Describes "Pass the Read," an instructional strategy for oral reading which encourages high levels of student participation, decision making, and active listening. (MM)

Discusses ways to use bar charts and line graphs to present comparative information in a flexible manner. Includes activities designed to review how the different characteristics of charts and graphs relate to different document structures. (RS)

Basal texts are unheard of in New Zealand. Instead, teachers choose resources suiting their students' needs and teaching methods appropriate to a given syllabus. Additionally, reading, talking, and writing are inseparably interrelated, literacy foundations are laid in the early years, reading for meaning is paramount, and diverse instructional…

Offers 12 activities based on Mother Goose which lend themselves to various content areas and are easily adaptable to any grade level. (MG)

Argues that graphs and charts are cases of document structures introduced in previous columns: combined lists, intersecting lists, and nested lists. Explores pie charts and various aspects of bar charts as they relate to other document structures presented in this series. (RS)

Annotates 112 children's books selected by children as the best of those published in 1989. (MM)

Discusses why strong parental involvement programs are difficult to implement. Suggests guidelines for beginning programs of parental involvement in reading curriculum. (MM)

Discusses several principles that can help reading teachers create fluency activities: repetition, modeling, direct instruction and feedback, support during reading, emphasis on reading in chunks or phrases, and use of easy materials. Notes that these principles are guidelines for developing reading instruction and activities that promote fluency.…

Explores the role of purpose in reading lessons by discussing some common problems with teacher-directed purpose, looking at how purpose works during reading, identifying purposes for reading and instructional strategies for each purpose, and developing a set of guidelines for thinking and making decisions about purpose and reading lessons. (MG)

Details an interview with E. Jennifer Monaghan, who discusses her study of the history of reading, explains its importance, and notes that both the role of reading textbooks in society and the history of literacy are current topics of interest. Discusses Monaghan's support for more teacher training in the history of reading. (SG)

This article describes a whole language support group that evolved from the efforts of two teachers to implement the whole language approach to reading. A list of whole language support groups for teachers and of networking newsletters is included. (IAH)

This article presents a rationale and technique for stimulating students' interest in literature. An example, featuring author Donald Crews, is provided. A list of authors of books suitable for primary and middle grades is included together with an author information resource guide. (IAH)

Presents an interview with Dr. Roach van Allen in which he describes how he became involved in education, who influenced him professionally, his proudest accomplishments (a theoretical model for a language experience program), what he sees as the current problems in reading education, and what he sees in the future. (RS)

Reasons for reading difficulties are explored, such as failure to understand the language of instruction and the conventions of print, lack of time, etc. The "hypothesis test technique" is recommended for training students to use context, sentence meaning, and single letter cues to recognize a word. (JDD)

Argues that strategic reading suggests purpose and intentionality on the part of the reader, which is different from a seemingly reflexive response where skills are concerned or where intuition reveals an answer. Argues that teachers can increase strategic thinking by providing demonstrations of strategies and offering incentives to readers. (RS)