read with their children at home that the teachers made plans to have a literacy night in their first-grade classroom. (SG)

Notes that frequent structured read-alouds helped kindergartners who lacked exposure to story reading develop familiarity with literacy. Concludes that the positive results of Project Story Boost are already evident and convincing enough to the teachers and administrators of the involved district that they are committed to the continuation of the…

Often parents don't realize just how much their children benefit from repeated readings. Repeated readings provide great opportunities to develop early literacy skills. Young children notice different things each time a book is read. Rereading provides an opportunity to expand a child's world as the parent follows his lead and picks up on the…

This study investigated the effects of teaching mothers of low socioeconomic status (SES) to use decontextualized language during storybook reading with their preschool-age children. A multiple baseline design across behaviors and participants evaluated the effects of the intervention for five dyads. Mothers' and children's use of decontextualized…

This study analyses how pre-school children who differ in terms of maternal education respond to and interpret the images and written text in the same two picture books, one informational "The Sleepy Book" (Zolotow and Bobri, 1960) and one narrative "The Baby Who Wouldn't Go to Bed" (Cooper, 1996). Twelve children were recorded in their homes…

This article presents the results of qualitative research into how middle school students experience school reading. Students from grades 4 through 8 from four different schools were asked individually to draw and then to talk about specific times of their choice when they were and were not engaged in learning. The combined method of drawing and…

Many educators recommend reading aloud to students, but little is known about the nature of teacher read-aloud practices beyond elementary school. This article describes a survey of 141 middle school teachers in one U.S. school district. Eighty-six percent of the teachers reported reading aloud to their students; however, teachers defined reading…

This article discusses how registered therapy dogs can motivate and support children as they practice reading aloud in the company of the dog and with the support of the dog's handler. It also offers practical advice to educators, librarians, administrators, and community members seeking to implement such a program in their communities.