Find out how a simple and inexpensive program of sustained silent reading--where students read independently during class time--can be a sure-fire way to improve student vocabulary development, literacy skills, and background knowledge. Teacher-author Steve Gardiner updates you on the research studies that validate sustained silent reading as a…

A longitudinal study of student reading attitudes was conducted in 30 schools (20 elementary, 10 middle) using the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey instrument (ERAS). The instrument tested attitudes toward both recreational reading and academic/school reading as part of the Reading Excitement and Paperbacks Project (REAP). REAP participant…

The New Brunswick (Canada) Comprehensive Reading/Language Arts Plan (NBCRP) is an integrative framework of goals not only for a developmental reading/language arts program but also for the special students regardless of classification. The NBCRP proposes three major categories of action: (1) the institution and improvement of a reading/language…

A 310 Project, Learn to Read, was conducted by Oakton Community College in suburban Chicago to teach reading to functionally illiterate and limited English speaking (LEP) adults using a variety of approaches. Participants included two groups. One group consisted of American-born adults who had basic oral competency but had failed to acquire…

Papers on linguistic minorities and library use include: (1) "Why Consider the Library and Books?" (Stephen Krashen); (2) "Supporting Spanish Language Literacy: Latino Children and School and Community Libraries" (Sandra Pucci); (3) "'I Did Not Know You Could Get Such Things There!': Secondary ESL Students' Understanding, Use and Beliefs…