The Reading Teacher articles from December 2002

The Reading Teacher archives from December 2002

What motivates students to read? Four literacy personalities: a teacher uses qualitative research to discover her students' intrinsic motivation to read.
December 1, 2002... Amy (all student names are pseudonyms) was a cheerful, motivated reader in my second-grade class. She had a strong self-efficacy--she believed she would succeed--and an excellent attitude toward reading and school. Amy valued books and read...

Motivating teachers to read. (Teaching Ideas).
December 1, 2002... Maria (pseudonym), a reading specialist beginning a new job, recounted her surprise at the first professional development meeting of the school year. As an ice breaker before beginning a session on reading instruction, Maria asked her fellow...

Author to author: extending literacy through letters. (Teaching ideas).
December 1, 2002... One morning my student Anna (all students' names are pseudonyms) burst into the classroom waving an envelope. A few weeks before, many of my fourth graders had written letters to authors as part of writing workshop. Anna was the first to...

Who's who? Engaging biography study. (Teaching Ideas).
December 1, 2002... The current interest in biographies is evident when one considers the books, periodicals, movies, videos, and television shows available dealing with the lives of famous, and not-so-famous, people. Teachers can take advantage of the current...

Trends in teacher certification and literacy: "I just feel like I'm ready": exploring the influence of quality teacher preparation on beginning teachers.
December 1, 2002... Due to the focus in the United States on beginning reading and, more recently, on reading teacher preparation, the Board of Directors of the International Reading Association established The National Commission on Excellence in Elementary...

Using Book Club to engage culturally and linguistically diverse learners in reading, writing, and talking about books; classroom discussion led to improved comprehension for these students.
December 1, 2002... The following two conversations took place between two groups of four fourth- and fifth-grade students with diverse backgrounds about the books they were reading. All student names used in this article are pseudonyms. Conversation 1...

Writing instruction. (The Professional Library).
December 1, 2002... * To my mind, two books remain the best sources about elementary school writing instruction. They are Donald H. Graves's Writing: Teachers and Children at Work (1983) and Lucy McCormick Calkins's The Art of Teaching Writing (1986; 1994). Both...

To meet your students where they are, first you have to find them: working with culturally and linguistically diverse at-risk students: research has shown how attention to cultural mismatch may be a key to equitable school achievement. This article presents a series of case study vignettes to assist practicing teachers.
December 1, 2002... By 1992, I (Ken Pransky, first author) was growing less and less confident in my teaching abilities. Since 1987 I had seen a clear split within my case load. A small number of [English as a Second Language (ESL)] students thrived in our...

Sociodramatic play as opportunity for literacy development: the teacher's role: in this study in Israel, one teacher supported literacy through play in her kindergarten class with promising results.
December 1, 2002... Although children's play has been a focal point of inquiry since the 1920s, it is only in the last 15 years that its role in young children's literacy development has become a topic of interest and investigation (Saracho & Spodek, 1998). This...

Interview with the 2002 Newbery Medal winner, Linda Sue Park.(Interview)
December 1, 2002... I do believe that good children's writers share two characteristics with their readers: curiosity and enthusiasm. These qualities are what make books for young people such a joyful challenge to write and read--the ardent desire to learn more...

Interview with the 2002 Caldecott Medal winner, David Wiesner.(Interview)
December 1, 2002... The Three Pigs is the culmination of nearly a lifetime thinking about a particular visual concept... and it all started with Bugs Bunny. David Wiesner, 2002 Caldecott Medal speech at the American Library Association Convention, June...

Building a bridge.
December 1, 2002... The bridge is men and women, famous and unknown, leaving paths of memories timeless stepping stones. The river to tomorrow is as long as it is wide; the bridge will get me over see me to the other side...