Offers four brief stories about teachers and teaching in Africa and the Caribbean. Points out that being interested in reading around the world and, in particular, in Third World countries has helped the author and many other people. (SR)

Describes a procedure used with second graders which teaches analogies and analogic thinking to aid in reading instruction tied to a thematic unit. (SR)

Discusses influential teachers--special teachers that students recall in a vivid and positive way and who have had a major influence on students' academic or personal lives. Explores characteristics of influential teachers; meaning construction, meaning negotiation, and reader motivation strategies used by influential teachers; and instructional…

Presents a commentary, based upon a speech given at the 1994 Annual International Reading Association Convention in Toronto to potential writers for the journal "The Reading Teacher." Explores why it is important for teachers to write. (SR)

Describes the development and uses of an instrument for measuring how children feel about themselves as readers, that is, their sense of self-efficacy as readers. Appends the scale, directions for administration and scoring, a scoring sheet, and a description of validation measures. (SR)

Describes "Word Building," a system for teaching phonics based on students' natural tendency to seek out pronounceable word parts. Describes how one spelling pattern might be taught in a typical lesson. (SR)

Provides a rationale for using trickster tales in the classroom. Introduces representative trickster tales from many cultures, and samples activities that teachers can use to introduce trickster tales to their students. (SR)

Offers brief annotations of 45 children's books inspired by children's curiosity. Presents the books in six categories: question and answer books, whodunit mysteries, mysteries of history, mysteries of nature, myths and legends, and mysteries of life. (SR)

Describes how participants (student authors ages 8 to 14) in the Westridge Young Writers Workshop (in a suburb of Denver, CO) came to deeper cultural awareness and respect through the exploration of the experiences of one ethnic group--Japanese Americans. (SR)

Describes teacher inquiry in the University of Georgia's National Reading Research Center's School Research Consortium (SRC). Discusses reasons to formalize the teaching and reflecting process by conducting research, how SRC members are becoming researchers, and what impact SRC research is having. (SR)

Argues that the unique interrelationship of art, reading, and writing offers teachers a variety of opportunities to nurture students' artistic imagination. Describes several strategies that can be used to explore images through writing and to explore images through reading. (SR)

Presents an annotated bibliography of 44 children's books that draw attention to language sounds and so may be useful in facilitating the acquisition of phonemic awareness. Discusses criteria for selection and how to use the books in class. (SR)

Describes a home-based family literacy intervention with a mother and her four children. Highlights the importance of motivation and family involvement in developing literacy skills.(SR)

Describes how one school-based program (Parents as Partners in Reading) continued to influence the ways in which a group of low-income mothers assisted other low-income mothers and fathers in sharing books with their children after the program developer was no longer actively involved in monitoring the book-reading program. (SR)

Presents the strategies and guidelines upon which effective school outreach programs can be built and offers a look into one elementary school's efforts to involve parents in an innercity district. (SR)