Teachers can greatly extend a child's literacy development through the use of interactive read-alouds. When a story is read aloud to children a number of opportunities arise for extended activities that are related to the story and further literacy support. Children are able to learn about literacy through an adult modeling good reading behavior.…

Differentiating textbooks is modifying or adapting textbooks in ways that make them easier for students to read and comprehend and then to retain what they have read. This book explains how teachers can motivate their students as they are confronted with text which is generally written in a "less-than-engaging" expository style. The strategies…

This report summarizes the research studies, literature reviews and related documents on the relationship between public school students' achievement and the library media program. Research indicates students in schools with well-equipped library media centers and professional library media specialists perform better on achievement tests for…

This paper describes a five-phase, 20-week, computer supported reading comprehension instruction process, which begins with access to powerful supports and direct teacher-mediated instruction. The process involves five phases: (1) fully supported reading and strategy instruction; (2) strategy practice in a fully supported reading environment with…

Reader's Theatre can be used to combine basic literature and writing instruction with creative arts. Improvisational playmaking by students, using literature in the form of plays, prose, and poetry, forms the basis of Reader's Theatre. Use of Reader's Theatre in the classroom can: (1) foster deeper understanding of character, setting, and plot…

The purpose of this article is to explain each of the three phases of reading textbooks and to provide strategies for aiding students to better understand and connect to their textbooks in each of these phases. Each of the three phases is named for its writing counterpart: planning, drafting, and evaluating. This article also states that three…

In this essay collection, scholars in the area of early literacy provide concrete strategies for achieving excellence in literacy instruction. The collection presents current, research-based information on the advances and refinements in the area of emerging literacy and the early stages of formal instruction in reading and writing. Following a…

This paper shows how the concept of general objectivity can be used to improve behavioral science measurement, particularly as it applies to the Lexile Framework, a tool for objectively measuring reading comprehension. It begins with a dialogue between a physicist and a psychometrician that details some of the differences between physical science…

In response to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, school districts are working to develop assessment systems to monitor student progress. In the area of reading, three measures can provide useful information about students' developing proficiency: a test of oral reading fluency (ORF), a vocabulary test, and a reading comprehension test…

Demographic trends indicate that in the 21st century, second-language issues in early literacy development will remain a pressing concern. According to the 1990 U.S. census, over 6.3 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 spoke a language other than English at home (Crawford, 2001). This number has grown to over 9.7 million as estimated…

Article discusses the remedial learning of reading for the teaching of the English language to those who come to school with deficient verbal skills, and for others who simply want to enjoy a satisfactory life. (Author/RK)

Children are often turned into deficient readers as a result of their never progressing beyond the first stage of reading--articulation of words from printed page; if provided with an enriched classroom environment, the child will learn to read with little formal instruction. (MM)