This article explores the factors behind the success of a reading workshop at the Center for Teaching and Learning in Edgecomb, Maine. In the workshop, teachers start by being honest with students about what they do as readers. They acknowledge the guilt many of them grew up with--the feeling that there's a proper, rigorous way to read and that…

Written in an engaging style, this comprehensive text prepares K-12 teachers to address a wide range of contemporary social issues--such as violence, gender, war, terrorism, child labor, censorship, and disabilities--through multicultural children's literature. Each chapter includes sample lessons plans designed to encourage critical and creative…

Fifth-grade inner city boys engaged in reader response via e-mail with preservice teacher education candidates. Books and laptops were provided via funding from a federal grant. At the semester break, the boys were assigned new partners with which to correspond regarding their reading. All e-mails were filtered through the classroom teachers and…

High school English teachers need to respond to the diversity of cultures that our schools possess, and be open-minded in our construction of the curriculum that English classes should encompass. There is a disconnect between the "core" books that drive curriculum and what really interests students. I am invested in the process of altering the…

The purpose of this study is to explore whether storybooks designed to elicit talk about letters and sounds, termed "alphabet-storybooks" will generate more print referencing behaviors from Head Start teachers than traditional storybooks, and if there is a concomitant positive impact on the learning of the children in these classrooms.…

As literature with postmodern characteristics becomes increasingly common, teachers of adolescents need to consider whether they should use these decidedly different novels and how they might do so effectively. This article identifies the characteristics of post modern novels and offers reasons for adding them to the curriculum. It also provides…

The article surfaces, examines and draws conclusions on the varying perceptions, expectations and operationalised "realities" of tutor and student behaviour in relation to reading lists. The argument identifies a paucity of literature on reading lists, but, nevertheless, locates a number of potential literature sources with which to…

Children develop literacy skills in environments that encourage their engagement with language, print, and books. The way children learn to read is affected by the level of support adults provide when children interact with books. The authors discuss books as natural supports for literacy learning and embedding such learning in typical early…

This document presents the proceedings of the 20th Annual Research Forum held June 25, 2015, at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Included are the following 21 action research papers: (1) History Lives! The Use of Simulations in a High School Social Studies Classroom (Lydia Adkins); (2) Using Francophone Music in the High…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the impact that a teacher-guided library selection program had on overall reading scores and how this program may or may not promote reading improvement of fourth-grade students at a small suburban school in western New York. Forty fourth graders were used as the sample population, which was…

This study is based on 72 children's and young adult books that met the criteria of being about Muslims and published and circulated here in the U.S. They can be divided into the varied genres as 49 contemporary realistic fiction, 6 historical fiction, and 17 autobiographies, biographies, and memoirs. In-depth reading and coding were used to…

The aim of this study was to examine reading media (braille, cassettes, screen-reader, screen-magnifier, large print, low vision aids, CCTV) used by visually impaired adults. This article reports the results of a research project involving 100 people with visual impairment. The participants were interviewed and asked to fill in a questionnaire to…

Lists several books for children which can help them understand their own problems better. Topics include the new baby, muscular dystrophy, blindness, Fear, and psychotic behavior. (JM)

The author's credo is not to write anything unless it is usable, good news, or usable information to interdict and humanely supersede the reality of some particular bad news. She urges librarians and publishers to desist their perpetuation of the status quo under the mantle of realism. (Author/SJ)

Twenty-two children's books which were published in 1971 are reviewed. (22 references) (MM)