Discusses briefly 6 professional books that discuss and illustrate skill instruction within a balanced approach to reading. Intends to help teachers think through and justify the professional decisions they make to support every student's development toward becoming a lifelong reader. (SR)

Describes a teacher-research study of the reading acquisition of a second-grade student. Observes the social and instructional context of Amy's reading and her use of visual and non-visual information. Discusses patterns in Amy's text choice over 4 phases, patterns in strategy use, and teacher roles. Discusses this reader's self-extending system…

Notes the many levels of complexity inherent in successful classrooms. Describes a set of common physical attributes and paraphernalia in the classroom settings observed. Examines discourse features that were a function of the learning contexts that teachers deliberately and consciously established, looking at specific language use, and at…

Offers brief annotations of 38 illustrated children's books that explore the concept of characterization and how it is achieved through both text and illustration. Organizes the books in terms of: memorable characters; characters who take risks; strong female characters; legendary characters; and characters with insight. Discusses briefly 3…

Argues that phonemic awareness instruction should be a thoughtful, conscious component of early literacy programs (without replacing other crucial areas of instruction). Discusses what phonemic awareness is and how it differs from auditory discrimination, phonetics, or phonics. Describes what phonemic awareness instruction looks like in the…

Argues that reading rate should not be ignored, but rather seen as evidence of excessively slow processing of text, and thus as a diagnostic indicator. Describes how excessively slow, disfluent reading leads to less overall reading, to reading frustration, and is associated with poor comprehension. Describes authentic and engaging instructional…

Describes the author's voluntary reading program in her second-grade classroom. Describes how her basic Drop Everything and Read program needed to be added to and tinkered with to keep students interested and motivated: paired reading and discussion, visual reading records, and praise and occasional rewards. (SR)

Describes an instructional framework "zooming in and zooming out" that helps teachers scaffold student learning of important vocabulary and concepts in social studies. Describes procedures for implementation, depicting a lesson used by a fifth-grade teacher to discuss readings about Harriet Tubman. (SR)

Explores how students take what they understand through reading and talking about literature and express their ideas in art, drama, music, or math. Argues that one way learners push their understandings and create more complex meanings is through such transmediation. Offers examples of responding to literature through multiple sign systems. (SR)

Offers a case study of a first-grader who had trouble learning and for whom drawing was the symbol system used to organize and store her thoughts. Describes how her resource teacher capitalized on this and used drawing to move her from the visual to the spoken and then to the written word. (SR)

Finds very encouraging results on the effectiveness of a preschool emergent literacy intervention in a "skid row" child-care facility in downtown Los Angeles. Shows that both preschool teachers and parents established regular habits of shared book reading and numerous ways for children to write and display their work. (SR)

Presents brief annotations of 100 children's and young adults' trade books (published in 1999) chosen by 10,000 school children across the United States as the books that they like best. Groups books by reading levels: for beginning, young, intermediate, and advanced readers. Offers tips for parents, primary caregivers, and educators. (SR)

Defines "intermediality" as the ability to critically read and write with and across varied symbol systems. Relates it to critical media literacy. Offers rationales for teaching critical media literacy in general, and intermedial instruction in particular. Identifies seven guiding intermedial elements: theory, texts, processes, contexts,…

Presents brief descriptions of 36 children's books (published in 1999 and 2000), organized around the theme of the various ways readers respond to text and illustration. Presents the books in the following categories: questioning "who am I?"; interaction; interpreting the world; gaining insight; assuming responsibility; and taking action and…

Provides a research-based description of the distinguishing qualities of excellent classroom reading teachers. Discusses what excellent reading teachers know about reading development, how they assess student progress, what kinds of reading materials they use in their classrooms, how they organize classrooms for instruction, and how they interact…