Education Commons^™

Bullies In Recent Books For Children And Young Adults, Terrell A. Young, Barbara A. Ward

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Although some might consider bullying to be a 21st century problem, bullying seems to have been tolerated for decades, with adults often dismissing it through comments such as “Well, boys will be boys,” and “Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can never hurt you,” or even “Girls don’t fight each other. They wouldn’t want to mess up their clothing.” Early on, perennial middle and high school favorite author Judy Blume addressed the cruelty kids direct toward other kids in her book Blubber (1974) in which a fifth grader endures denigrating comments and nicknames after doing a report …

Looking Back To Move Forward With Guided Reading, Michael P. Ford, Michael F. Opitz

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Guided reading is used in classrooms across the country and, while it is fairly new, it is anything but revolutionary. In this article, and in honor of the 50th volume of Reading Horizons, the authors take a look back at the 50-year history of this practice, provide a definition of guided reading, analyze what caused the practice to change, and discuss their own perspectives and predict the future of guided reading.

What Matters: Preparing Teachers Of Reading, Sara R. Helfrich, Rita M. Bean

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

A descriptive study was employed to determine differences in knowledge of literacy instruction and perceived preparedness to teach literacy between two groups of teacher candidates enrolled in two different teacher preparation programs at one university. This study investigated which components — coursework, field experience, and collaboration — candidates perceived as best preparing them to teach literacy while enrolled in their program. Data collection instruments included the Survey of Perceptions and the Knowledge Inventory. Both groups of candidates, regardless of program and amount of time in the field, viewed both coursework and field experience as important. Few significant differences were found …

From The Editor, Allison L. Baer

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Introduction to the issue from editor Allison Baer.

Article Index

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Index to articles in volume 50.

Reading Horizons Vol. 50 No. 4

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Complete issue of Reading Horizons vol. 50 issue 4 with cover, table of contents, editorial advisory board and back matter including submission and subscription information.

Reading Graphically: Comics And Graphic Novels For Readers From Kindergarten Through High School, Barbara A. Ward, Terrell A. Young

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Books reviewed: Grades K-2: Hayes, Geoffrey. (2010). Benny and Penny in the Toy Breaker; Holm, Jennifer L., & Holm, Matthew. (2010). Babymouse #13: Cupcake Tycoon; Rosentstiehl, Agnes. (2010). Silly Lilly in What Will I Be Today?; Smith, Jeff. (2009). Little Mouse Gets Ready.

Grades 3-4: Bruel, Nick. (2010). Bad Kitty vs Uncle Murray; Davis, Eleanor. (2009). The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook; Venable, Colleen A. F. (2010). And Then There Were Gnomes.

Grades 5-7: Deutsch, Barry. (2010). Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword; Ignatow, Amy. (2010). The Popularity Papers; Kinney, Jeff. (2010). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The …

Depictions And Gaps: Portrayal Of U.S. Poverty In Realistic Fiction Children’S Picture Books, Jane E. Kelley, Janine J. Darragh

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Researchers conducted a critical multicultural analysis of 58 realistic fiction children’s picture books that portray people living in poverty and compared these depictions to recent statistics from the United States Census Bureau. The picture books were examined for the following qualities: main character, geographic locale and time era, focal poor character (gender, age, and race), who demonstrated action, and the type of action (individual, community, systemic) demonstrated. Results of the analysis showed that while in some areas the books accurately reflect the reality in the United States today, there are other areas in which poverty is misrepresented. For example, while …

Author Index

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Index to authors in volume 50.

Culturally Relevant Texts And Reading Assessment For English Language Learners, Ann E. Ebe

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This article reports on a study that explored the relationship between reading proficiency and cultural relevance of text for third-grade English Language Learners (ELLs). The author presents the Cultural Relevance Rubric that helps define and determine cultural relevance of texts. Participants used the rubric to rate the cultural relevance of two stories from a standardized assessment. While the two stories were identified as being the same reading level, the participants differed in their reading of each story. Reading accuracy scores for both stories suggest that the participants were within their instructional or independent reading levels. However, miscue analysis and retelling …

From The Editor, Allison L. Baer

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Message from the editor Allison Baer.

Celebrate The Magic Of Poetry, Terrell A. Young, Barbara A. Ward

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Books reviewed: Anthologies: Andrews, Julie and Walton, Emma. (2009). (Anthologists). Julie Andrews’ collection of poems, songs, and lullabies; Cullinan, Bernice E. and Wooten, Deborah. (2010). (Anthologists). Another jar of tiny stars: Poems by more NCTE award-winning poets; Martin, Bill, & Sampson, Michael. (2008). (Anthologists). The Bill Martin, Jr. big book of poetry: Paschen, Elise. (2010). (Anthologist). Poetry speaks who I am: Poems of discovery, inspiration, independence, and everything else; Yolen, Jane & Peters, Andrew Fusek. (2007). (Anthologists). Here’s a little poem: A very first book of poetry. Collections: Wilson, Karma. (2009). What’s the weather inside?; Heard, Georgia. (2009). (Compiler). Falling …

Reading Horizons Vol. 50 No. 3

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Complete issue of Reading Horizons vol. 50, issue 3 with cover, table of contents, editorial advisory board, and back matter including submission and subscription information.

Insert Student Here: Why Content Area Constructions Of Literacy Matter For Pre-Service Teachers, Kristine Gritter

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This article explores content area pre-service teacher beliefs about disciplinary knowledge, perceptions of effective content area teaching, and existing beliefs about how to integrate literacy into the content areas. Ten pre-service teachers across ten secondary content areas were asked to describe three important variables in secondary teaching: 1) the knowledge of their content area, 2) characteristics of a successful content area teacher, and 3) literacy activities that would optimally convey disciplinary knowledge to students. Content area responses to the first two prompts yielded comparatively static, teacher-centered notions of knowledge and teaching. However, responses to the third prompt indicated at least …

The Effect Of Props On Story Retells In The Classroom, Marie A. Stadler, Gay Cuming Ward

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effect of props on children’s narrative retells. Forty-two children in two comparable K/1 classrooms heard and practiced the same stories over eight weeks. This study found that the props had a positive effect on the children’s use of descriptive language, but there was no effect on the number of story grammar elements or cohesive devices used, nor for the length and complexity of the stories. Results support a balanced literacy program where children practice retelling stories with and without props.

From The Editor, Allison L. Baer

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

No abstract provided.

Prosody And Interpretation, James A. Erekson

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Prosody is a means for “reading with expression” and is one aspect of oral reading competence. This theoretical inquiry asserts that prosody is central to interpreting text, and draws distinctions between syntactic prosody (for phrasing) and emphatic prosody (for interpretation). While reading with expression appears as a criterion in major assessment instruments (National Center for Education Statistics, 1995), fluency research has focused primarily on syntactic prosody. This article presents lesser-known functions of emphatic (or expressive) prosody. Emphatic prosody in reading helps readers make their inferential thinking manifest. The intent of this article is to elucidate the differences between syntactic and …

Are Avid Readers Lurking In Your Language Arts Classroom? Myths Of The Avid Adolescent Reader, Nance S. Wilson, Michelle J. Kelley

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This article describes a pilot study conducted with 10 identified avid adolescent readers who completed the Adolescent Motivation to Read Profile (AMRP) (Pitcher, Albright, DeLaney, Walker, Seunarienesingh, & Moggie, 2007) that includes both a survey to determine students’ self-concept and value of reading and an interview that sheds light on what motivates them to read as well as yields specific information about their reading habits. The researchers use this data to challenge current myths regarding avid readers and to suggest that teachers look more deeply at the types of literacy experiences they offer in their classroom in order to draw …

Examining One Class Of Third-Grade Spellers: The Diagnostic Potential Of Students’ Spelling, Molly K. Ness

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The purpose of this article is to examine the developmental spelling levels of one class of 17 third-grade students. In analyzing over 600 student spelling samples, results indicate that these students spanned four spelling stages: (1) letter name, (2) within word pattern, (3) syllables and affixes, and (4) derivational relations (Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, & Johnston, 2008; Henderson, 1981). The article provides convincing evidence of the diagnostic potential of spelling analysis as a means to comprehending students’ orthographic understandings. Implications for small-group word study instruction are provided.

Going Global: Books To Help Us Better See Our Ever-Changing World, Barbara A. Ward, Terrell A. Young

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Classrooms are continuing to become increasingly diverse, and today’s teachers often look for trade books that will help them reach students from places near and far. Books reviewed: Early Grades: Faith by Maya Ajmera, Magda Nakassis, & Cynthia Pon (2009); Words to my life’s song by Ashley Bryan (2009); 14 cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy with Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah. (2009); Stories from the billabong by James Vance Marshall (2009); Cycle of rice, cycle of life: A story of sustainable farming by Jan Reynolds (2009). Middle Grades: Anything but typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin (2009); All the broken pieces …

Reading Horizons Vol. 50 No. 2

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

No abstract provided.

From The Editor, Allison L. Baer

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

No abstract provided.

Learning To Teach: The Influence Of A University-School Partnership Project On Pre-Service Elementary Efficacy For Literacy Instructionteachers’, Denise Johnson

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Bandura’s (1986) theory of self-efficacy suggests that efficacy may be most malleable early in learning; therefore, some of the most powerful influences on the development of teachers’ sense of efficacy may be the experience of teaching during field placements and student teaching. Unfortunately, pre-service teachers may not be exposed to good role models for teaching during field placements. This article describes a qualitative study of the influence of vicarious experiences modeled by a teacher educator and master teachers on the development of pre-service teachers’ sense of efficacy for literacy instruction. Results indicate that the vicarious experiences positively influenced pre-service teachers’ …

Reading Horizons Vol. 50 No. 1

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

No abstract provided.

“If It’S Not Fixed, The Staples Are Out!”: Documenting Young Children’S Perceptions Of Strategic Reading Processes, Bette S. Bergeron, Melody Bradbury-Wolff

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The purpose of this article is to describe how teachers can foster strategic reading processes in their early literacy classrooms, and how to incorporate a Strategy Perception Interview to assist in documenting students’ use and perceptions of these strategies. Descriptions of classroom instruction incorporating literacy strategies and implementation of the Interview are discussed as well as results from the administration of the Interview and specific classroom implications.

Students Learn To Read Like Writers: A Framework For Teachers Of Writing, Robin R. Griffith

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This study provides insight into the role of the elementary school writing teacher in helping students learn to “read like writers” (Smith, 1983). This case study documents how one fourth-grade teacher employed a gradual release of responsibility model as she deliberately planned activities that drew students’ attention to well-crafted writing. Findings indicate that this teacher played an important role in helping her students learn to read like writers and that through carefully crafted lessons she significantly influenced students’ knowledge of and implementation of crafting techniques.

Companion And Series Books: Invitations For Many Happy Returns, Terrell A. Young, Barbara A. Ward

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Books from 2009 reviewed: Early Grades: Make way for Dyamonde Daniel by Nikki Grimes; Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas by Jane O’Connor; Mary Leakey: Archaeologist who really dug her work by Mike Venezia; Pigs make me sneeze! by Mo Willems. Middle Grades: Al Capone shines my shoes by Gennifer Choldenko; The runaway dragon by Kate Coombs; Den of thieves by Julia Golding; Diary of a wimpy kid: Dog days by Jeff Kinney; Everything for a dog by Ann M. Martin; Roman diary: The journal of Iliona of Mytilini, who was captured and sold as a slave in Rome, AD 107 by …

The Effects Of Word Walls And Word Wall Activities On The Reading Fluency Of First Grade Students, Joanne Jasmine, Pamela Schiesl

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Reading fluency is the ability to read orally with speed and efficiency, including word recognition, decoding, and comprehension (Chard & Pikulski, 2005). Able readers achieve fluency as they recognize words with speed and build upon them to aid in comprehension (Pumfrey & Elliott, 1990). One way to help students achieve fluency is through the use of word walls and word wall activities (Callella, 2001). Word walls are bulletin boards that contain a collection of high-frequency or theme-related words and their activities include games that focus on using the word wall to learn sight words. This article describes an action research …

Author Index

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Index to authors in volume 49.

From The Editor, Allison L. Baer

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Introduction to issue by editor Allison Baer.