An important goal of teachers is to get all students, especially those in the upper elementary and middle grades who struggle with academic work, engaged in reading. This book examines current research on instructional principles and actions related to engaged reading. It shows how teachers can translate this research into evidence-based actions that promote productive instructional contexts and focus students’ purposeful use of literacy in acquiring knowledge. The authors integrate descriptions of principles and actions with concrete examples of classroom instruction and thematic teaching across disciplinary contexts and demonstrate how teachers might mediate students’ reading of complex texts. The book provides readers with a vivid picture of the complexities of teaching reading in the upper elementary and middle grades. In particular, the book blends individual principles and practices into a holistic approach to creating productive and engaged learning environments for all upper elementary and middle grade learners.

This book comprises a synthesis of current directions in reading research, theory, and practice unified by what has been referred to as the engagement perspective of reading. This perspective guides the research agenda of the National Reading Research Center (NRRC), a consortium of the University of Georgia, University of Maryland, and affiliated scholars. A major goal of the book is to introduce reading researchers to the engagement perspective as defined by the NRRC and to illustrate its potential to integrate the cognitive, social, and motivational dimensions of reading and reading instruction. Engaged readers are viewed as motivated, strategic, knowledgeable, and socially interactive. They read widely for a variety of purposes and capitalize on situations having potential to extend literacy. The book is organized into four sections representing key components of the NRRC research agenda and the engagement perspective. This perspective emphasizes contexts that influence engaged reading. Accordingly, the first section of the volume focuses on the social and cultural contexts of literacy development, with chapters devoted to examining home influences, home-school connections, and the special challenges facing ethnic minorities. The engagement perspective also implies greater attention to the role of motivational and affective dimensions in reading development than traditional views of reading. Therefore, the second section examines motivational theory and its implications for reading engagement, with special attention to characteristics of classroom contexts that promote motivation in reading. The engagement perspective embraces innovative instructional contexts that address the cognitive, social, and motivational aspects of reading. Thus, the third section includes chapters on current directions in promoting children's learning from text, on the value of an integrated curriculum in promoting reading engagement, and on the challenges of assessing students' development as engaged readers. Finally, the broader conception of reading implied by the engagement perspective requires an expanded array of research approaches, sensitive to the complex and interacting contexts in which children develop literacy. The concluding section focuses on these important contemporary issues in literacy research and educational research, with chapters examining the variety of alternative modes of inquiry gaining prominence in literacy research, teacher inquiry, and ethical issues of collaboration between university and teacher researchers. Intended for university-based researchers, graduate students, and classroom teachers, this volume brings together researchers who think about students and their literacy development in school and home communities in distinctly different ways. The cooperative and collaborative inquiry presented contributes to a richer understanding of the many factors influencing engaged reading.

This volume demonstrates how promoting children's engagement with reading can greatly enhance reading achievement. From leading literacy researchers and educators, the book illuminates what a child needs to become an engaged reader and presents a set of instructional principles designed to facilitate this goal. Helping teachers offer a coordinated emphasis on competence and motivation in reading instruction, chapters blend research evidence with practical recommendations. Topics covered include ways to provide children with a good foundation at the word level, help if they are in trouble, ample time and materials for reading, opportunities to share in a community of learners, instruction that is coherent, motivating, and responsive to each child's strengths and weaknesses, school-wide coordination of instruction, and continuities between home and school.

Reading for pleasure urgently requires a higher profile to raise attainment and increase children’s engagement as self-motivated and socially interactive readers. Building Communities of Engaged Readers highlights the concept of ‘Reading Teachers’ who are not only knowledgeable about texts for children, but are aware of their own reading identities and prepared to share their enthusiasm and understanding of what being a reader means. Sharing the processes of reading with young readers is an innovative approach to developing new generations of readers. Examining the interplay between the ‘will and the skill’ to read, the book distinctively details a reading for pleasure pedagogy and demonstrates that reader engagement is strongly influenced by relationships between children, teachers, families and communities. Importantly it provides compelling evidence that reciprocal reading communities in school encompass: a shared concept of what it means to be a reader in the 21st century; considerable teacher and child knowledge of children’s literature and other texts; pedagogic practices which acknowledge and develop diverse reader identities; spontaneous ‘inside-text talk’ on the part of all members; a shift in the focus of control and new social spaces that encourage choice and children’s rights as readers. Written by experts in the literacy field and illustrated throughout with examples from the project schools, it is essential reading for all those concerned with improving young people’s enjoyment of and attainment in reading.

Following the initial report on the results of the first PISA survey, this report looks more closely at performance in reading.

Questioning strategies used during and after reading help middle school readers comprehend while reading, improving recall and understanding and building a strong sense of purpose for reading. Phrasing questions to gather information used as well as more advanced techniques such as QRA (question-answer relationships) and QtA (questioning the author).

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On Solid Ground is informed by current thinking, yet loaded with advice, booklists, ready-to-use reproducibles, andof coursethe words and work of real children.