Reflecting on 45 years of teaching and research, Lee Galda argues that practice based on transactional theory is essential for the effective teaching of literature.

This article reports on a research study investigating student-described engagement with self-selected text in a classroom where a core reading program (in the context of this study meaning instruction based primarily on manuals and commercial textbooks) comprised the majority of their literacy instruction. Fourth grade students were invited to…

Reading comprehension requires thoughtful interactions between the reader, the text, and the author. The author may assist the reader in building meaning by creating purposefully crafted conversations that are organized into predictable patterns also known as patterned books. In this article, three predictable patterns found within children's text…

Although scholars have long advocated the use of informational texts in the primary grades, gaps and inconsistencies in research have produced conflicting reports on how teachers used these texts in the primary curriculum, and how primary students dealt with them during instruction and on their own (e.g., Saul & Dieckman, 2005). Thus, to add…

In the last twenty years, the teaching of reading in Britain has moved away from an interest in how children take delight in, and make meaning of, their literature to a preoccupation with a mechanistic approach to literacy which breaks down texts into bite-sized chunks and fragments reading into a series of isolated skills. Although an expensive,…

Today, it is a challenge for teachers to convince resistant readers that literature holds secrets, adventures, and revelations worthy of their time and attention. When teachers demonstrate how to explore literature and guide students in doing so, teachers help break down barriers that are common among middle school students. Unfortunately, when…

Investigates how multiple stances in reading can reveal new insights into texts. Demonstrates three ways that a single text can be read from the perspectives of a pleasurable reading, a postcolonial reading, and a critical multicultural reading. Argues that readers will confirm existing meanings determined by others' ideologies unless they are…

Explores questions of paratext and spin-off text through an investigation of web sites and other forms of satellite texts relating to three series of novels for young people: the Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling, "His Dark Materials" by Philip Pullman, and the Disc-world novels of Terry Pratchett. (SG)

The authors report the results of a study in which they sought to determine the effect of the race of a book's primary characters on the reading motivation of 3rd-grade students in Mississippi. Students (N = 35) from 2 3rd-grade classrooms chose books with covers that depicted main characters who were either Black or White. The authors sought to…

Offers five "images" (personal recollections) of reader response in the life of the author/educator. Suggests that while each image offers insight into the nature of response, each still supports the need for initial personal connections to the text whether the ultimate goal is motivating readers, enhancing reading ability, or creating…

This article looks closely at a subset of books about literacy in and out of school by analyzing images of children learning and struggling to learn to read in realistic fiction. There are several books in which characters wish to learn to read, worry about being poor readers, and work hard to learn to read. These books raise important questions…