Education Commons^™

[Editor's Note], Allison L. Baer

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

No abstract provided.

Supporting Teachers In Their Integration Of Technology With Literacy, Margaret A. Moore-Hart

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This study investigates how two elementary teachers begin to use technology in a private school that had access to technology at many levels. Using a collaborative teacher-research model, the researcher specifically examined how to support teachers’ practice as they integrated technology tools within their literacy curriculum. Due to a supportive context, the teachers refined their writing instruction to include technology tools, and students improved their literacy through challenging learning experiences.

From Skeptic To Believer: One Teacher’S Journey Implementing Literature Circles, Deanna Day, Glenna Ainley

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This is the story of one middle school teacher’s journey of implementing literature circles with English language learners. Theory and research suggest that literature circles are valuable and important for young adolescents yet many teachers are still skeptical about implementing them. During this three-month study 22 sixth graders, 12 of them English learners, were involved in reading and discussing books. Areas that helped this teacher become a believer in literature circles included: students were able to talk about books in the literature circles, students naturally discussed the major themes and literary elements, students made sense of the texts, and students …

Reading Horizons Vol.48 No. 3

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Complete issue of Reading Horizons volume 48, issue 3.

Poetry Proves To Be Positive In The Primary Grades, Terrence V. Stange, Susan L. Wyant

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Learning to read and write and achieve good conduct are crucial in the primary grades. One teacher from a state in the Midwest implemented poetry with her second grade students to guide classroom conduct and improve literacy. This article discusses poetry as a literature genre, the benefits of poetry, and poetry curriculum where children read and write poems, enhancing critical thinking skills. In addition, student feedback, classroom orientation, classroom management, poetry as bibliotherapy, and the teacher’s evaluation of poetry and student progress are discussed.

Text Sets: Making Connections Between And Across Books, Barbara A. Ward, Terrell A. Young

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Linking books together has become a popular trend in many classrooms. More and more teachers are creating text sets—collections of books grouped around a similar topic, theme, genre, or author. Text sets allow readers to organize responses in a way that helps them notice patterns, make literary connections, and develop insights across books (Lehman, 2007).

[Editor's Note], Karen F. Thomas, Allison L. Baer

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

No abstract provided.

Guided Writing Lessons: Second-Grade Students’ Development Of Strategic Behavior, Sharon A. Gibson

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This study describes intra-individual change in strategic behavior of five second-grade students during three months of guided writing instruction for informational text. Data sources included sequential coding of writing behavior from videotaped writing events and analytic assessment of writing products. Students’ development of self-scaffolding supported orchestration of attention across word, sentence, and text levels while writing was studied. Participants encountered challenges in the following linguistic resources: textual organization, degree of explicitness, and presentation of details through appropriate sentence structures.

Looking Twice At Illustrated Books, Barbara A. Ward, Terrell A. Young

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Illustrations often lure would-be readers into books. Illustrations in today’s books do more than just provide a visual accompaniment to text. They can also establish setting, define and develop characters, provide differing viewpoints, extend or develop the plot, establish mood, and provide interesting asides (Tunnell & Jacobs, 2008). While it has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words, illustrations have the power to engage the reader and support the text. Today’s books offer a wide range of illustrated formats guaranteed to attract readers with their sumptuous colors and painstaking details.

Books reviewed for Grades PK-2:
Ahlberg, Allan. …

Reading Horizons Vol.48 No. 2

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Complete issue of Reading Horizons volume 48, issue 2.

Differentiated Reading Instruction: What And How, Julie W. Ankrum, Rita M. Bean

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Ms. Martin (a pseudonym) is preparing to teach her new group of students this fall. This is her ninth year teaching second grade, so she knows much about the complexities she faces. The professional development focus in her district this year is differentiated reading instruction and she knows from experience that the twenty-two children who will enter her classroom have differing levels of abilities in reading.

Behavioral Issues, Self-Esteem Struggles, Retention, And More: The Portrayal Of Book Characters With Dyslexia, Jennifer L. Altieri

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This study examined children’s and adolescent trade books portraying school-age characters with dyslexia. All of the books are contemporary realistic fiction, geared to elementary and adolescent readers, and published in the United States between 1993 and 2003. After an extensive search, seventy-two books were located. An analysis of the characters’ strengths and difficulties is discussed. Also behavioral characteristics and self-esteem struggles are noted. Furthermore, the article addresses the issue of grade retention and the history of characters’ family members with dyslexia.

Literacy And Science Connections In The Classroom, Donna M. Plummer, Wilma Kuhlman

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Educators in many disciplines recognize interdisciplinary teaching as effective for student learning. This article provides a model for developing an interdisciplinary literacy and science study with states of water as the core scientific study with corresponding literacy strategies. Authors have included suggestions for children’s literature as well as science experiences to use with this study. This water model provides teachers a base for developing studies that integrate their literacy and science curricula.

Reading Horizons Vol.48 No. 1

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Complete issue of Reading Horizson volume 48, issue 1.

Dear Reading Horizons Readers, Karen F. Thomas, Allison L. Baer

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

No abstract provided.

The Classroom Library: A Place For Nonfiction, Nonfiction In Its Place, Terrel A. Young, Barbara Moss, Linda Cornwell

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This manuscript provides a rationale for classroom libraries and the need to include nonfiction with them. Guidelines for effective libraries, selecting nonfiction books, and strategies for promoting them are also shared.

What’S New In Children’S Literature? Engaging Readers Through Series Books, Barbara A. Ward, Terrell A. Young

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Although experts may debate the literary value of series books and bemoan readers’ reluctance to move away from familiar characters and settings, the fact remains that they often draw reluctant readers to the printed word. There is no evidence that reading series books ruins the literary health or moral fiber of readers (Tunnell & Jacobs, 2008). In fact, the opposite may happen since series books often promotes reading in reluctant readers. Time spent searching for something to read can be shortened, and long hours can be filled profitably with series reading since readers already know the types of books for …

An Examination Of Preservice Literacy Teachers’ Initial Attempts To Provide Instructional Scaffolding, Joyce E. Many, Donna L. Taylor, Yan Wang, Gertrude T. Sachs, Heidi Schreiber

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

In today’s diverse schools, meeting individual literacy needs of students is one of the most challenging aspects of teaching. Instructional scaffolding is a powerful tool that many literacy teachers use to meet the challenge. While the term denotes a wide array of strategies, most teachers use scaffolding in some form or another in their classrooms. Many consider it to be one of the most effective instructional procedures available (Cazden, 1992; Graves, Graves, & Braaten, 1996).

Writing For Comprehension, Randy Wallace, Cathy Pearman, Cindy Hail, Beth Hurst

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Many educators continue to treat reading and writing as separate subjects. In response to this observation, the authors offer four research-based writing strategies that teachers can use to improve student reading comprehension through writing. The writing strategies—About/Point, Cubing, Four Square Graphic Organizer, and Read, Respond, Revisit, Discuss—reinforce reading comprehension by helping students strengthen their skills at summarizing, thinking in-depth from multiple perspectives, activating and organizing numerous thoughts, and creating interest through meaningful social interactions.

Family Literacy: The Missing Link To School-Wide Literacy Efforts, Vicky Zygouris-Coe

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Everyone has a literacy component to their lives. Family literacy refers to the ways people learn and use literacy in their home and everyday lives. Many times there is a disconnect between family and school literacies. Schools do not have systematic ways of tapping into the wealth of knowledge families possess and linking that knowledge to school literacy efforts. This article provides a brief review of family literacy issues and perspectives. Sample family literacy programs are summarized and suggestions are given for strengthening the link between family and school through food, photos, family publications, journals, literacy events, and using parents …

Poems, C. Glennon Rowell

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Three poems: The Joys of Books, Spelling Woes, Usage Woes

What's New In Children's Books: Sizzling Summer Reading, Barbara A. Ward, Terrell A. Young

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

It's almost summer time, and the living seems so much easier than it does during the rest of the year. The pace changes, and so do our reading tastes. Summer is the time for refueling our engines, reaching for inspiration, and exploring the splendor of the wide world around us. In this column we offer a collection of books that seem perfectly suited to summer's schedule of traveling, spending time with family and friends, and honing our talents.

The following books were reviewed:
Taj Mahal by Caroline Arnold and Madeleine Comora, Ill. Rahal Bhaghan
An Egg Is Quiet by Dianna …

Engaging Children With Useful Words: Vocabulary Instruction In A Third Grade Classroom, Lynn Cohen, Katherine Byrnes

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This action research project investigated 2 different instructional procedures used for third grade students' vocabulary acquisition. We researched read-aloud trade books containing targeted vocabulary words with daily direct word learning strategies and compared that to a traditional definitional approach with 12 bilingual and 4 monolingual children. Instruction was limited to 6 words each week for 4 consecutive weeks. Findings suggested that children used more targeted words in oral and written communications when provided literature and word learning strategies.

A "Fond Farewell" To Yolanda Mihalko, Karen F. Thomas

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Note from Reading Horizons staff

Author Index

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Index of authors for volume 47.

Article Index

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Index of articles in volume 47.

Reading Horizons Vol. 47 No. 4

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Complete issue of Reading Horizons volume 47 issue 4.

From Reading Clinic To Reading Community, Deborah Ann Jensen, Jennifer Amy Tuten

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This paper discusses the shift from a clinic model to a community model for the practicum experience for literacy education graduate students. The traditional program for the remediation of struggling readers followed a deficit model. Therefore, the reading specialist would pull out the child from regular classroom instruction to isolate a reading problem using standardized assessments and then to remediate the problem with programmed instruction. While the shifts in the understanding of the reading process which occurred in the 1980s and 1990s influenced instruction and assessment and the role of the reading specialist, researchers have found that instruction of struggling …

Effects Of Assisted-Repeated Reading On Students Of Varying Reading Ability: A Single-Subject Experimental Research Study, Jo-Ann Hapstak, Diane H. Tracey

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This study examined the effects of assisted-repeated reading on four first grade students whose reading ability varied (a special education student, a non-classified poor reader, an English Language Learner (ELL) student, and a general education student) to determine if an assisted repeated reading intervention is differentially effective for students of differing academic profiles. The students engaged in assisted-repeated reading two times a week for eight weeks. Each session lasted 10 to 15 minutes. A baseline was established for each student prior to the start of the intervention. Subsequently, initial and final readings were recorded at each session. The findings of …

Reading Horizons Vol.47 No 3

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Complete issue of Reading Horizons volume 47 issue 3.