Explains how computers can offer learners powerful assistance in their acquisition of certain visual thinking skills. Describes the limitations and potential of using computers as tools for visual thinking with links to creative writing activities in a fourth-grade class. (MM)

Compares views on the reading process expressed by students at the beginning of their professional training with those of the same students near their training completion. Finds that students at the beginning of training are not greatly influenced by psycholinguistic principles, and that any influence present diminishes during professional…

Finds the best preschool predictors of reading were naming tests for boys and general verbal ability for girls; for kindergartners, a quantitative test surpassed test of phonemic awareness and language in predicting reading; effects of birth order were strongest at the preschool level; socioeconomic status had significant effects only for boys,…

Finds that six low-income children in two different instructional settings (skills-based and whole language) learned alphabetic concepts and skills necessary for successful reading and writing. Notes that both instructional settings provided explicit phonics instruction (albeit contextualized differently) and time for self-selected reading and for…

Observes low socioeconomic-level learners during literacy instruction for two years. Finds similarities in learner concern about accuracy. Notes that cross-curricular differences centered on applications of phonics knowledge, responses to literature, coping strategies, and learner perceptions of themselves as readers and writers. Finds a…

Describes a case study of a sixth-grade student experiencing profound difficulties in learning to read, and the instructional intervention that helped him make significant progress. Comments on the public school's responsibility to provide effective remedial instruction. (SR)

The ideal computer-based foreign language reading program must include cognitive background, a learning taxonomy, sound computer design, and knowledge of what is needed for the specific language. Machiavelli's "Il demonia che prese moglie" is chosen for study due to its historical interest. (63 references) (CK)

Suggests that helping readers revalue the reading process and themselves as readers requires teachers to have an understanding of this process. Presents a case study of a seventh-grade student labeled as "learning disabled." Describes a miscue analysis and follow-up activities that helped the student strengthen his reading skills. (RS)

Finds that the most reliable indicator of students' motivation for literacy learning is not the type of reading program that districts follow, but the actual daily tasks that teachers provide in their classrooms. Describes open tasks that provide challenge, choice, student control over learning, and opportunities to collaborate with others and to…

Investigates the effectiveness of instruction in story mapping as a means to promote first-grade students' comprehension of central story elements in children's literature. Concludes that instruction in story mapping is an effective instructional strategy for promoting first-grade students' ability to identify central narrative elements in…

Investigates the effect of phonemic awareness training on the phonemic awareness and reading ability of low- and middle-achieving first graders. Finds that training which provided subjects with a conceptual connection between phonemic skills and reading was generally ineffective for low readers. Suggests that phonemic awareness training for low-…

Investigated whether specific strategies of commenting or questioning by the adult reader would influence the complexity and type of spontaneous comments to story details made by children listening to stories. Results suggest that parents and teachers should combine questioning and commenting during storybook readings to induce lengthier comments…

Investigates Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development using peer social dialogue integrated with teacher support to develop children's reading, writing, and abstract thinking in story reflection and sense of audience. Reports that students showed improvement in word recognition, in fluency, and in evaluating their own reading…

Describes transactional strategies instruction, an approach to teaching reading comprehension in elementary classes that focuses on student and teacher transactions with text. Contends that the approach differs from traditional strategy instruction. Provides examples of transactional strategies instruction, including dialogs between teachers and…

Compares the effects of the dynamic and traditional testing models on reading placement levels of Chapter I students. Finds that students have a wider range of functioning in reading than traditional placement indicates. Concludes that teachers can place students more accurately by using the dynamic model. (PRA)