This report describes a program that uses annotations in the teacher's editions of existing reading programs to indicate the characteristics of black English that may interfere with the reading process of black children. The first part of the report provides a rationale for the annotation approach, explaining that the discrepancy between written…

The results of a survey of 225 primary school teachers indicate that a high proportion of children in the primary grades are in classrooms that use the basal reader approach. In addition, it is apparent that the vast majority are assigned to either a high, medium, or low group. Once this assignment is made, it becomes difficult for a child to be…

Describes a study of the relationship between creative dramatics and reading comprehension in which those students who had performed a dramatic presentation of a story answered more inferential questions correctly than did those who had not engaged in the reenactment. (HTH)

Results are presented from 339 respondents to a poll surveying teacher opinions of basal readers. Questions deal with strengths and weaknesses of basal readers, use of workbooks, school district requirements, and teacher's manuals. Results are presented.

Reports discrepancies between manual recommendations and teachers' use of recommendations. (FL)

Examined each book in 8 basal reading series (preprimers to sixth readers) to determine the variety of types of writing in these 1983 basals. Texts were examined for the number of selections representing narrative, poetry, plays, exposition, biography, hybrid writing types and for the number of pages devoted to each type of writing. (Author/NH)

Argues that teacher-made worksheets built on basal reader stories can help students' make connections with the stories and provide them with practice of important comprehension skills. Suggests ways to make such sheets. (FL)

Describes how teachers can incorporate the use of comprehension monitoring activities into the guided reading phase of basal reading instruction. (FL)

Analyzes two basals designed for use by remedial readers for their literature content and for their portrayal of reading attitudes. Concludes that both series make some attempt to portray attitudes toward reading and that both used informational selections more than other types of literature. (FL)

Examines workbooks designed to accompany primary grade basal readers to determine the incidence of new vocabulary words they contain. Found that, with one exception, the workbooks all contained at least 30 percent new words--words not introduced in previous levels or at the levels for which the workbooks were designed. (FL)

This paper discusses and recommends diagnosis and remediation procedures in teaching pupils in the area of reading. The first section of the paper addresses diagnostic emphasis in reading and discusses individualized reading, experience charts, and 5 recommendations for teaching phonics. The next section discusses basal readers, argues that good…

Too frequently textbooks used in class are criticized heavily by educators. In and of itself, a textbook is neither good nor bad. If the text has been carefully chosen, there may be reasons for criticizing its use. Textbooks should always be carefully evaluated when new basals are chosen so that the very best one(s) are selected for a class.…

Describes selected plans of teaching reading--individualized reading, basal reader, initial teaching alphabet, language experience and color coding--and suggests each plan's inherent philosophy. (MM)

Examines nine basal series to determine the number of stories featuring ethnic groups. Concludes that no one series offers more ethnic content than another. (FL)