Cooperative learning is a teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Typical cooperative learning strategies used in grades 2 through 12 involve student teams in which students: (1) work on group projects that emphasize…

Recognizing the crucial role played by parents and family in literacy development, a program called "Family Focus: Reading and Learning Together" has published this packet designed to teach parents ways to use the newspaper to reinforce reading skills in a relaxed home setting. It contains suggestions and materials for four 90-minute…

A practicum designed to help prospective teachers explore instructional approaches that differ from their intrinsic beliefs about how reading should be taught is described in this report. Particular emphasis was placed on using the whole language approach, as opposed to the more traditional basal reader or skills oriented approaches to reading.…

This four-document collection describes the implementation processes of dramatically improved literacy programs in elementary schools which are leading the move to restructure literacy education in the Northwest (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington). The first document in the collection, "Strategies for Improving School-Wide…

Growing numbers of teachers are turning to cooperative learning methods for literacy instruction, yet recent studies suggest that teachers hold theories of cooperative learning which are unrelated, or even antithetical, to helping students learn to become strategic, independent readers. This paper reports on a study that examined seven teachers'…

This practicum was designed to increase the accuracy of reading decoding skills exhibited by five elementary and intermediate level hearing-impaired students in a mainstream setting. Subjects were fitted with appropriate amplification to optimize their residual hearing but were performing below their grade-level placement in the areas of word…

Reading strategies that have been identified and recommended by recent literature can be classified into four categories: cognitive strategies, compensation strategies, memory strategies, and test-taking strategies. Research indicated that the use of appropriate strategies may improve reading comprehension. Research has also suggested that readers…

A project designed and implemented a framework of conceptually oriented reading instruction to foster students' amount and breadth of reading, intrinsic motivations for reading, and strategies of search and comprehension. The framework emphasizes five phases of reading instruction in a content domain: observing and personalizing, searching and…

Intended for teachers, reading specialists, administrators, students in teacher education programs, and parents, this book contains descriptions of strategies for fostering emergent literacy and steps for carrying them out. An underlying theme is the merging of the art and the science of teaching. Chapters in the book begin with questions to focus…

Information on current trends and issues informally discussed and then delineated by the directors of six National Council of Teachers of English commissions, is presented in this 11th annual report. The commissions and their directors are: (1) Commission on Curriculum (Dorothy King); (2) Commission on Language (Vivian I. Davis); (3) Commission on…

A program was developed for improving the social skills and reading levels of 29 elementary grade students in a low- to middle-class manufacturing community located in an urban area in northern Illinois. The problem was originally noted by the amount of teacher time spent correcting behavior and the low reading levels of students as evidenced by…

A practicum was designed to increase the expertise of primary teachers in the creation of developmentally appropriate reading/writing curriculum for the multi-age, multi-ability, primary classroom through literacy training staff development sessions. The system of literacy training was constructed over a period of eight months with 34 primary…

A study examined the association of reading instruction with the amount and breadth of students' reading activities, taking account of social, cognitive, and home factors in the educative process. A secondary analysis of a large national data base for students aged 9, 13, and 17 was conducted. Using answers from student questionnaires, conceptual…

Showing how fiction is a natural genre for children, this book helps teachers experiment with 10-minute fictional occasions, write with the children, and meld work in writing fiction with the reading program. The book includes a series of "actions"--experiments for personal growth and discovery in the classroom. Chapters in the book are:…

A field-tested "worktext," this book applies current theory to classroom practice by providing, in each chapter, a brief explanation of major concepts followed by guided practical experience in administering, scoring, and interpreting reading assessment techniques. The book emphasizes the use of assessment and diagnosis for instructional…