Abstract: This article examines two adult book club members' responses to literary texts over a 23-month period to identify practices that contribute to productive book club participation. Members were interviewed regarding their book selection procedures, preparation for and perceptions of the discussions, and what they valued about the…

This study investigated the influence of book genre (narrative or didactic) on mothers' language use during a book sharing interaction with their 18- to 25-month-olds. Mother-child dyads were videotaped sharing both a narrative and a didactic book, adapted from two commercially available books, and matched in terms of length, quantity of text, and…

This paper explores a pedagocial approach to teaching oral English---Conversation Analysis. First, features of spoken language is described in comparison to written language. Second, Conversation Analysis theory is elaborated in terms of adjacency pairs, turn-taking, repairs, sequences, openings and closings, and feedback. Third, under the…

Allowing students to select their own books for independent reading has been linked to increased reading engagement, heightened motivation to read, and greater independence and efficacy in reading. However, there has been little exploration of the processes surrounding book choice in elementary classrooms, particularly teaching practices that…

This is a qualitative research study conducted in an attempt to gather information concerning the motivational factors of students as it is linked to the choice of reading materials in the Developmental Reading classroom. Information concerning the motivation levels of students in one Summer term course was collected. The students were given the…

Graphic novels are an excellent medium to motivate today's youth to become independent learners and thinkers. This practical guide shows secondary school teachers how to incorporate graphic novels into content area instruction as a tool for meeting the needs of diverse learners and achieving the goals of the Common Core State Standards. The…

This article presents an overview of how to relate reading to a content area, specifically technology education. The author notes that, with the new focus on Common Core English Language Arts State Standards and state-developed standards, technology and engineering teachers should include disciplinary literacy in their curriculum. Academic…

In light of increasing mandates to incorporate close reading of primary source historical documents at the elementary level, this study explored the reading difficulty level of the US Constitution with preservice elementary teachers using a traditional cloze assessment procedure. While best practice pedagogy of social studies has long included…

College and university adoption and use of books as common reads has increased over the last several years. The growing popularity has also brought to light significant variations in how colleges and universities select and use common read texts. In some higher educational institutions, one tome is selected for all freshmen to read and discuss…

Numerous research studies prove that wide reading improves children's comprehension, background knowledge, vocabulary, fluency, and writing. The author, a sixth-grade language arts teacher, describes the classroom conditions and instructional practices that encourage wide reading and increase her students' reading motivation such as choice in…

Bookreading has proven to be beneficial for children's language and literacy development (e.g. Bus, Van Ijzendoorn and Pellegrini, 1995; Fletcher and Reese, 2005; Mol and Bus, 2011a). Families in Western countries are often advised to read to their young children, and many parents appear to be aware of the positive effects of bookreading. However,…

Research literature concerning gifted male readers relies primarily on more extensive bodies of work regarding gifted males and male readers. Studied as a whole, the two halves portray a worrisome state of affairs for gifted male readers, who lag behind their female counterparts in the same patterns found across the ability spectrum. This literacy…

In this article, the author takes a critical look at what counts as literacy for preadolescent and adolescent talented boys. Arguably, there exists a population of boys who demonstrate strong verbal abilities, as measured by standardized verbal assessments and classroom performance, yet indicate a lack of enthusiasm when encountering print-based…

Although adult readers may savor the chance to choose from a wide range of things to read, experiment with different genres, and discover exciting books on their own, high school students' reading choices in school are generally narrowed to a few standard classic novels, Gilmore argues. The list of recommended "good" books that most high schools…

By forcing gifted educators to teach in preparation for state testing and national assessments, the joy of discovery is becoming an endangered species, and learning is becoming a chore rather than an opportunity. Is it possible to strike a more reasonable balance? Kelly Gallagher suggests a 50/50 approach. Half of academic endeavor should be in…