The link between recreational book reading and improved literacy performance is consistently supported by educational research. Increasing engagement in recreational book reading remains imperative for English teachers, though how to best facilitate this in a secondary context is an object of contention, with limited research in this field. The…

This article by Jennie Marston provides a framework to assist you in selecting appropriate picture books to present mathematical content. Jennie demonstrates the framework by applying three specific examples of picture books to the framework along with examples of activities.

Teachers have a challenge to teach students to be active participants in a democratic society. To make this happen, students must realize that they have a voice--that their views matter--simply because they are members of a democratic society where all views matter. This article suggests that incorporating historical, nonfiction texts into the…

How should educators go about selecting appropriate editions of Shakespeare's plays for use in political science courses? Shakespeare is turning up on many politics syllabi, but, at times, the editions chosen seem to reflect primarily a concern for price or publisher reputation over pedagogical and scholarly considerations. This article offers an…

We read 48 children's books featuring characters with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to determine which books would be appropriate for use during read-alouds in early childhood classrooms. We conducted a search on Amazon for children's books on ASD published after 2010 and identified 50 books that met the following criteria: (a) the book was a…

In theorizing how we should pedagogically approach African American literature, especially in courses for undergraduates, I argue that we have to move away from questions of what was or even what is African American literature and, instead, find ways to teach African American literature in both its historical contexts--artistic and political--and…

This paper outlines the alignment-oriented approach in classroom EFL writing. Based on a review of the characteristics of the written language and comparison between the product-focused approach and the process-focused approach, the paper proposes a practical classroom procedure as to how to teach EFL writing. A follow-up empirical study is…

This study aimed to examine which genres parents are reading to children and for themselves. Furthermore, it aimed to examine mothers' and fathers' shared reading strategies for different book genres in relation to children's language and literacy development. Parents shared a narrative and an expository book with their preschool-aged children.…

In this new edition of their groundbreaking book "Strategies That Work," Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis share the work and thinking they've done since the second edition came out a decade ago and offer new perspectives on how to explicitly teach thinking strategies so that students become engaged, thoughtful, independent readers.…

This report presents the 6th Edition of Scholastic's biannual study of children's and parents' attitudes and behaviors about reading. The latest research touches on: (1) Reading Books for Fun; (2) Reading Aloud; (3) Summer Reading; and (4) Favorite Children's Books. This research provides both reasons to celebrate as well as a strong motivation to…

The Common Core Curriculum Standards point educators toward rigorous or deep learning so that students will become "college and career ready." College-ready students engage with text in thoughtful ways so that they arrive at insights through interpretation, discussion, and analysis. One reading anchor standard of relevance for school…

Early childhood instruction tends to focus heavily on literacy development, sometimes at the expense of rich concept development (CEP, 2007; Neuman, 2006; NRC, 2012; NSTA, 2014). Because of the emphasis on literacy instruction, many early childhood teachers integrate content areas, such as science, in literacy instruction through read alouds of…

This research aims at analysing technical specifications in a sample of Egyptian and French electronic storybooks (e-storybooks), to identify similarities and differences in technical specifications of children's e-storybooks and create a verified analysis list to be used for evaluation of e-storybooks. For this purpose, 32 e-storybooks in CD…

This article addresses 3 broad challenges of assessment in reading comprehension: (a) explicitly articulating the knowledge and skills students need to recognize and be able to use in comprehending complex texts; (b) understanding how knowledge and skills progress and successively deepen and develop over repeated opportunities to engage in tasks…

The purpose of this paper is to guide the process of selecting meaningful books to use in pre-K-6 classrooms. With thousands of children's books being published each year, it is difficult for teachers to select which ones hold the most potential to inspire students towards a life time of reading pleasure and purpose. This paper outlines…