Focuses on some of the ways in which literacy program participants from immigrant cultures take up the literacy information and procedures offered to them by their host culture. Demonstrates ways in which institutional responses to nontraditional forms of literacy can be accurately identified and program implementation effectively modified to…

Presents selected suggestions and resources for beginning storytellers in the school library media center. Discusses selecting the stories to tell; tips for learning a story; and planning a storytelling program. Additional resources include books, World Wide Web sites, and commercial sources. (AEF)

Presents suggestions for early-childhood professionals to encourage reading aloud to children at home, including allowing parents opportunities to watch caregivers read with their children. Includes a list of benefits of reading aloud, a bibliography of read-aloud books, and sample book-reading project questionnaire. (LBT)

Argues for the fundamental importance of fostering a lifetime reading habit in middle school students. Discusses various ways to provide opportunities to read in middle school; describes teacher demonstrations of effective reading/thinking behaviors; discusses reading aloud; and notes the importance of literacy educators advocating this kind of…

Reviews 15 children's books in Spanish. Titles reviewed include: "Perro y gato [Dog and Cat]" (Ricardo Alcantara); "Baldomero va a la escuela [Baldomero goes to School]" (Alain Broutin); "Duerme bien, pequeno oso [Sleep well, Little Bear]" (Quint Buchholz); "El mas bonito de todos los regales del mundo [The Most Beautiful Gift in the World]…

Considers what the research literature suggests about the kinds of texts and kinds of talk that are most beneficial for read-aloud experiences. Provides an overview of Text Talk, an approach to read-alouds directed toward enhancing young children's ability to construct meaning. Includes examples of teacher/student interaction and suggests aspects…

A multiple case study of literacy acquisition in three preschoolers with deafness is presented. The study involved the introduction of story book reading by numerous adults in the preschool and demonstrated the improvements that children made when simple changes were made to the nature of the interactions around books. (Contains references.) (CR)

Students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder are physically active and impulsive often to the point of being difficult to contain. Fortunately, advances in research and practice are helping unravel some of the mysteries of ADHD and with this information comes an imperative to inform individuals with ADHD about their disability.…

The purpose of this research was to examine the spontaneous responsiveness and attention during picture-book reading in 18-month-old to 24-month-old children from at-risk backgrounds. Twenty-five, 18-month-old children in an early intervention program were randomly assigned to a read condition or play condition for six months. At each seventh…

When the author discovered that the majority of fifth-grade students in her classroom were comprehending very little in their social studies textbooks, she decided to revamp the methods and materials in order to help all students acquire the content. The textbook not only held new and abstract content, but also contained transition words,…

In this article, the author describes a day in the life of Sandy Meagher, a librarian for 22 years at the Honesdale, Pennsylvania, elementary school. On a normal day in the library, Meagher's activities include conducting sessions of read-aloud time, assisting children in selecting research materials for a class project, and guiding Internet…

Purpose: The primary purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the influence of context on interaction patterns used by mothers who are homeless with their preschool children during book-reading and game-playing activities. The impact of mothers' previously determined language functioning on their contextual use of facilitating language…

Based on first hand field notes, I undertook to research the reasons why children interacted or did not interact appropriately with a common emergent literacy experience, the readaloud. I explored the reasons why parents/caregivers may not effectively participate in storybook reading, including reactions of parents/caregivers during four literacy…

In this article, the author shares the lessons he learned from Aaron, a 12-year old kid who had never been to school, on the importance of crafting systematic fluency lessons. The following are strategies that worked for them: (1) Demonstrate what fluency sounds and feels like; (2) Read aloud to the students at least three times a day from a…

This case study of a struggling reader suggests that learning to read is not necessarily about using the right program, but rather about making the right connection. This case describes how Ashley, a child with special needs, came to literacy in her own way in the company of Barbara Park's fictional character, Junie B. Jones, a girl about her age…