Based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel "The Scarlet Letter," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that the ending of a novel does not resolve all of the questions that may occur to readers; and that readers may imagine characters living out their lives beyond the ending the author gave to a novel. The main…

Noting that the quality of literacy instruction in the upper grades is equally essential as literacy in the primary grades, this book focuses on helping students' needs in the upper grades and the needs of all teachers in grades four through twelve who endeavor to help students read to learn across the curriculum and comprehend at grade level, and…

The purpose of this study was to study recreational reading in third, fourth, and fifth grade urban students in a school district in Southeastern Virginia. The widely-used Accelerated Reader (AR) was the tool examined in the promotion of recreational reading. The major research questions determined if recreational reading, using Accelerated…

This collection of articles provides background information about reading and includes the research base that has defined best practices in teaching reading. Section 1 of the collection, "The Big Picture," contains the following articles: "Reading the Right Way" (Bill Honig); "Statement of Dr. G. Reid Lyon, April 28,…

Using a balanced approach that integrates the language arts and blends teacher and student leadership strategies, this book offers a variety of activities for teaching reading and writing and has a flexible design, making the book adaptable for use at all grade levels. The balanced approach in the book uses a compatible combination of…

Teachers can confront issues of students' infrequent reading and infrequent choice of content area texts by using specific instructional strategies that are highly motivating. Five research-based language arts strategies that many teachers use to successfully teach content area information are: (1) previewing vocabulary and content; (2) developing…

Providing a foundation in which researchers may build future research and theory and in which teachers may design more effective classroom practice, this book presents 12 essays that bring together the contributions of researchers and teacher-scholars to present the significant theory and research related to the writing process. The book is…

Suggesting the need for balanced reading and writing instruction, this book is a compendium of many of the best teaching ideas presently available to reading professionals. The first part of the book addresses the research and practice related to understanding and supporting literacy development, and the second part "puts it all…

The outline for a reading course based on both intensive and extensive reading of short stories is presented. The 11-week course focuses on five stories, three selected by the teacher and two selected by the students as a class. A course overview details the sequence of reading and classroom activities, and the procedures for a typical four-week…

This report describes a program to increase sight/functional vocabulary to improve reading comprehension. The targeted population consisted of one 2nd-3rd grade and one 6th-8th grade cross-categorical self-contained class, located in an elementary school and a middle school. The schools were located in a northeast suburb of a major city in the…

This paper explores three different language representation methods used to access vocabulary in augmentative alternative communication (AAC) and identifies which are most effective for core and extended vocabulary. The benefits and drawbacks of using spelling, single meaning pictures, and semantic compaction (Minspeak) are described. The paper…

The National Reading Panel (NRP) issued a report in 2000 that responded to a congressional mandate to help parents, teachers, and policymakers identify key skills and instructional methods central to reading achievement. The panel identified five areas that they found to be critical to effective reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics,…

Describes one teacher's numerous approaches for expanding the vocabularies and fostering positive self-concepts and attitudes toward school among the three linguistically very different groups of children in her classroom. (TO)