This collection of essays aims to encourage high school students to improve their reading skills. The essays offer numerous practical teaching ideas for helping students increase their vocabulary and comprehension as well as learn to love the medium of books. Useful ideas revolve around issues such as: guided reading; independent reading; making…

This book examines how in a multicultural, multilingual society, schools must involve parents and community members in literacy teaching and learning. By building on existing literacy, schools can become catalysts in empowering children, families, and teachers. Collaborative literacy teaching and learning can be a positive force in redefining…

This book presents a multisensory approach for teaching language arts skills to students in grades 3-10 with learning disabilities. It is intended for teachers, parents, speech-language pathologists, and other professionals who work with students with learning disabilities. An introduction discusses multisensory instruction and the benefits of…

At risk students need to experience a reading curriculum which offers success in learning to read; appropriate sequence of reading activities; feedback regarding what has been accomplished in reading; rewards for doing well when comparing past with present achievement records; intrinsic motivation in wanting to read; help and guidance to achieve…

Illinois' policy makers recognize the importance of reading competency to success in school. In this paper we summarize the findings of several recent national reports on reading and consider their findings for Illinois' reading initiatives. The paper also provides an overview of reading programs and certification in Illinois, including the…

This Summer 2005 issue of "Learners in Action" contains the following articles: (1) Bridging Barriers to Learning (Glenn Kissman); (2) Education Really Is a Family Affair; (3) Sabrina's Story; (4) SARAW Helps Students Find Their Voice; (5) Literacy Changes Lives; and (6) Seeing STARs in Alberta.

The handbook is designed as an introductory text on reading instruction for teachers of English as a Second Language. The first chapter explores the nature of reading through a series of activities that help identify the kind of knowledge one draws on and the strategies one uses in reading. Chapter 2 reviews key theories of reading that have…

This paper discusses the use of a teacher-designed text of authentic reading materials (such as a university catalog, grocery store catalog, and tourist information brochures) in place of a commercially-produced textbook in the English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom. It is argued that such materials provide ESL students with greater access…

A project at the Oakland Public Library produced four volumes of oral histories, edited on four different reading levels, from beginning to intermediate, to correspond with the Laubach reading series. One consultant performed the three jobs of interviewer, transcriber, and writer, and two autobiographies were written rather than spoken by…

A review of the literature investigated how computers have been used in relation to the teaching of reading over the last 20 years, how effective those endeavors and research studies (mainly conducted at the college level) have been, and what computer instructional programs in the area of reading need to address. Various efforts have been made to…

This hypertext paper provides teachers and parents with a broad overview of electronic literacy (literacy activities which are delivered, supported, accessed, or assessed through computers or other electronic means) in school and home, and includes links and references which can be pursued for specific practical detail. Definitions of tests,…

Reading aloud to children is the most important step towards making a child a reader. It exposes them to print and excites their curiosity through intriguing story lines. Parents play an enormous role in this aspect of reading development, because it begins long before a child is in school. In the beginning of school, teachers spend time assessing…

A study focused on 41 eighth-grade students from a south Texas middle school who read self-selected books for 30-minute periods 5 times weekly from October 1996 to May 1997 to determine if increased reading time and book self-selection would improve their reading achievement. The study also sought to determine the students' attitudes towards…

Information on current trends and issues informally discussed and then delineated by the directors of six National Council of Teachers of English commissions, is presented in this 15th annual report. The commissions and their directors are: (1) Commission on Composition (Christine Kline); (2) Commission on Curriculum (Kathleen Rowlands); (3)…

A study investigated the meaning to participating mothers of their involvement in a family literacy program, the Family Reading Program, based in an elementary school in a low-income urban neighborhood. The Family Reading Program is a workshop series for adult family members. In the program, the adults read interesting children's books and learn…