This article describes the experiences of some of the many families of the deaf and hard of hearing children who come to Shared Reading Saturdays at Northern Essex Community College (NECC) in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The program, which includes monthly gatherings and is coordinated by the NECC's Gallaudet University Regional Center, features deaf…

Storybook reading offers an ideal context for teaching young children new words. Text Talk is one method designed for teaching elementary students new words after reading. However, using the Text Talk vocabulary procedures with young children, the authors observed several challenges both for teachers' implementation and children's learning.…

Storytimes, lap-sit programs, and other services for young children are a major part of most public libraries' missions. According to children's librarians, these services play a significant role in preparing children for success as readers. This article discusses the positive relationship between children's services and early reading success by…

Describes a preschool program that introduces four-year-olds to print concepts such as left to right, top to bottom, words beginning with the same sound, and upper and lower case letters. (AEA)

Discusses a reading project, Beginning With Books, designed to promote literacy among low-income preschool children and provide them with books. Describes the project's development and the procedure for operating the Gift Book Program. Lists 51 books suitable for a toddler book collection. (RJC)

Children who are not encouraged to read at home are less likely to be successful in reading later. Parents who were unsuccessful in school or who were not read to themselves are less likely to read to their own children and may need direction in how and what to read. Parents can be taught how to talk through a story with their children through…

Describes a cross-age reading program called Storymates, which connected school and home literacy experiences of 9-, 10-, and 11-year olds through storybook reading to younger siblings, relatives, and neighborhood friends. Discusses exploring story structure in the classroom; reading storybooks in school and at home; how retellings improved; and…

Discusses methods that the Oceanside (New York) Library used to create programs for children with special needs. Story hours for children with and without parents are described; staffing issues are addressed; particularly helpful books are noted; and incorporation into the summer reading program is discussed. (LRW)

Addresses family literacy issues involving both adult literacy and language development in young children. Presents several ways family members and teachers can cooperate for the benefit of both parents and children. These include parents and teachers reading to children, children reading to parents, and parents and children learning to read…

A personalized reading program for children in the elementary grades is described. The program consists of three interrelated parts: self-selection and sharing of books, skill development according to individual needs, and individual teacher-pupil discussion and evaluation conferences. Sustained silent reading, oral reading once a week to the…

If, ideally, reading begins at home, with children listening eagerly to interesting stories, then this experience must be duplicated in the classroom for reluctant readers. Listening to good stories can motivate students to develop reading skills. Activities of the Reading Center (Auckland, New Zealand) are described. (PP)

Many students lack early literacy skills because they have not had opportunities to listen to or talk about stories, engage in word play, read with family members, or view literacy behaviors modeled in the home. The Collaborative Storybook Reading Program presents a model for providing interactive reading experiences for at-risk kindergarten…

A park ranger describes a program designed to teach preschoolers in a Head Start classroom about bugs, park rangers, and drug awareness. The program was an outgrowth of a vandalism incident at a national park bordering a low-income housing complex. Lesson plans revolve around storybooks with bugs as characters. The program finale brings the…

This manual for the 1993 Louisiana Summer Reading Program has ideas for libraries to get the summer program started. The theme is trains, and all of the ideas have something to do with this theme. The following topics are covered: (1) evaluation; (2) promotion, publicity, and programs; (3) calendar; (4) decorating the library; (5) storytime…

This report describes the development of a story-reading program called Story Telling and Retelling (STaR), and its effects on the language and comprehension of disadvantaged prekindergarten and kindergarten children. Following an introduction, an initial section describes the development of this program as part of an urban school restructuring…