Notes that PowerPoint is an especially useful program for teaching text structure to college reading students. Discusses how this may be accomplished, as well as directions for creating a presentation from the preexisting templates and backgrounds provided in the program. Directs how to print overheads and handouts of the presentation. (SG)

Describes professional development program to teach Utah elementary teachers how to deliver a tutor-oriented reading intervention program. (PKP)

Discusses various methods used to teach Braille, beginning with pre-Braille skills that must be developed before children reach school age. Also discusses various techniques used to teach Braille skills to students who have a severe vision loss or low vision and reviews different commercial programs designed to teach Braille reading to various…

Describes the use of an interactive calendar that incorporates reading and writing in its use. Discusses a typical lesson, managing the interactive calendar, changes throughout the year, extensions and variations of the interactive calendar, and benefits of using the interactive calendar. Urges every primary teacher to learn about interactive…

Discusses six dimensions for analyzing lists used in reading education reform documents (type of list, nominalization, exclusivity and inclusivity, transivity, reading content, and intertextuality), explaining that lists frame who a good reader/good reading teacher is, what they do, and how they behave in particular institutional contexts. This…

Discusses how at the National Council of Teachers of English conference, the Children's Literature Assembly sponsors a Master Class focusing on the teaching of children's literature. Presents an overview of the insights shared by each of the three presenters during the Master Class in the year 2000, which focused on illustration in children's…

Suggests that the use of a personalized and rhyming approach makes reading more enjoyable and inviting to children because: (1) the sounds are appealing to the ear; and (2) the combination of personalization and rhyming keeps a child focused and maximizes repetitive readings. Concludes that personalization and rhyming are natural associations that…

Suggests a possibility of resolving the problem of reading motivation for some students. Considers that children and adults like to read about familiar places such as their home state with people and settings that they know about written by authors who live or have lived in that state. Includes a list of 50 books (arranged by state) for the upper…

Identifies several impediments to achieving reading literacy for many in-city high school students in California, including lack of interest and motivation, inappropriate resources and absence of support, and insufficient reading experiences and background knowledge. Recommends ways to remove these barriers through the use of strategic reading and…

Asserts that student misbehavior is linked to poor reading and writing skills. Suggests ways to improve reading and writing literacy based on experience with a literacy program in the Orange County (FL) Public Schools. Three-year study of the program found significant improvement in reading comprehension, student self-esteem, and classroom…

Excerpt from a new book by the Educational Research Service titled "What We Know About Helping Middle and High School Readers: Teaching and Learning Strategies Across the Curriculum." Discusses appropriate professional development for teachers. (Contains 15 references.) (PKP)

This article reviews research conducted at the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement that investigated the effects of home, community, school, and teacher factors on students' reading achievement. First, we review studies that highlight the importance of positive school-home partnerships and open communication between schools and…

One of the most rapidly developing areas of educational innovation involves the texts available to young readers and their teachers, leading to a host of new issues regarding the characteristics and roles of text that support young children's learning. This article describes research conducted by investigators at the Center for the Improvement of…

Today, the word "assessment" is apt to conjure up unpleasant thoughts of the often acrimonious controversy involving high-stakes testing. As important as that debate may be, the authors of this article argue that there is an issue of far greater consequence facing reading educators. To what extent is the instruction they provide informed by the…

Thomas Kuhn's ideas of paradigm are discussed and their role in the development of science and their application to the issue of disagreements in the field of reading is examined. Disagreements in the field of reading occur and new theories keep on developing, but they should not be abandoned.