This report highlights the enduring importance of our Young Readers Programme by providing children with impactful positive reading experiences as well as opportunities to choose and, crucially, keep books. This is particularly important for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, with over 1 in 4 children who receive free school meals telling us…

In this article, the author describes the Texas Bluebonnet Award (TBA), a program designed and implemented in Texas to encourage children to read more, explore a variety of current books, develop powers of discrimination, and identify their favorite books (www.txla.org/groups/tba/about.html). TBA began in 1979 through the effort of Dr. Janelle…

Recreational reading was encouraged in a sixth-grade class through a "Famous People Auction Project." For each book read and reported on during the year, students accumulated play money, with which they could bid at an auction for mementoes the teacher had solicited from celebrities. (SJL)

Describes a whole school supplemental reading program for secondary schools based upon the development and use of a schoolwide reading list that includes titles of books, the types of teachers (chemistry, history, physical education, etc.) who sponsor the books, and the "linked courses" that bestow academic credit for each title. (SR)

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT: For the last three years, in the Flowing Wells Schools in Tucson, Arizona, Reading Specialists Susan Heintz and Carol McPheeters have directed a continuous program which involves a total schoolwide commitment to developing positive feelings toward reading. The name of this program is "Paperback…

Describes St. Maria Goretti School's Home/School-Read/Discuss program in which parent, teacher, and child sign a contract for leisure reading. Both parent and child read and discuss the selected books. Responsibilities of each participant are listed on the sample reading contract provided. (SJL)

A Nevada program under the auspices of the Western States Small Schools Project and aimed at providing "enjoyment" reading for small rurally disadvantaged schools is described in this report. Included in this program description are: (1) Introduction (a description of the rural, low-income, target population); (2) The Proposal (states…

Describes the successful implementation in a Georgia elementary school of the Reading Millionaires Project, a reading incentive program to promote recreational reading and to create student interest in reading. (SR)

Describes a "Booktalk" program at a middle school, in which groups of parents and students read the same book and then gathered at the school to discuss the books. Notes that, after group discussion, students wrote letters to their parents about the book and the discussion and that parents wrote letters back to their children as well. (RS)

Describes a "Saturday Reading Club" that was implemented in an urban school for early elementary school children for the purpose of promoting literacy. Notes that the literature-based project used trained university volunteers. Suggests that the club had a positive influence on children's interest in books, reading comprehension, and…

The "Let's Talk about It" program began in Vermont as a reading and discussion group based in local libraries and grew into a program in 30 states and supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The program brought together a diverse audience of adults to read books on selected themes in literature.…

Realizing the importance of parents in the educational process, several states have launched campaigns to involve parents with their children in home reading activities. Using these programs as examples, the Wentzville R-IV School District (Missouri) devised and initiated "Spring Into Reading," a plan for encouraging parental involvement in…

This manual was developed as one outcome of a 2-year experimental project conducted in 53 school districts in Indiana (1990-92). The manual was designed to be a resource to schools interested in operating a successful "Students' Own Bookshop" program to encourage development of literacy and leadership among the students of their school.…

This booklet presents descriptions of 19 reading programs that encourage Indiana middle-grade students to read. The programs described in the booklet were part of the Middle Grades Reading Network and were funded with competitive $5000 "minigrants." Essays (descriptions of the reading programs) in the booklet are: "Building a…

This report describes and evaluates the first year of the "Parents Sharing Books" project, a parent outreach program for Indiana middle and junior high schools. The project focuses on increasing interaction between parents and middle school children with books that they read together, encouraging parents and children to share books and…