Six fourth-graders with low vision were asked to read unrelated words and continuous text ranging in print size. Participants read faster when they read text aloud than when they read nonrelated words. Their reading speeds decreased as the print sizes decreased. Methods to maximize reading efficiency are discussed. (Contains references.) (CR)

Recommends that children, teachers, and parents critically read children's literature to identify and clarify ideological perspectives. Lists types of books for multicultural collections, presents guidelines for critical discussions about books, and identifies types of biases in books. Suggests that children's books open multiple perspectives…

Reports the impact of metadiscourse on sixth grade students' learning and attitudes. Finds that low-comfort students learn more when informational metadiscourse is presented in interpersonal voice and high-comfort students learn less. Finds that students' attitudes are more tolerant of opinions if they read just one type of metadiscourse. (KEH)

Describes classroom-based research on the use of reading logs with second and third graders. Discusses the range and character of student responses, student behavior about books, and the stories they tell the teachers and each other. (SR)

Discusses how young children, when given a chance in the classroom, display many and varied responses to literature. Shares, through the use of classroom experiences, how language and literature can guide the development of curriculum. (MG)

Reviews previous research on the effects of signals (structural cues that announce or emphasize content or reveal content relationships) on readers' comprehension of expository prose. Concludes that inconsistent results are due to inadequate methodologies that fail to control for confounding variables, such as text length and difficulty, topic…

Describes a course in which students were assigned to read magazine articles, label sections according to informative discourse types, mark cohesive ties and cue words, and pick out details. Reports that, by reviewing the articles, students gained an understanding of the "general audience" and of how to read their own writings more objectively.…

Describes a unit involving the novel, screenplay, and film of "Sounder" in which students experienced literature as something to be lived through rather than directed by the teachers. Notes that teachers and students abandoned their typical classroom roles in favor of becoming co-explorers and co-creators of texts. (RS)

Develops a rationale for using action books with preschool children of three-six years. Offers guidelines for selection of books, and gives an annotated book list of humorous action books that teachers and parents can use with young children. (BB)

Describes discussion practices recommended in 15 postprimary reading methods textbooks published before and after 1970. Focuses analysis on (1) function of textbook in discussion; (2) questioning-discussion relationship; and (3) teacher-student relationship in discussions. Finds that earlier authors granted texts more status as arbiters of ideas…

Explains the details of a method of teaching text structure that proved successful in improving both reading comprehension and summary writing of fifth graders. Reports that students quickly learned how to attend to and remember main ideas from problem-solution passages in their textbooks and how to write summaries. (MG)

Considers two questions which adolescents must ask of themselves and the world as they grow up: how to separate from other people and how to connect with them. Concludes that as writers and readers people act separately, but through the books, people connect. (MG)

Uses miscue analysis to find patterns of reader strategies on two types of texts: a syntactically complex/high vocabulary newspaper editorial; and a syntactically simple/low vocabulary editorial. Suggests that teachers should guide students to focus on the contextual relationships found both within and beyond the sentence level. (MG)

Encourages the use of storytelling in the classroom as a method for developing verbal, written, and reading skills, as well as non-verbal communication skills. Offers guidelines and specific activities for involving students in storytelling. (RAE)

Discusses ways that teachers may interact with children over texts in order to emphasize the following components of reading comprehension: understanding the meaning-making purpose of reading and writing; viewing reading as a problem-solving process; and learning to share and extend individual comprehension. (RAE)