Within our society's growing culture of "busyness," schools have an important counter role to play. One critical antidote to this epidemic of overload is to reorient reading instruction to cultivate intentionally present, mindful readers. In this article, the authors share five ways to foster immersive reading through daily classroom…

Reading competence is one of the main gateways to learning and serves as the foundation for nearly all academic subjects, but reading is not a natural skill. For beginning and struggling readers, the process of learning to read is often fraught with frustration. Thus, abilities to manage affect or emotions and maintain attention or focus (i.e.…

Describes some of the ways in which students can be organized for reading and writing instruction. Suggests that educators must first identify the key components of literacy, then clarify a view of instruction and learning. Argues that recent literacy research has analyzed processes and texts but has overlooked the larger literacy contexts. (SG)

Argues that, while children need to learn the syntactic, symantic, and graphonic cuing systems necessary to reading, the ultimate focus of elementary reading instruction should be reading for meaning. Describes an ideal classroom where students constantly interact with reading and writing and developing personal motivations for effective language…

Suggests that a molar view of classroom reading instruction be employed to discover factors in the students and the system which lead to reading success and failure. The molar view also is seen to generate research hypotheses for instructional improvement. Bibliography. (RW)

Considers the complex and highly interactive features of the instructional setting when evaluating the reading context. Emphasizes that the focus should be on assessing the elements of the context that are most likely to impact specific students' performance in reading and writing. (MG)

In an effort to better understand children's reading behavior, this volume offers naturalistic assessments of reading performance in multiple settings and at all levels. The chapters and their authors are as follows: (1) "Reexamining Reading Diagnosis" (Susan Mandel Glazer and Lyndon W. Searfoss); (2) "Reexamining the Role of…

Uses the author's experiences as a less-able member of a university choir as metaphor for how less-able readers experience the demands of learning a complex symbol system. Translates the positive experiences as a choir member into classroom contexts. Advocates choral reading, heterogeneous grouping, regular opportunities for practice, limitation…

A proposed framework for a global theory of reading divides the total reading area into the following major systems: (1) the distinct reading skills and abilities which are involved with what the child can achieve, (2) the reading-learning process of the child which is involved with how he acquires reading skills, and (3) the actual teaching of…

Notes that at-risk readers often have narrow notions about reading processes and their roles as readers. Discusses research related to at-risk readers' comprehension strategies. Suggests that several aspects of typical reading instruction contribute to at-risk readers' views. Offers suggestions for evaluating aspects of classroom environment and…

A reading program will succeed if it is based on the following positive aspects: children's oral language competence, understanding of the reading process, a lot of time spent in reading, and positive teacher attitudes. (JH)

Fulfilling a need for careful and thorough synthesis of an extensive body of findings on reading, this report presents leading experts' interpretations of both current knowledge of reading and the state of the art and practice of teaching reading. The introduction contains two claims: (1) the knowledge is now available to make worthwhile…

The papers in this volume deal with a range of assessment problems in reading. The first paper, by Karlin, introduces the general problem of using assessment procedures to guide teaching. The next six papers deal with various aspects of this general problem. Otto discusses the distinction between norm-referenced, standardized achievement tests and…

Frank Smith (1988) describes a "literacy club" as a classroom where no child is excluded from a wealth of reading and writing activities. One teacher, in designing a literacy club for his classroom, wanted to use a "balanced literacy" approach because using such an approach would allow him to incorporate many different…

Intended for elementary teachers, reading specialists, curriculum directors, and teacher trainers, this book provides readers with conceptual and theoretical insights and compelling accounts of classroom practice. The book argues that teaching and learning work best when they occur within a community of learners. The book provides interpretations…