Verbal precocity at 20 months of age did not predict children's later precocious reading. Frequency of story reading in the home at 24 months predicted children's language ability at 2.5 and 4.5 years and, along with literacy instruction, predicted knowledge of print conventions at 4.5. (BC)

Discusses methods that the Oceanside (New York) Library used to create programs for children with special needs. Story hours for children with and without parents are described; staffing issues are addressed; particularly helpful books are noted; and incorporation into the summer reading program is discussed. (LRW)

Four workshop articles discuss storytelling techniques and sources: (1) "Beginning with Peekaboo: Storytelling as Interaction" (Robert Munsch); (2) "You, Yes, You: Storytelling from Many Cultures" (Margaret Read MacDonald); (3) "When the Wolf Both Is and Is Not a Wolf: The Language of Puppets" (Mariano Dolci); and (4)…

Data from two-year-old children and mothers were collected concerning age at which she began to read to child, frequency of home reading, number of stories read per week, frequency of visits by child to library. Picture-book reading exposure was more strongly related to receptive than expressive language. Age of onset of home reading routines was…

Describes the use of teacher stories (both positive and negative) in teacher education, explaining the long-term goal of getting students to internalize stories that would help guide their actions in the classroom. Student reactions to teacher stories varied depending on the stories and contexts of the readings. A comprehensive list of teacher…

Notes storybook reenactments by 15 kindergarten children from working-class were transcribed and coded. Compares with the results from 24 children from middle-class homes. Finds the children in the present study did not show the same developmental progression as the children from the middle-class homes and, in fact, 11 of the 15 children did not…

Uses ethnographic methods in a self-contained classroom. Finds that the room as a text-rich environment; latitude given to students to govern their own literate behavior; regularly conducted storyreading sessions; and the constructive use of computers facilitated literacy learning, while restriction of instructional time; overreliance on…

This paper describes a community's attempts to raise the knowledge and awareness of environmental issues of early years pupils through the use of "Environmental Story Sacks". The results of the small scale evaluation, using a pre and post activity oral "cloze" exercise, showed that reception year pupils' response scores to…

Children often become deeply immersed in stories. Just as often, however, they may resist reading, or reading certain types of texts. The authors present a typology of six ways in which young children resist stories. Though educators may be inclined to view such opposition as a roadblock to understanding, children's resistance may be the occasion…

A study examined retelling as a reading comprehension-enhancing technique. Subjects were 26 urban, lower socio-economic fourth graders from New Jersey (Essex County), including 10 girls and 16 boys. A control sample answered questions as a follow-up to reading basal stories; an experimental sample retold the stories as a follow-up. Comparable…

This packet of materials consists of reproducible flyers to promote parents' reading aloud to children. Included are five benefits of reading aloud for children and parents; tips for reading to babies and children and for exposing them to books; suggestions for selecting books for infants; toddlers and preschoolers; a descriptive list of selected…

A study examined children's memory of stories under three varying conditions and focused on how different interaction styles and children's innate abilities affect literacy development. The three conditions tested closely mirrored the three story-reading styles evidenced by teachers of young children were: (1) a control condition where there was…

This study investigated whether the choice of literature read aloud by the teacher affected childrens' choices of books in their free reading. Subjects, 13 third grade students, freely selected library books before the study, and then were asked to make choices each week during the 11 weeks of the study in order to determine if the genre being…

The use of historical fiction in schools in the United Kingdom can help develop language skills and encourage a curiosity about the past. Major historical events contain drama and tension, and an imaginative story about an historical event captures children's emotions and intrigue. Historical fiction is a literary genre where opportunities exist…

A problem solving process has been created for analyzing descriptive data obtained from the language transactions between parents and children during a shared reading event. Use of other instruments and observations of videotaped interactions led to a classification of reading event components and to a coding system containing items in the…