Examines the broadening scope of "literacy" as reflected in the ERIC database. Argues that the definition of literacy has expanded to include making meaning from a variety of sources and communicating it to a variety of audiences. (RS)

Discusses the enjoyment of sentences and offers numerous examples. Wonders how many books in the reading profession are written to appeal to people who do not really read in the first place, from preschoolers to teachers to post-doc researchers. (SR)

Describes a 7-step 10-second previewing technique designed to increase reading comprehension of textbooks. Notes that the technique is adaptable to students at all levels. (RS)

Maintains that, despite their guilt about books they "ought to" be reading, teachers can trust themselves to guide their own reading in worthwhile ways. Offers a personal example of how reading books leads to more books. (SR)

Muses over how many books bought are actually read. Reflects on factors involved in the decision not merely to buy books but to read them. Notes that some people maintain that most of what is actually read is pap. Wonders whether reading teachers should pay more attention to what people read, as well as how people read. (SR)

Attempts to determine whether the Raygor graph produces readability estimates compatible with estimates derived from the Fry graph, whether the Raygor graph is less time-consuming, and whether it lends itself to greater computational accuracy. (DD)

Discusses literacy in the author's own family and asks whether the term "family literacy" can really refer with any accuracy to any group of people or to any set of behaviors. Argues that literacy educators must resist abstractions and generalizations and focus upon the particularities that help shape the individual literacies of their…

Argues that the terms "active" and "passive" are commonly used (in conjunction with student behavior during reading) in a way that is misleading and unhelpful. (SR)

Presents a humorous treatment of trends in the literacy business: blaming somebody else and tackling complex problems as if they were easy. (SR)

Discusses comments about and responses to an article on semiotics by Donald J. Cunningham in the June 1992 issue of the "Educational Psychology Review." Discusses the semiotic method of juxtaposition, juxtaposing a menace being posed to reading teachers with the menace experienced in W. W. Jacobs' classic ghost story "The Monkey's Paw." (SR)

Reviews research, much of it conducted by the Center for the Study of Reading, on the role of schemata in the process of reading comprehension. (MKM)

Offers suggestions for (1) teaching college study skills, (2) using magazine and newspaper reports, and (3) outlining topics. (HOD)

Discusses recent books and articles on social class in the United States. Notes how U.S. citizens are lulled, first, into accepting the notion of classlessness and, then, into an Us-versus-Them stance that pits teachers against an ostensibly stupid and surly, albeit ill-defined, group of "others." (SR)

Muses on the Report of the National Commission on Testing and Public Policy, "From Gatekeeper to Gateway: Transforming Testing in America." (SR)