To a young child just learning to read, the world of books and stories is like a big playground waiting to be explored. Children between the ages of four and six usually start to recognize some words on a page. There are many things parents can do to help their children grow as readers. Parents can support their child's reading by being patient,…

This digest discusses how schools and families can improve native English speaking boys' reading skills, particularly poor, minority boys. It examines ways to increase the time boys spend reading and the enjoyment they get from reading. Boys tend to learn to read later, take longer to learn, comprehend narrative texts less easily, value reading…

This paper discusses the importance of reading aloud to students. It emphasizes the teacher's need to plan carefully when to read and what books to read. The paper suggests the following ideas should guide a teacher's choice of reading material: whether the story will capture students' attention; whether the story will increase students'…

At-risk students and their nondisabled peers profit from opportunities to make choices about their literacy learning. While not a panacea, experiencing self-determination in school empowers students in ways that will last a lifetime. Literacy educators can encourage a positive momentum in this direction by demonstrating how to select reading…

To update the California State Department of Education's recommended list of books for children ages two through seven (most books on the present list were published before 1990), this annotated bibliography reviewed current books recommended by the National Council of Teachers of English, the International Reading Association, and literature…

Educational and developmental researchers suggest that children who have experienced homelessness suffer both in self-esteem and in literacy development, although early research is not complete. The Reading Connection (TRC), a community-based nonprofit organization in northern Virginia, focuses on the social aspect of reading, rather than…

An important type of reading for elementary age pupils is to read poetry. Pupils need to experience reading and writing different kinds and forms of poetry. There are rich meanings and messages in poetry. The novel use of words adds to the learning repertoire of pupils. There should be poems for pupils to read that deal with diverse topics and…

At Bank Street College of Education, the Children's Book Committee annually reviews approximately 3,000 books to select the 600 or so considered the best books for children published that year. In selecting books, high priority is given to a book's appropriateness to a child's stage of emotional, social, and cognitive development. Since individual…

This unit explores elements of wonder, distortion, fantasy, and whimsy in "The Nursery 'Alice,'" Lewis Carroll's adaptation for younger readers of his beloved classic "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." In its 6 lessons, students will first explore their concepts about Wonderland, and then listen to the opening chapters of the…

In today's society, parents are often too busy to read with their children or perhaps cannot even read themselves. In response to these problems, the researcher would like to propose that audiobooks are a good alternative to parental reading. This project was designed to show the importance of reading to children. The use of audiobooks was a…

In school, writing may be emphasized across the curriculum. There is a plethora of kinds of written work for students to be engaged in when studying science lessons and units. Poetry writing may be an excellent way for students to reveal what has been learned in a science unit. Many good poems dealing with science information are collected in…

To enable all children to learn to read with confidence and fluency, beginning reading instruction programs must offer balanced instruction that provides children with a variety of experiences. A full discussion of all the dimensions of a balanced program of beginning reading instruction is beyond the scope of this booklet. Rather, this booklet…

Teachers can greatly extend a child's literacy development through the use of interactive read-alouds. When a story is read aloud to children a number of opportunities arise for extended activities that are related to the story and further literacy support. Children are able to learn about literacy through an adult modeling good reading behavior.…

Much has been written about the crucial nature of early literacy experiences in learning to read. Many types of story reading interactions could have an effect on the development of reading literacy. A study explored the kind of social interactions that foster children's individual development toward independent functioning, especially addressing…

This report outlines a program for improving reading fluency. The targeted population consisted of second and third grade students from three separate communities located in suburbs of a major metropolitan area. The need for fluency improvement is documented through teacher observations, reading fluency assessments, standardized reading test…