This article discusses how the use of literature-based videos in the classroom can be a unique tool for motivating children not only to learn how to read, but also to read for the pure exhilaration of the experience. Good videos can be incredibly engaging, thereby encouraging children who might not otherwise be curious or interested enough to take…

This study described and compared the reading of sixth and eighth grade students both in and out of school using a unique data set collected with the Experience Sampling Method (ESM). On average, students read forty minutes a day out of class and seventeen minutes a day in class indicating that reading is a common leisure practice for…

This paper explores how Scottish public library services have responded to providing a service to a virtually invisible minority group, i.e. lesbians who enjoy reading lesbian fiction. The evidence that provides the foundation for the results discussed in this paper was drawn from the following sources: a study of the 32 public library services in…

This paper reports a small-scale study of wider reading at Key Stage 3 in current English classrooms in secondary schools in the south of England. Six English teachers, three of whom were relatively new to teaching, were interviewed on what they thought about wider reading. The findings indicate that because of a lack of time and absence of demand…

This theoretical article based on published literature provides an overview of Mexican American culture and selected Mexican American children's literature that accurately portrays that culture. More specifically, the article focuses on three related topics. First, the article discusses the availability of multicultural literature, evaluation of…

A study investigated five aspects of the home environment (time spent viewing television, time spent doing homework, time involved in recreational reading, time spent with a non-parental caregiver, and bedtime) of first- through fifth-grade students to see if any common experience existed among those students reading above grade level. Subjects…

A study explored how adolescents' negotiations and interpretations of out-of-school reading discussions were shaped by larger institutional and societal contexts that regularly influence young people's actions and interactions with peers and adults. Drawing from a theoretical framework that conceives of discourse as social practice, such discourse…

Combining award-winning literature with effective instructional approaches, this book discusses how to select and use nearly 100 Newbery titles (representing almost one-third of the entire Newbery collection) to spark student interest and enthusiasm for reading. Chapters in the book discuss instructional approaches which include literature…

Stemming from the 1992 Integrated Reading Performance Record (IRPR), a study investigated the reading habits and practices and the classroom activities related to reading of a subgroup of students participating in the 1992 reading assessment conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Subjects, 1,136 fourth graders, were…

A study surveyed independent reading habits and identified causal factors related to the decline in independent reading from middle school to college. Subjects, 100 students enrolled in a developmental reading course at a state-supported university in Kentucky, completed a 19-item survey instrument. A second survey was developed due to the results…

This volume of a 1991 conference proceedings contains the conference's addresses and awards, a listing of the panels and workshops, and abstracts of those papers which were withdrawn from the proceedings to be published elsewhere. Among the papers in this document are: "Reading and Literacy: a Lifetime Work" (N. Bagnall); "The Image…

A practicum was designed to encourage 60 at-risk young children in a Chapter 1 reading program at a rural primary school to read for pleasure so that they would eventually increase literacy development. The parents, teachers, and volunteer readers would increase the amount of time spent reading aloud to the children in the Chapter 1 reading…

The goal of a practicum was to improve students' attitudes towards reading. Subjects, 35 third graders, were representative of the community's social composition. Activities encouraged increased reading time in and out of the classroom. Parents were asked to encourage their children to read and to participate by reading with them, to them, or…

A study explored the connection between reading and writing by examining the writing produced by three young readers of action comic books. The subjects were in grades four and five in a British Columbia (Canada) school and were identified by a survey as being avid comic book readers. During three writing sessions, they were asked to produce…

This pilot study assessed the educational interests and needs of a group of older, low-literate adults with the eventual goal of developing computer-assisted literacy programs specifically designed for older adults. Subjects, 10 women and 1 man aged 60 to over 80 years who were members of a center for older adults and who were already working with…