Reviews two reports by National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP): (1) Listening to Children Read Aloud: Data from NAEP's Integrated Reading Performance Record (IRPR) at Grade 4 (oral reading and factors associated with reading fluency); and (2) Windows into the Classroom: NAEP's 1992 Writing Portfolio Study (types of writing and quality…

Describes the varied teaching activities of a reading specialist. Discusses how her role is already what she would like it to be and what she would like to change. (SR)

Notes important distinctions between "hands-on" experiences and "first-hand" experiences. Argues that teachers need to consider the kinds of learning that books, hands-on experiences, and first-hand experiences provide for students, and the roles they play in the creation of curriculum. (SR)

Offers a rationale for making literature from diverse cultures an integral component of literacy instruction. Presents teachers with helpful resources they can use to learn about multicultural literature and how to weave it into the fabric of the curriculum. (RS)

Describes how reading for pleasure for 20 minutes of each class period in a beginning, intermediate-level reading course for adults in English as a Second Language resulted in language development in terms of reading, writing, and comprehension, as well as increased confidence. (SR)

Mediated and "live" picture books engender different patterns of interaction between reader and child. The reading of a TV picture book is a text, not an interaction centered on a text. Exposure to mediated picture books alone appears to be an inadequate replacement for "live" book reading in the acquisition of literacy. (18 references) (CP)

In a study of "topic-types" as a common academic text structure for second-language students, 80 texts used in humanities classes (history, geography, economics, business studies) at upper secondary levels were analyzed. Results support the existence of topic-types in the humanities and the use of the framework as a feasible pedagogical tool. (33…

Lists and describes a number of narrative biographies written for children and concerning the life and times of Abraham Lincoln. Points out strengths and weaknesses of the main selections. (HB)

Notes that the instability of the lexicon of reading instruction suggests the presence of insecurity, not its cause. Looks at selected topics (including Right to Read, Evelyn Wood, individually guided instruction) across time by asking: "What ever happened to...? What is happening to...? and What do I hope will happen to...?" (RS)

Discusses the phenomenon that the definitions recognized for the term "word" is frequently different for teachers and beginning readers. Reviews research exploring the phenomenon. Offers suggestions for classroom activities to resolve this state of cognitive confusion. (RS)

Urges drop-out intervention during the early years of schooling, because children who are most likely to drop out of school are poorer readers than their peers and have repeated one or more grades. Suggests reading teachers carefully select instructional strategies and build students' self-esteem. (RS)

Suggests that teachers can use reluctant readers' sensitivity to and sophistication with "musicomedy" to both assess and develop reading comprehension. Discusses several class activities using the musical and humorous expressions in television commercials for fulfilling this objective. (RS)

Considers ways of implementing collaborative learning techniques into the teaching of William Shakespeare in the high school English curriculum. Argues for allowing students to predict the action after viewing only one act of a play. Shows how group work enhanced students' thinking processes. (HB)

Describes the Reading Recovery program, how children are identified for the program, and program implementation. Discusses questions about, and criticisms of, the program. (RS)

This article describes the development of hypertext and hypermedia as educational software programs with potential for use in reading instruction. The ability of hypertext to challenge reading students with enhanced surface structures, enhanced syntactic and semantic structures, and enhanced deep meaning structures is explained, and several…