This paper attempts to provide a new understanding of the gutter and how it is used to significant effect in Gene Luen Yang's, Boxers & Saints. This research draws upon the work of Scott McCloud to establish a framework for the theoretical applications of the gutter. Most prior research focuses on the gutter within the page. This article…

This article shares insights from a symposium celebrating the retirement of P. David Pearson, one of the most influential reading researchers of the last half-century. Presenters addressed the nature, instruction, and assessment of reading comprehension, teacher learning and comprehension, and the texts and contexts of comprehension. Collectively,…

In this conceptual essay, we offer rationales and evidence for critical components of a working model of text complexity for the early grades. In the first three sections of the article, we examine word-level, syntax-level, and discourse-level features of text, posing questions for future research. In the fourth section, we address elements of…

Moment-to-moment emotions are affective states that dynamically change during reading and potentially influence comprehension. Researchers have recently identified these emotions and the emotion trajectories in reading, tutoring, and problem solving. The primary learning-centered emotions are boredom, frustration, confusion, flow (engagement),…

This article describes an urban middle school community that took part in a yearlong literacy engagement--a whole-school read of a young adult novel. The authors, three researchers from a nearby university, documented the yearlong event and the effect it had on the school's academic and social spaces. Relying on the perspective that literacy is…

For decades there has been a divide between educational research and practice. Sometimes the blame is placed on teachers for not following research-based strategies or not being trained well enough to read the literature. Just as frequently the blame is placed on researchers for not (a) studying topics important to teachers, (b) writing them so…

Presents the first part of a six-part series reporting on a research project to investigate how students make sense of a text, what disempowers meaning making, what empowers meaning making, how readings might be meaningfully assessed, and how readers might be empowered in classrooms. Invites readers to join in the investigation. (SR)

This article describes the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education (NUA), a nonprofit advocacy organization that engages with school communities through professional development to build relationships with educators, students, parents, and community stakeholders. NUA consultants are former and current university professors, former…

Summarizes three recent Dutch studies in the field of functional text research (text which has concrete goals that must be achieved by lay readers). Focuses on the use of and failure to use software manuals, the minimalist approach and learning styles, and the effect of using decision tables. (SR)

Describes experiences with first-grade children on two "literacy walks" through the streets around their school. Argues that the print that surrounds children in urban communities can provide an excellent source of literacy conversation and learning, and that by taking literacy walks with children in their community, teachers can learn…

An initial study (Ram 1) in Denmark in 1970 determined whether methods could be developed to assess the effect of textual passages on readers' experiences of a short story. Subjects, 717 Danish secondary students, were given a questionnaire to check on the effect of specific auctorial techniques and to chart readers' attitudes and the way they…

This article describes a series of Scandinavian studies in reader response from 1968 to 1990. Studies chronologically discussed in the article are: (1) "Rhythm in Poetry"; (2) "The Esthetic Experience"; (3) "Meaning in Literary Texts"; (4) "Tension"; (5) the "Ram" study; (6) the…

Defines "electronic books," and shares examples of prior research on the use of such environments to improve the reading fluency and comprehension of students with reading difficulties. Presents a taxonomy of the types of supportive resources that have emerged from efforts to design and research the use of electronic books, and presents…

Describes a university class project designed to help pre-service and in-service teachers explore the ways children and adults respond to the same text. Considers the importance of discussion for the creation of meaning, the support of literary awareness, and insights about the nature of children's responses to reading. (SR)

Describes a young child, age two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half, as he interacts with three types of storybook media (CD-ROM, Language Experience Approach, and traditional) at home with his mother. Reveals seven distinct episodes of interaction, which were compared across storybook media experiences. Finds that the proportion of engagement in…