This study examined the effects of students access to print through public library card ownership and class trips to the community library. Reading performance, attitudes toward reading, time spent reading at home, number of books at home, and family visits to the public library after school were compared between students who had library cards,…

This pilot descriptive study examined expressed perceptions of a diverse group of teachers who, in the 2002-2003 school year, piloted implementation of a new standards based supplemental program in reading/language arts, EduSTRANDS. Over 600 teachers in 153 schools using a supplemental, standards based reading/language arts program were surveyed…

College students, enrolled in basic skills courses, sometimes lack motivation to fully participate in class activities and related homework assignments. Factors that can account for poor motivation include perceived irrelevance of courses to their everyday lives, unrealistic perceptions of their learning skills, low self-confidence, personal…

Careful planning of lesson plans and units of study is important. Good planning does not mean success in teaching, but it certainly is salient to be well prepared each day for teaching pupils. It is unfortunate if teachers enter classrooms with little to show in the way of being prepared for teaching. Pupils do notice if a teacher is ill prepared…

Utilizing an effective literacy program as a case study, the social-constructivist approach to family literacy is discussed in this article. The role of literacy programs as mentor to the apprentice family and the consequent transformation of family to child-mentor is described. Through review of an effective faintly literacy program, it is…

Single-case experimental designs are becoming more popular and acceptable ways to conduct classroom-based research. Single-case designs can also be beneficial when conducting literacy research. There are a variety of single-case research designs that can accommodate a range of instructional strategies and research questions. This paper provides…

Since relevant research indicates that immersion in a literate environment is critical to academic success, the authors of this study designed a program, Project ROAR (Reach Out and Read), in cooperation with a predominately Hispanic elementary school. Project ROAR was planned to help interested parents of kindergarten children learn in-home…

Historically, many educators have felt that the number of children who read less effectively than they should is far too high. As long ago as the 1960's, authorities reported that about 18 to 25% of America's school-age children were suffering from some form of reading impairment. Recent NAEP results suggest unacceptably high failure rates (below…

This paper explores students' perceptions through survey about the definition, use and constructivist nature of multimedia use in literature classes at the collegial level. The culture of schools and students has changed. The possibility exists that students' brains are biologically different as a result of frequent and prolonged interaction with…

The purpose of this study was to compare the reading achievement growth of fifth grade students following a year of participation in the Accelerated Reader program with the reading achievement growth of fifth grade students who did not participate in the Accelerated Reader program. The Terra Nova standardized achievement test was used as the…

Considers that because literature can exert such a powerful hold on the imagination, certain works can be used to invite students to become more literate and to encourage students to take responsibility for their ongoing personal development. Notes that reading and other ways of learning are shown in fictional works of Louis L'Amour to be a rich…

Provides a review of current literature with emphasis on the issues of student empowerment, early intervention strategies, and cultural issues in education which may stimulate solutions for restructuring literacy education in response to the No Child Left Behind legislation of 2001. Notes that reading failure for speakers of nonstandard English…

Explores an innovative teaching methodology designed to improve students' reading abilities. Discusses how this strategy, know as "snap shot linkage," has proven to be effective in combating not only students' inabilities to read and learn, but the anxiety that often accompanies reading activities. (SG)

Notes that using the visual arts enables students to gain better eye-hand coordination, visual representation skills, communicate ideas, and deeper understanding of the process of discovery. Considers how each of these areas contributes to the development of thinking, creating, problem solving and expressing thoughts through symbols. (SG)

Considers how reading and writing experiences gained during the preschool period have enormous effect on children's first learning to read and write. Initiates a cross-cultural dimension to the subject matter from an empirical paradigm. Provides some evidence that emergent literacy is extensible to experiences regardless of linguistic forms. (SG)