Encourages a movement back to providing more stories in the daily lives of children. Suggests that many classifications of story should exist within the curricula of schools and, therefore, in the hearts and minds of children, in the culture, and in the future. Presents the author's categories of stories: the gifts; teacher tales; and affirmation…

Examines and compares levels of phonological awareness in monolingual and bilingual English and Greek five-year-olds. Shows that the bilingual English-Greek children significantly outperformed the monolingual English children, but this pattern was not replicated in the bilingual Greek-English/monolingual Greek comparisons. Accords well with…

Discusses how students in a culturally diverse fourth grade class explored their own cultures and learned about other cultures, using quilts as a context. Notes that the students read books about quilts, conducted oral interviews of family members, wrote about their cultural traditions, and designed individual quilt squares. Concludes that the…

Presents reports from Africa, Australia, and Malaysia that reflect this journal's interest in informing its readers of current international literacy research that does not otherwise appear in featured articles. Hopes that these and subsequent reports will lead to broader understandings of global literacy issues and to future international…

Looks closely at students to discover if the conception of reading as decoding is sufficient for beginning readers. Discusses how one student did not seem to know how to enter into the imaginative world of texts or how to listen and respond to literature. Outlines how the notion of culture helps educators enable students to approach texts in…

Considers how words and image convey multiple meanings, lending themselves to postmodern readings, in the sense that they encourage readings that reject a single interpretation and instead hold in suspense the possibility of multiple readings co-existing. Explores how these texts allow the consumer/reader the opportunity to actively engage the…

Presents a panel discussion of five eminent educators (Ira Aaron, Jeanne Chall, Dolores Durkin, Kenneth Goodman, and Dorothy Strickland) on a variety of issues in literacy education, including the politics of literacy education and the challenges facing literacy educators in years to come. (MG)

Traditional notions of literacy have been transformed regarding usage, purpose, context, and symbolic meaning. The context of individual reading and writing efforts is always inherently social. To achieve full literacy for all students, students must use texts to empower action, thinking, and feeling in the context of purposeful social activity.…

Provides an A to Z listing of alphabet book activities that are appropriate for both beginning and developing readers. (MG)

Reviews the traditional concept of critical reading, and then reexamines critical reading by reviewing recent theory and research from three areas: schema theory, metacognition, and direct instruction. (MG)

Shares two methods for teaching themes (giving and jealousy are used as examples) to elementary students. (MG)

Explicit instruction in recognizing intrasentence phrases (subject, predicate, and object) was effective in increasing the reading comprehension of three fourth-grade students with reading difficulties. (DB)

Describes three patterns of literature-based reading instruction blending different aspects of instructional format and literature selection: teacher-selected literature in teacher-led groups; teacher-and student-selected literature in teacher- and student-led small groups; and student-selected literature read independently. Emphasizes combining…

Examines three teachers' interpretations and implementations of literature-based reading. Identifies common elements of successful literature-based reading programs, including individualized time, teacher-directed lessons, and group projects. (MM)

Examines the issue of problem solving and reasoning in relationship to reading. Claims that reading programs are effective vehicles for enhancing reasoning skills. Explores how reading programs can develop higher order thinking, and considers a way to present stories which uncovers the reasoning process through a problem-solution framework. (MM)