Teaching students to become readers who can work with an author to "build" a text requires a better understanding of the nature of the author-reader relationship. This essay discusses the rights and responsibilities of that relationship by presenting writing and reading as a rhetorical situation--an interaction between author,…

Describes the steps in the natural process through which children use their syntactic, semantic, and phonological systems in learning to read. (DD)

Argues that a model of metaphorical thinking developed by 18th-century Italian rhetorician Giambattista Vico demonstrates how meaning is constructed in the reading process. Presents key Vichian concepts, followed by an explanation of how metaphors are created to construct new meaning. Compares the process to an interactive model of reading. (RS)

Indicates that theoretical models describing the flow of information when reading takes place can be categorized as outside-in or as inside-out; suggests that the latter fit the evidence of reading research better. Supports the idea that practice should flow from theory. (TJ)

Discusses the hyperbole surrounding statements and testimonials about the effectiveness of phonics instruction. Suggests that reading is more than sounding out words one at a time and that most children figure it out for themselves with little or no help. Suggests that reading is also more than a psycholinguistic guessing game. (RS)

Examines problems involved in defining reading comprehension. Suggests reexamining comprehension testing, rethinking the missions of reading instruction, and helping students find, formulate, and solve problems for which using written language provides a solution. (TJ)

Argues that educators must address the challenge of helping all students read fluently. Presents strategies to improve student performance in reading speed, accuracy, and the ability to chunk meaning into units or gists. Advises teachers to encourage students to increase reading speed as they encounter an unfamiliar word, use repeated readings,…

In the author's experience, a significant source of reading difficulty for many beginning and struggling readers are misconceptions about print concepts so basic teachers assume their students are aware of them. Many children fail to grasp implicit principles of print such as the following: the reader cannot make up the words, the order of letters…

Describes three dimensions of reading as a social process: (1) all reading events involve a social context, (2) reading is a cultural activity, and (3) reading is a socio-cognitive process. Discusses the implications for classroom reading of these dimensions. (HTH)

Examines the various approaches to reading instruction, their merits and shortcomings, and advocates a blend of all approaches for literacy that is fulfilling rather than mechanical. (HTH)

Describes the Reader's Workshop and the Focused Study Reading Workshop. Offers them as a way to accommodate the characteristics of individuals, to respect the knowledge of readers who are at earlier stages of reading development, to establish a system which teaches problem solving, and to provide for active child involvement and ownership in the…

Examines the principles of the writing process and applies them to reading. Discusses the parallels between these components of reading and writing: invention, choice, discussion, revision, and publication. (HTH)

Reports that reading researchers are now debating whether reading is a bottom-up or top-down process. (FL)

Examines the reading and writing processes and their interdependence and urges the language arts instructor to be an audience for children's writing and to help them become aware that what they read is someone else's writing. (HTH)

Suggests that reading theorists who neglect to treat context frequently produce distorted views of how reading occurs. (MKM)