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The article discusses the application of literature study groups in the middle school in the U.S. According to the author, if literature study is done well it can foster generative learning which has impetus and could propel the learner to new experiences and new explorations. The authors argue that literature study in the middle grades should be based on books that matter to students.

Abstract: The present study investigated how undergraduates judged the trustworthiness of different information sources that they read about climate change. Results showed that participants (N =128) judged information from textbook and official documents to be more trustworthy than information from newspapers and a commercial agent. Moreover, participants put most emphasis on content and least emphasis on date of publication when judging document trustworthiness. When judging the trustworthiness of the textbook, they emphasized criteria differently than when evaluating other types of documents. Results also indicated that readers low in topic knowledge were more likely to trust less trustworthy sources and failed to differentiate between relevant and irrelevant criteria when judging the trustworthiness of sources. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Although there has been a sizable growth spurt in empirical studies of shared leadership over the past decade, the bulk of this research has been descriptive. Relatively few published studies have investigated the impact of shared leadership on school improvement, and even fewer have studied effects on student learning. This longitudinal study examines the effects of collaborative leadership on school improvement and student reading achievement in 192 elementary schools in one state in the USA over a 4-year period. Using latent change analysis, the research found significant direct effects of collaborative leadership on change in the schools’ academic capacity and indirect effects on rates of growth in student reading achievement. In addition, the study identified three different growth trajectories among schools, each characterized by variations in associated school improvement processes. The study supports a perspective on leadership for learning that aims at building the academic capacity of schools as a means of improving student learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article offers the author's insights regarding the teaching of young adult literature to students using the novels "The Gospel According to Larry," by Janet Tashjian, "Stargirl," by Jerry Spinelli, and "Fahrenheit 451," by Ray Bradbury. The author mentions the classrooms activities that he performs before and after discussing the novels. He also states that the novels build a connection with the teen readers and provides the students the opportunity to learn something.

The article offers the author's insights on her research related to reading attitudes of male students. The author says that the research was conducted during independent reading of the students, in which reading surveys, questionnaires and observations have been collected. It says that the findings show that the survey helped her in knowing the likes and dislikes of the students. She also says that reading attitudes of the students is all about the relationship of the teacher with the students.

The article offers author's views on the importance of reading interest in the life of students and adults, and its effect on reading attitude, reading behavior and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. She refers to research studies where physical characteristics, book choice, and gender play an important role in determining the reading interests of students in varying school grade levels. She notes that the majority of students from elementary through college grade levels enjoy reading books, comics, magazines, and listening to stories. She also mentions about studies that examine the different reading interests of school students, college students, and mature adults which vary from biographies, romance, and adventure.

The article offers author's views related to the significance of motivation for reading. She states that motivation to read is defined as the likelihood of engaging in reading or choosing to read. She believes that students must be motivated to read with an aim to attain their full literacy potential and proper knowledge of phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. She also mentions the significant role of teachers in enhancing the interaction capability of the child and motivating children towards reading. However she asserts the value of reading in students' life with respect to the authentic applications of life outside school, authentic literary tasks, and authentic learning activities in the context of communication and literacy.

This evidence-based educational innovation had as object innovation the comprehension lecture doing transversality in science, Spanish, and technological education subjets, in the eighth and ninth grade. The collaborative learning strategy was used because it was intended to facilitate understanding and to motivate the student. The objective of this implementation was that the student acquires the reading habit intrinsically motivated to use computer and Internet. Educational innovation was applied in four settings, varying it location, and the economic-cultural and social contexts, and thus have information to determine factors that influence learning. The problem was diagnosed and investigated in electronic and printed books, instruments were selected and implemented, and the results were validated by triangulating information. To measure the effectiveness of the project, it was used qualitative analysis techniques before, during and after application on lower comprehension lecture students, and it corroborated an improvement in the understanding and interest in the investigation of information. Finally, it was concluded that the strategy and resource used helped to improve comprehension lecture in students with low level, achieving the objetives and agreeing with theoretical concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Abstract: We estimate the validity of the national IQs presented by Lynn and Vanhanen (2002, 2006) by examining whether they are consistent with the educational attainment of school students in math, science and reading comprehension in 108 countries and provinces. The educational attainment scores in a number of studies are integrated to give EAs (educational attainments) for 86 countries and provinces that have measured IQs. The correlation of EA with measured IQ (N =86 countries) is .917, and with measured+estimated IQ (N =108 countries) is .907. Corrected for attenuation, r =1.0. The quality of the data is evaluated, and the discrepancy between IQ and EA was greater for countries with low data quality, especially low quality of the EA data. There are no major anomalies in the relationship between IQ and EA in individual world regions. To some extent IQ and EA predict each other even within world regions. These results show that national IQs have a high degree of validity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this article, we explore the association between students’ value of reading and their behavior during a sustained silent reading (SSR) period, and their attitudes toward SSR and reading leisure books. 362 secondary students participated in this study and data were collected by means of a questionnaire. The results showed that more students in the high value of reading (HVR) group behaved better during SSR periods and had a more positive attitude toward SSR and leisure book reading than those in the lower value of reading (LVR) group. The value of reading was also found to be associated with the frequency of interaction with parents in reading activities, and we thus suggest that parents should be involved in the SSR program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the Researching Science in Science Fiction project designed by the author to promote literacy and writing in the field science. The project starts with a reading list from which students choose a book within two weeks and then write a critique and select a research topic based on scientific ideas in the book within the succeeding three weeks. Students are then given two weeks to prepare a draft and one week to finalize the research paper. Reading time is during class hours and consultations happen all throughout.

The article speculates on the factors that affect study skills of students. It elaborates the difference between study skills and study behaviors with due respect to the definition given by educational experts. It mentions several references from 1900-1969 that imply the significance of study skills in education and reading. Overall, it emphasizes that motivation and classroom programs and activities serve as aid in improving study skills of students.

The article focuses on the significance of book clubs for students in middle school. It highlights the establishment of book clubs at Brame Middle School library in Alexandria, Louisiana. According to the author, book clubs will help draw students into the library and motivate them to read, helping them attain good academic performance. Also included are the author's learnings on the importance of supporting students of free reading.

The article focuses on the role of libraries in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) policy which helps students for their admission to Polytechnic and the College of Education. It explores the benefits that students can attain from services and facilities provided by libraries for better academic performance and splendid examination results. Also included are tips for students preparing for UTME and other similar examinations.

Transformational learning requires real experiences and reflection. These basic components can empower pre-service teachers involved in learning new technologies. For the sixly-six participants of this study, learning how to use HyperStudio®, a multimedia authoring software, was the event which led to frustration, tension, challenge and for many a transformation and shift of their preconceived ideas about teaching and technology. These teachers specializing in early childhood and bilingual education created an electronic Big Book that merged their learnings on multimedia authoring and predictable text patterns used in early literacy. While the students engaged in the project, the instructor provided a tutorial to aid their learning, and they were subsequently involved in an online discussion where they discussed their comfort levels before and after the tutorial was completed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of multicultural literature in the development of school children's cross-cultural understanding. It offers tips on how to select and evaluate multicultural literature for use in the classroom. It mentions that introducing multicultural literature in the early childhood study program advances children's understanding and bonding with others. Through books and collective reading sessions, they will learn to accept and value other's similarity and differences.

The article discusses the use of rimes in developing the reading skill of children. Students who practically use rimes and other skills and strategies tend to gain more improvement in reading comprehension. High-frequency rimes help students develop their word recognition and word study. Teachers can use several instructional activities that highlight rimes in their meaningful context, such language games, rhythmic poems, rhythm walks and others.

This article describes multimodal classroom texts and the theories and practice that make multimodal education useful and affordable in schools. The article explains the process of exploring multimodal aspects of texts and the sociocognitive aspects of literacy learning. The article also describes a research project with elementary school teachers to develop and teach literacy curricula with children's picture books with visual and interactive textual elements. Also described are examples of how multimodal and sociocognitive aspects of texts introduce new roles for both readers and teachers.

Graphic novel collection and use has become a popular topic in the library community; most of the literature has focused on collecting in school and public libraries. The number of academic libraries that carry graphic novels has increased, but those collections and the few articles addressing graphic novels in academic librarianship have focused on serving the recreational reader or the pop culture historian. Meanwhile, the education community has begun to embrace graphic novels as a way to reach reluctant readers; engage visual learners; and improve comprehension and interpretation of themes, literary devices, and social issues, among other topics. As graphic novels are increasingly used in the classroom, students majoring in elementary and secondary education should have access to these materials as they prepare for their future careers. Making graphic novels a specific part of the curriculum and instruction collection supports the academic library's mission to meet the research and training needs of the faculty, staff, and students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout this project, we show partial results related to the fields of reading and writing in Salta, within the No 180 Investigation Project about the "Intersection between inequality and Secondary school: an analysis of the dynamics of production and reproduction of scholastic and social inequality" conducted by Dr. Inés Dussel (FLACSO). We have analysed the teachers' discourse from six different institutions about the reading and writing practice in class, beginning from a comparative analysis of thorough interviews, later contrasted with categories such as the teachers' training and career, together with the processes of institutional identification. Our hypothesis is that social inequality is built up within the relationship between institutions, the teachers' representations about the adolescents, and their reading and writing practice in class. We therefore reach the conclusion that the teachers' social and professional careers as well as their relationship with the institution's foundation contract and the school institutional culture gain an explanatory characteristic with respect to the way in which the stratification of society and also the reading and writing practice in class is woven together, resulting as a consequence in the production and reproduction of inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the reading culture of students in the tertiary institutions in Nigeria. It states that poor reading habit among Nigerian students is getting out of control and that reading culture has been missing in the country's educational development but there is a big chance to rescue it. It cites various recommendations to improve the reading culture of students in the tertiary level such as giving students reading assignments and the government's provision of subsidized books.

Curriculum is the main course of action that can ensure the supply of effective and efficient human resource for the development of a nation and a progressive society. Textbooks are the visible, tangible and practical manifestation of the curriculum. These are designed to teach students what the educators believe must be taught. Textbook development and evaluation has always been the subject of debate in Pakistan, due to a variety of reasons. One of the major reasons in this regard is non-availability of explicit criteria for textbook evaluation. The study was designed to identifying indicators of quality textbooks and developing criteria for review, evaluation and approval of quality textbooks in Pakistan. Considering textbook as a product, Garvin's (1988) framework for quality products was used as basis for identification of the indicators and Delphi technique was employed to reach to consensus on them. Based on final indicators, a textbook evaluation criterion was developed. To make the criterion explicit, rubrics for each compliance indicator was developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the research application of reading-writing connection, writing as a social act, and assessment theory into the pedagogy practice of teachers on secondary students. It states that these practices help students to become better readers and writers, provides opportunity to discuss the writing process of their composition, and assess them for improvement. Moreover, research application to practice will enhance the learning experience of the students.

The article discusses bibliotherapy and its use for selecting children's literature geared toward children of incarcerated parents. The cultural disconnect these children may experience in the classroom is discussed alongside the book "Visiting Day" by Jacqueline Woodson and the way it supports cultural reality. The author states that through bibliotherapy children can express controversial feelings by reading multicultural books.

The article discusses the significance of intimate reading settings in early childhood education. It notes the ideal practices of reading based on the researcher's description which facilitate young children's literacy skills by consistently determining the act of reading and engagement on the process. It explores the benefits of adopting a typical bedtime story scenario in early childhood education which indicates a close, caring and platonic relationship between a child and an adult reader. Furthermore, educators states that intimate reading experiences will affect the children's literacy development and reading readiness skills and will also promote their enthusiasm and excitement about books.

Reading predictability strategy in early school years: research results and application in education. The article is supported in the current context of the difficulties of developing reading competence, is located in the intersection between research and teaching, and is guided by the psycholinguistic studies on reading prediction. This article is based on successive studies conducted by the author - study of linguisticpedagogic context, production of virtual and non-virtual teaching materials, usage of the materials on children in early school years, investigation of the relationships of the group with the produced materials concerning reading comprehension and reading prediction procedures. Having as objective to provide to teachers and researchers the knowledge that has been built with the view of teaching reading in early school years, the text offers information about these researches, psycholinguistic elements and pedagogical directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This meta-analysis examines to what extent interactive storybook reading stimulates two pillars of learning to read: vocabulary and print knowledge. The authors quantitatively reviewed 31 (quasi) experiments (n = 2,049 children) in which educators were trained to encourage children to be actively involved before, during, and after joint book reading. A moderate effect size was found for oral language skills, implying that both quality of book reading in classrooms and frequency are important. Although teaching print-related skills is not part of interactive reading programs, 7% of the variance in kindergarten children's alphabetic knowledge could be attributed to the intervention. The study also shows that findings with experimenters were simply not replicable in a natural classroom setting. Further research is needed to disentangle the processes that explain the effects of interactive reading on children's print knowledge and the strategies that may help transfer intervention effects from researchers to children's own teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses barriers that exist in academic libraries promoting extracurricular reading. Specific topics that are discussed in the article include the concept of extracurricular reading, the difficulties that exist in colleges offering extracurricular reading services and steps that college libraries can take in offering extracurricular reading services. The author's opinions regarding the reasons why colleges should be concerned about their students' involvement in extracurricular reading are mentioned, including the relationship that exists between students' extracurricular reading activities and their ability to find employment following graduation.

The article discusses the use of patterned books in reading instruction for students with learning disabilities (LD). The authors comment on how authors and readers create meaning through the use of text and prior knowledge. They describe how patterned books, which feature repeated language and grammatical patterns, aid reading comprehension in English language learners (ELLs) and students with disabilities by forming cues in readers' long-term memory and schemata. Patterned books can utilize patterns such as rhyming, repetition, alphabetic progression and counting.

The author shares his observations about children's reading achievement in Eastern Kentucky . He mentions that the National Assessment of Educational Progress found that Kentucky students, who are identified as poor, scored higher than students in other states in terms of reading performance. The author notes several factors that may contribute to such achievement, such as children's exposure to language, the quality of teachers, and the role of churches in promoting literacy. The author mentions the impact of poverty on the region.

The article presents a study investigating how reading habits and reading engagement of adolescent students in urban schools affect their identity development and interpersonal relationships with peers. The author notes research that suggests independent reading improves academic achievement. Interviews with students from an urban school were conducted that focused on their reading engagement and attitudes toward reading. The author notes how reading was characterized as a social activity by students and parents. He discusses theories of James Paul Gee regarding how discourse contributes to identity formation and suggests teaching strategies and classroom activities to aid students in learning about discursive practices.

The article discusses how young adult literature can be used to teach students about social responsibility. The author discusses how literature can offer purpose to reading assignments and prepare students to function in a democracy. He comments on student attitudes regarding reading and suggests instilling social responsibility into students should encompass intellectual curiosity as well as citizenship. The role of inquiry in social responsibility education is noted and elements of social responsibility such as empathy, social justice, multiculturalism and environmental literacy are discussed. The author describes a curriculum for presenting the book "Black and White," by Paul Volponi, to students.

In this article I synthesise and apply elements of political and reading theory to demonstrate how central themes in learners' lives (such as freedom, faith, autonomy, equality, rationality and rights) can be read and interpreted differently. I suggest that policy and pedagogy for citizenship and democratic education informed by research into reader response can shift the locus of control not simply from state to citizen but towards an understanding of the transaction between the two. To promote ethical participation I propose changes to the 'text' of the curriculum and the 'reading' stance of learners so that learners are liberated to bring legitimate moral and religious conviction to their readings of state-sponsored values. I conclude that young citizens are respected and freedom is protected when educational readings become more nuanced and move beyond the polarities of freedom and restraint, autonomy and heteronomy, public and private, aesthetic and efferent, faith and reason, secular and religious or even democratic and faith-based. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors discusses how student participation in book selections for school reading assignments can improve students' motivation to read and ensure engaged reading. They discuss how they designed a curriculum to benefit at-risk students by focusing on student attitudes and incorporating activities to encourage engagement and self-efficacy. A book club was created in which students read texts related to curriculum themes and discussed them in class. Independent reading by students was also encouraged. The authors note how students found coming-of-age novels accessible and how books for a unit focusing on racial profiling led students to request additional book assignments.

The article discusses a study regarding the inclusion of African American literature into school curricula and school libraries as a way of benefitting African American students. The author comments on increases in the publication of African American children's literature and notes criteria for evaluating African American literature as authentic and relevant to students. Students were asked to evaluate African American children's literature in discussion journals and ballots. Students also participated in debates discussing the books they read and a survey was administered to teachers regarding books used in class. The study indicated that emotional attachment to a book's characters was a key factor in book selection for students and that realistic fiction was the most popular genre.

Concern abounds that textbook reading is declining among college students. We surveyed introductory psychology students regarding textbook usage. Students were compared on gender, student type (traditional vs. non-traditional), and textbook reading habits. Students who reported reading none to 25% of assigned text tended to use skimming as their reading method; on the other hand, students who read 75% to all used a multifaceted reading approach. The most significant gender comparisons found non-traditional female students were more likely to read 75% to all of the assigned reading, whereas traditional female students were more likely to read none to 25% of the readings. We recommend instructors link textbook reading with assignments such that higher order reading is required, as well as find ways for non-traditional students to mentor traditional students concerning the importance of reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers tips for teachers that would help them make all readers believe in their own ability to be successful. It stresses the idea of self-efficacy or people's judgments of their capabilities to organize and execute action required to attain excellence. It also discusses ways of developing short- and long-term goals and providing explicit strategy instruction inside the classroom with students who lack self-confidence. When it comes to feedback, the article stresses using the sandwich approach, which first, identifies a strength and then an area to improve.

Abstract: The practice of summary writing from source texts has long been a core activity in academic writing programs. When described as précis writing, textbooks focusing on teaching this skill date back to the second half of the nineteenth century. In current guidelines, students are typically asked to demonstrate an understanding of the key meanings encoded in source texts by recording those meanings in note form and then reconstructing them in a significantly shorter summary, relying minimally on the original wording. However, what is presented as a relatively straightforward process is made considerably more complex when we consider that any change in wording necessarily impacts on meaning in some way. In this paper, I explore how meaning is implicated in one process of re-instantiation from original text to notes to summary text, and to consider at a theoretical level what is involved in these changes. The findings suggest ways to scaffold the task more effectively for students and novice writers in academic English. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses rereadings and how it can improve literacy and the understanding of literature. Rereading is the act of rereading texts and having the reader review their own life and reading experiences. The article cites the book "Rereadings," a collection of essays edited by Anne Fadiman. The author presents several situations in which his high school students gave him trouble when they were given reading assignments. The author also discusses an assignment he gave in which students had to write about a book right after reading it, without going back and looking in the book.

The article discusses the results of a survey of children's reading in England. The survey, which was conducted by the National Centre for Research in Children's Literature at Roehampton University in 2005, examined issues and institutions including borrowing books from libraries, choosing books to read, reading recommendations, book reviews, school libraries, and classroom book repositories. The author details the potential impact of the survey results on the ways in which schools encourage children to read.

The article discusses Young Adults' Choices, a project to create a list of young adult literature as a way of encouraging reading among young people. The list was created from ballots in which students voted on the quality of books sent to schools by publishers. Books selected for the list included "15 Minutes," by Steve Young, in which a student uses time travel to gain popularity, "Being Bindy," by Alyssa Brugman, which presents a coming-of-age story focusing on a teenage girl's problems and "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," by John Boyne, which tells the story of a friendship during the Jewish Holocaust.

The article looks at how one teacher of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, helped her students improve in reading through a project called Buddy Reading. After meeting with grade nine students and seeing how eager they were to start the project, she planned a two-day workshop to train them on how be good buddy readers. Both grade nine and grade six pupils were given two 45-minute periods each week to work on their buddy reading. At the end of the semester, all except two partners had given her their reading logs and their evaluation sheets and declared that they had completed their tasks.

The article presents the importance of the fiction-fact models provided by the mentor text. The author relates how the mentor texts were applied to guide the students in their inquiry project. The inquiry project is writing a book about the river system and incorporates four curriculum components including science, reading, writing and art. It highlights the fictionalized story which was told in picture book format and supplemental information which the author referred as fiction-fat books. A list of the fiction fact books employed to guide the student are presented including "Bug Safari" and "Verdi". It cites how the mentor texts which show the characteristic and styles employed by the author has encouraged the student to create the structure and layout of their project.

This article describes two studies. The first study was designed to investigate the ways in which the statutory assessments of reading for 11-year-old children in England assess inferential abilities. The second study was designed to investigate the levels of performance achieved in these tests in 2001 and 2002 by 11-year-old children attending state-funded local authority schools in one London borough. In the first study, content and questions used in the reading papers for the Standard Assessment Tasks (SATs) in the years 2001 and 2002 were analysed to see what types of inference were being assessed. This analysis suggested that the complexity involved in inference making and the variety of inference types that are made during the reading process are not adequately sampled in the SATs. Similar inadequacies are evident in the ways in which the programmes of study for literacy recommended by central government deal with inference. In the second study, scripts of completed SATs Reading papers for 2001 and 2002 were analysed to investigate the levels of inferential ability evident in scripts of children achieving different SATs levels. The analysis in this article suggests that children who only just achieve the 'target' Level 4 do so with minimal use of inference skills. They are particularly weak in making inferences that require the application of background knowledge. Thus, many children who achieve the reading level (Level 4) expected of 11-year-olds are entering secondary education with insecure inference-making skills that have not been recognised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents several classroom activities involving books that have won the American Library Association's (ALA) Caldecott Medal. Lessons related to the interpretation of children's book illustrations, to illustration tools and techniques, and to illustrators themselves are suggested. Some of the books referenced include "Casey at the Bat," by Christopher Bing, "The Invention of Hugo Cabaret," by Brian Selznick, and "Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest," by Gerald McDermott.

The article focuses on the social and emotional aspect of the novel "Refugee Boy," by Benjamin Zephaniah and its impact on the school students. It discusses the scope of the novel in classroom discussion and interaction. It describes the students effect on the refugee experience presented. It suggests that the contemporary novel revealing socio-political conditions appeal the students because of the realism involved.

The article discusses the role of book reading in developing writing traits in middle school students in the U.S. It describes three books that can aid in developing these traits which include outlining of ideas, voice, organization, sentence fluency and others. It states that examining the writing traits utilized by an author in a story will help students' understanding and make teachers use the teaching time more efficiently.

The article discusses a monthly book project intended to provide touchstones for student writing activities. The author discusses how educational standards have hindered creativity in curriculum development. She discusses her participation in selecting books for the project, which were chosen in cooperation with teachers and parents. Each book was intended to assist in the development of lesson plans. Books chosen for the program included "Imagine a Night," by Robert Gonsalves and "Diary of a Wombat," by Jackie French. The author notes how the program was adapted for English as a Second Language (ESL) and music classes. INSET: Sample Touchstone Texts.

The article provides a summary of academic articles that may be of interest to faculty teaching undergraduate classes in economics. Some the articles recommended include "The World's Most Deprived Characteristics and Causes of Extreme Poverty and Hunger," by a team of authors including Akhter U. Ahmed, Ruth Vargas Hill, Lisa C. Smith, Doris M. Wiesmann, and Tim Frankenberger published in a report for the International Food Policy Research Institute, "The 4 Boneheaded Biases of Stupid Voters (And we're all stupid voters)," by Bryan Caplan, in the October 2007 "Reason," and an interview with Lawrence H. Summers which appeared in the Fall 2007 issue of "International Economy."