One of the best gifts one can give to children is a lifelong love of reading, and that begins by reading out loud to them every day. It is the single most important thing one can do to help build literacy skills. This article presents some guidelines to help make reading time in the classroom a richer experience.

There has been an explosion of knowledge over the last few years about how children's earliest experiences set the stage for success in learning to read and write. Most experts agree that children who reach kindergarten with certain characteristics--an interest in books, a fondness for conversation, a curiosity about the world--are more likely to…

This study examines children's uses of reading resources in neighborhood public libraries that have been transformed to "level the playing field." Through foundation funding (US$20 million), the public library system of Philadelphia converted neighborhood branch libraries into a technologized modern urban library system, hoping to…

Examines television's impact on reading and school achievement in terms of the displacement hypothesis (watching television displaces developmental reading activities). Indicates small differences in reading scores for children watching two to four hours a day, but beyond four hours effects are negative and increasingly deleterious. (SR)

Identifies and measures process variables in the home environments of 84 fifth-grade students that might directly relate to their leisure reading behavior. Finds a direct linkage between socioeconomic status, home characteristics, and learning environment and children's reading habits. (DR)

Reviews the censorship debate in light of three underlying assumptions: (1) reading influences the opinions and beliefs of the reader; (2) the effect of a book, article, or passage is universal, implying there is one correct meaning for a particular work; and (3) the effects of reading are context independent. (SRT)

Elaborates on problems in the book industry. Describes current trends in publishing and future possibilities for the book industry. (EL)

Research indicates that factors other than media patterns--including such variables as home environment, role models, and personality characteristics--appear to influence reading behavior. New, sophisticated theoretical models are needed, however, to examine the relationship between television and reading. (Author/GC)

Discusses the potential uses of two major technological advances and their possible impact on print media. (AEA)

To determine how television viewing affected the quality of recreational reading, logs were completed on the amount of time fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students spent on reading and on watching television. Results indicated that students who watched a lot of television and who did little reading tended to choose books of lower quality.…

Explores whether the skills management systems, based on the mastery learning theory, can be used to foster creative reading--the highest level of skill development. (FL)

Discusses the effectiveness of two techniques of teaching vowel knowledge--the vowel-in-isolation approach and the phonogram approach. (FL)

Third through ninth-grade students were asked to write an essay on the subject, "Why I like to read," to determine children's language in describing their purposes for reading, to gain some impressions of what functions and purposes might emerge, and to analyze whether particular functions appear at various developmental levels. (HOD)

Though listening and attention span improvement are not related to amount of television viewing, preschool children who watch news and documentary programs show less improvement in listening behavior than children who watch other types of programs. (Author/CJ)

Reports that first grade children could be taught auditory perceptual skills, but that this training did not have a significant effect on their reading achievement. (Author/FL)