Elementary students are expected to use various features of informational texts to build knowledge in the content areas. In science informational texts, scientific metaphors are commonly used to make sense of complex and invisible processes. Although elementary students may be familiar with literary metaphors as used in narratives, they may be…

Writers carefully include critical information in the opening lines of their chapters, but students often gloss over these beginning sentences, missing information that could help them better comprehend the text. To address this concern, the authors created a strategy that prompts students to examine the opening lines of chapters, helping readers…

The vocabularies of basal reading systems have become more difficult over the past decade. (Author)

Discusses how textbooks can influence students' social behavior throughout their lives. (FL)

Recounts the experiences of an anthology compiler who wished to include excerpts from "Beowulf" in a collection of legends for fourth through sixth grade students. (FL)

Discusses the problem of plagiarism of materials as a problem in educational publications. (MKM)

Study of reading ease and human interest of books used in introductory courses in several areas showed that textbooks used in introductory reading courses are easier to read than textbooks used in other areas but they are not very interesting. (JM)

Discusses available options for teachers and parents who are concerned with the sexist aspects of their children's reading materials. (JM)

Reports on an examination of intermediate level basal readers in eight series, concluding that they reflect reasonably well the interests of intermediate children. (DD)

Presents a checklist for teachers to use in analyzing educational materials for sex stereotypes and related language usage. (JM)

Examines the quality of basal readers and textbooks, discusses some of the forces affecting textbook quality and selection, and offers suggestions for coping with less-than-adequate reading materials. (FL)

Suggests sources which can guide schools in evaluating textbooks. (MKM)

Provides evidence that current reading textbooks contain racist and sexist stereotypes despite promises to make changes, and concludes that these stereotypes are harmful to the students who learn from such textbooks. (RB)

Argues that some common vocabulary teaching strategies in basal reading programs appear to be based on misconceptions. Suggests that the teacher must stress the vital connection between vocabulary learning and comprehension. (FL)