The purpose of this article is to discuss the importance of student self-selecting literature and reading engagement in an elementary reading curriculum. The article discuses the use of self-selected reading in the context of child development, book difficulty, independent reading time accountability, and a supportive environment. The successful…

This Manual provides the foundation for a reading and spelling course which avoids use of the phonic method. Instead of teaching the word as a whole and afterward subjecting it to phonic analysis, this Synthetic Method takes the sounds of the letters for the starting point, and with these sounds lay a foundation firm and broad, upon which is built…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 27 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the effect of a crowded or spaced appearance of narrative material on the reading comprehension of above-average and below-average fourth grade students; (2)…

A study tested the instructional hypothesis that variation in instructional methods in the initial stages of formal reading development will differentially develop subsystems for attaining comprehension. The 91 kindergarten and first grade students in the study received their usual reading instruction plus supplementary instruction in one of four…

A 4-year project, Conceptions of Reading, was established to provide information about how teachers use reading theories and models and other conceptions as they plan and carry out reading instruction. The nature of the methodology dictated that the over-all goal of the project be to characterize how teachers think about reading and their reading…

Recent discoveries about the whole brain seem to call for a holistic approach to learning, one in which educators would teach the whole person, including physical and emotional states as well as cognitive abilities. Three holistic techniques are particularly relevant to education: (1) biofeedback; (2) yoga; and (3) the Lozanov method. Biofeedback…

A summary of the reading and literature studies undertaken by an international voluntary association of educational researchers from various countries is in this paper. The studies' major findings are listed, and certain student attributes--such as sex, socioeconomic status, reading and viewing habits, and parental involvement--are discussed as…

The New York City Board of Education's Title I program, "Learning to Read through the Arts," teaches skills in reading through involvement in the arts, builds self-confidence, improves self-image, and adds to the experiences of the participating children. If children are able to read material and apply the information thus acquired to…

The single most important thing that a teacher can do for a student is to identify and label specifically what the child does right rather than what he or she does wrong. In an elementary school where students wrote every day and teachers marked every error, students began to write less, using simpler words and eliminating all meaningful writing.…

Three techniques for teaching effective reading--using students' textbooks, reading modules, and individual instructional packets--have proven successful in reducing reading time while improving comprehension skills for students in a reading and study skills course at a Texas university. Students assigned to the course use their content area…

One of five papers discussing the humanistic model used in the training of reading teachers at City College of New York, this paper deals with procedures used to sensitize students to their own behavior as they work with urban children. The procedures described involve role play and simulations that allow potential teachers to identify their…

Supporters of the "back to basics" movement have suggested that educators are spending more time on "nonessential" subjects and less time on the basic subjects of reading, writing, and mathematics. To test the validity of this belief, a study was conducted to determine the actual amount of time teachers were giving to each of…

The abstracts published in this volume are of research projects conducted between 1975 and 1980 by graduate students fulfilling requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Education at Dayton University (Ohio). Over half of these projects were conducted in elementary schools and, of these, the majority deal with reading instruction. Other…

This monograph is one in a series of semiannual reports that focus on research related to reading in secondary schools. The four reports collected in this monograph examine the following topics: (1) attitudes of preservice secondary school teachers toward reading in the content areas; (2) the effects of a content area reading institute upon…

Descriptions of language learning and reading behaviors are presented, in this paper, within the context of a model of cognitive processing that reflects a continuum for the logical procession of language skills in human maturation and learning. Portions of the paper differentiate silent and oral reading in terms of cognitive load, which is a…