The teaching of reading has been a source of contentious debate for many years. Margaret Meek Spencer contributed her passion for the importance of specific texts to help children learn to read. In addition to the kinds of texts to be used, important aspects of the debate include the relationship between national curriculum policies and robust…

Reports on a study of the use of the cloze procedure as a basis for group oral work. Points to the value of deleting content words, as opposed to function words, and notes factors that may cause some types of cloze tasks to be too difficult for students. (GT)

Points to the need to teach children the reading skills they require in their present lives. Lists information-finding skills and critical reading skills children need, based on an informal survey of children's reading, and suggests ways of teaching the skills. (GT)

Argues that reading for students today is drastically changed from that learned by students of generations past, primarily as a result of mass media and their effects. Shows how reading in a multimedia world is a complex and subtle enterprise. Illustrates the point with a case study of a five-year-old reader. (HB)

Provides a case study of one Chinese boy's experience learning to read in Great Britain. Compares the formal didactic approach of the Chinese school with the developmental approach of the English reception school. Shows how many contributory factors influence student learning and argues for fuller appreciation of this fact. (HB)

Discusses a research project that is producing articulate responses from children about their responses to reading, presents a transcript of an interview with a 14-year-old boy regarding his responses to fiction, discusses various stages of response to reading, and outlines classroom implications of studies of reading responses. (GT)

Describes reading recovery programs aimed at helping students rediscover the pleasure of reading. Presents findings of a study designed to determine parents' attitudes toward such programs. Gives evidence of parental satisfaction, including numerous excerpts from interviews with parents. (HB)