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…

This dissertation draws on textual reader response theory and humanities-based Disability Studies theories to explores the ways in which preservice teachers participating in a course called "Issues of Diversity in Children's and Adolescent Literature" and their instructor, who is also the researcher, made sense of representations of disability in…

This article examines how drama education strategies enrich children's understanding and excitement of a story before they read, preparing them for a deeper exploration and appreciation of the story. Following a book's basic storyline, drama strategies guide children through an honest, spontaneous enactment of a story's key events without…

Argues that historical understanding requires historical thinking--taking a critical stance toward what is read and assuming a questioning attitude. Identifies numerous trade books that deal with sources (showing how evidence is acquired and evaluated), conflicting interpretations, and powerful concepts and generalizations. Describes how to help…

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…

Considers some aspects of contemporary picture books that can be especially engaging for readers young and old. Reports a study of readers of various ages who read and discussed David Macaulay's picture book "Black and White." Considers questions of concern that these readings raise for adults who are interested in children's reading.…

Argues that encouraging students to read across texts (to make connections among their various reading experiences) promotes deeper understanding and response. Poses and discusses four scaffolding questions to guide teachers in making decisions about activities that facilitate reading across texts. Includes a list of children's books and an…

Combined-text picture books unite multiple genres, providing nuanced information on a single topic from the unique lens of each genre. By providing guided practice in reading and writing a combined-text picture book, teachers can help students develop sensitivity to different types of texts, to what they do and how they do it. Such sensitivity can…

The use of children's literature in the classroom can greatly enhance the core curriculum by supporting children's cognition, language, personality, social, aesthetic, and creative development. Preservice teachers often have difficulty conceptualizing a style of literature presentation that will provide optimum learning-stimulation, however, and…

Two basic approaches to teaching children to appreciate literature at any level are the structural (traditional literary analysis) and the reader response approaches. Structural analysis provides the terms and concepts that help readers interpret and discuss literature, while reader response emphasizes the integrated experience an individual has…

Outlines the importance of a literature-based curriculum that encourages higher-order thinking skills. Discusses the reader-response approach to language arts teaching as a valuable instructional process, that emphasizes the connections between what is in a text and the reader's previous knowledge and experience, thus fostering higher-order…

Sixteen experienced teachers of reading, from a large, northeastern, American university, were asked how, in their elementary classrooms, they would approach the story of Cinderella. This was done in an attempt to find out what conception teachers might have about the way texts could themselves teach children to negotiate meaning, how teachers saw…

Intended as a guide for teachers of grades 3-6, this book presents ideas for the use of literature groups in the classroom. In chapter 1, the author talks about her own reading background and her discovery of teaching methods for literature, and presents ideas for forming literature groups. Chapter 2 offers advice on selecting and collecting good…

Designed to provide an alternative to the book report, this booklet presents ideas for students to use in responding to books they have read. These ideas may help to get students to react to their reading, to stretch their minds, to learn to think as independent human beings, and to use their imaginations in experiencing literature. The 152 ideas…

The three books reviewed in this article represent the continuous effort to make visible the significant bridge between theory and practice in the fields of literacy and children's literature. While the authors maintain distinct purposes for their creations, the texts each speak to a strong theoretical support for the practices they describe. The…