Group items tagged

Willis, Margaret. "Harry Potter and the Great Reading Revolution." Literacy Today 52 (2007):24-25. Ebscohost. Web. 17 Nov. 2010. This article is about how the Harry Potter saga encouraged children, especially boys, to read. Boys give up on reading faster than girls do and boys are more picky when picking a book to read. The fantasy genre appeals to boys more because of the adventure and that their minds can travel to a different world in their imagination. Harry Potter and other fantasy books have helped children read more books.

An article that explains a debate that has raged for years in academic circles. When you read online, are you reading or skimming? Is the Internet killing reading or just helping students develop different skills?

This is a link to the listing for this book on OhioLINK. It sounds like it might be helpful to those doing research on literacy development, how we learn to read. As the description implies, this might be an easy introduction to a rather complex topic. Wolf, a professor of child development at Tufts University, integrates psychology and archaeology, linguistics and education, history and neuroscience in a truly path-breaking look at the development of the reading brain-a complicated phenomenon that Wolf seeks to chronicle from both the early history of humanity and the early stages of an individual's development ("unlike its component parts such as vision and speech... reading has no direct genetic program passing it on to future generations"). Along the way, Wolf introduces concepts like "word poverty," the situation in which children, by age five, have heard 32 million less words than their counterparts (with chilling long-term effects), and makes time for amusing and affecting anecdotes, like the only child she knew to fake a reading disorder (attempting to get back into his beloved literacy training program). Though it could probably command a book of its own, the sizable third section of the book covers the complex topic of dyslexia, explaining clearly and expertly "what happens when the brain can't learn to read." One of those rare books that synthesizes cutting edge, interdisciplinary research with the inviting tone of a curious, erudite friend (think Malcolm Gladwell), Wolf's first book for a general audience is an eye-opening winner, and deserves a wide readership. (From the description on Amazon.com.)

Steinman, Bernard A., B. J. LeJeune, and B. T. Kimbrough. "Developmental Stages of Reading Processes in Children Who Are Blind and Sighted." Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness 100.1 (2006): 36-46. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 19 Nov. 2010. This article puts in contrast the development of blind or sighted children learning print and Braille in relation to Chall's stage model of reading development. Chall's stage model is a model of how one should go about learning Braille. His model is broken up into three stages. The stages are: the pre-reading stage, the middle stage, and the later stage. Then these stages are broken down into six different stages. In stages one and two children can focus on the sounds of the words themselves and stages three- five Braille readers state reading texts that have different difficulty level. This article provides detailed descriptions of all six stages and how these stages relate to a child's development when it comes to print and Braille reading.

Ingraham L. Cynthia, Jean F. Andrews. "The hands and reading: What deafblind adult readers tell us." The British Journal of the Visually Impairment 28.2 (2010) : 103-138. Electronic Journal Center. Web. 3 November 2010. This article tells the story of three adults who are deaf blind and their approach to reading different types of texts. It provides analysis and interviews with each individual as they reflect on how they learned language and how to read as young children. Many deaf blind people tend to isolate themselves and remain illiterate in their home for most of their lives. However the story of these three individual is different. For them they are readers who enjoy reading for pleasure and have achieved higher levels of education because of their reading skills. These three people all used computer technology, scanners, print enlargers, and JAWS software. These people stress the importance that technology played along their journey to literacy.

Black, Sharon. "Harry Potter: A Magical Prescription for Just About Anyone." Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy 46.7 (2003): 540-545. Ebscohost. Web. 18 Nov. 2010. This artice has different children's experiences with reading and how Harry Potter helped them love to read. It also talks about how fantasy books such as Harry Potter teach symbolism and how the kids can apply it to their lives.

Emerson, Robert Wall, M. Cay Holbrook, and Frances Mary D'Andrea. "Acquisition of Literacy Skills by Young Children Who Are Blind: Results from the ABC Braille Study." Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness 103.10 (2009): 610-624. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 18 Nov. 2010. The Alphabetic Braille and Contracted Braille Study looked at the reading a writing skills of children studying Braille. Their main objective was to learn about the reading experiences of blind children who learned how to read using alphabetic Braille, or in other words had learned the alphabet first, instead of learning the different symbols for words. It was proven, however, in the study that the earlier a student starting studying Braille the better they were at knowing vocabulary, reading the Braille, and comprehending it. They found no link to whether a student was better in reading due to the fact that they learned the Braille alphabet first or if they learned Braille symbols.

Gira, Kathy. "Understanding and Facilitating Reading Comprehension in Children with Autism." Illinois Reading Council Journal 38.2 (2010): 27-34. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 16 Nov. 2010. Autism is found to be four more times common in boys than girls. People diagnosed with ASD either are high functioning or low functioning. The people who are considered high functioning are categorized as having Aspergers Syndrom in the autism spectrum. People diagnosed with AS are being placed in regular classrooms because typically they have average intelligence, or above average intelligence. Children with autism have difficulties understanding important information, literal thinking styles, comprehending and thinking abstractly, and have difficulties with their organization skills. Because of their inability to think abstractly, they have a difficult time learning how to read. Autistic children don't have a great attention span, they have trouble learning the rules of grammar, and they lack the motivation to learn to read. Hyperlexia is a term used to describe some autistic people. It means they have an understanding of the pronunciation and recognition of a word, but they lack the comprehension of the meaning of the word.

Byrne, Angela, John MacDonald, and Sue Buckley. "Reading, language and memory skills: A comparative longitudinal study of children with Down syndrome and their mainstream peers." British Journal of Educational Psychology 72.4 (2002), 513-529. This article shares that in the past, people with Down Syndrome have never had the chance to learn to read. Now, many kids with this disablilty are able to get in education, which led to a study. This is a study done on the development of people with Down Syndrome over a period of time. The article shares information on longituninal study that tested the development of reading, language, and memory skills. The article concludes that reading has no effect on the enhancement of language and memory development in children with Down Syndrome.

Brennan, Susan A., Gayle J. Luze, and Carla Peterson. "Parents' Perceptions of Professional Support for the Emergent Literacy of Young Children with Visual Impairments." Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness 103.10 (2009): 694-704. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 16 Nov. 2010. A survey was taken of parents who are raising a visually impaired child. The survey concentrated on what types of activities parents engaged with their child. The survey found that it was important for parents to read out loud to the children because it helped them understand "book related" concepts. Concepts such as turning the page, reading left to right, and understanding that books relay a message. This article also states that a parents cannot offer the support their child needs without professional help. Often times parents want to read to their child, but find that they don't know how to go about it, or even what books they should read to them. The article lastly states that parents should also learn Braille. This will open up more opportunities and experiences that a child can have. An experience such as having time as a family to learn Braille and make it a more fun and enjoyable experience for the child.

A film on OhioLINK. How could a child be a top math student yet not be able to read? Why can another child read well but not be able to write a paragraph that makes sense? While watching children being taught new ways to learn, this program offers expert insight into the nature of learning disabilities, why learning disabilities may also be accompanied by ADHD or social disorders, and what can be done to help children learn to compensate and succeed. A Meridian Production. (16 minutes, color)\n

A.D.A.M. "Autism." Google Health. Google. Web. 3 Nov. 2010. . - This site just gives the basic medical diagnosis of Autism. I think in order to explain Autism's effects on literacy (or whatever you're doing), you need to first explain generally what Autism is. That way, you have a base on which to form your argument. If the person reading your paper has no prior knowledge of Autism, then they will be completely in the dark while reading it. The site gives a general medical overview of Autism's causes, symptoms, and treatments.

Shaver, James P., and Dee Nuhn. "The Effectiveness of Tutoring Underachievers in Reading and Writing." JSTOR. The Journal of Educational Research 65.3 Nov. 1971: 107-112. Web. 18 Nov. 2010. . This article is about tutoring those who are having literacy troubles in reading and writing. This shows statistics between fourth, seventh, tenth, and college students on their reading and writing skills. It shows that peer tutoring can improve everyone's overall grades and gpa's. The two tests between what students were tutored and who weren't show the difference. The effects were clearcut.

Walsh, Maureen. "Worlds have collided and modes have merged: classroom evidence of changed literacy practices." Literacy, Volume 42, issue 2 (July 2008), p. 101-108. OhioLINK. Web. 20 November 2010 Debates continue in public and in educational policy forums about the 'basics' of literacy while many have not recognised that these basics may never be the same again. Rapid changes in digital communication provide facilities for reading and writing to be combined with various and often quite complex aspects of music, photography and film. At the same time, educational policy and national testing requirements are still principally focused on the reading and writing of print-based texts. This paper examines evidence from classroom research to analyse the nature of multimodal literacy, the literacy that is needed in contemporary times for reading, viewing, responding to and producing multimodal and digital texts. Examples of students' engagement in multimodal literacy are presented to demonstrate how classroom literacy practices can incorporate the practices of talking, listening, reading and writing together with processing the modes of written text, image, sound and movement in print and digital texts.

Langer, Judith A., and Urbana, IL. National Council of Teachers of English. "Effective Literacy Instruction: Building Successful Reading and Writing Programs." (2002): ERIC. EBSCO. Web. 18 Nov. 2010. This book is about programs created to help students and their learning. The programs have been reinvented in order to help prepare students. The programs are also useful to help students become better with their literacy. The book also discusses 25 specific schools who are trying to improve there teaching skills. It focuses in on the teacher techniques and credibility. It is split into two sections, discussing the key characteristics of successful English and also field research like the types we will be using for this paper.

Craig, C.J. "Family support of the emergent literacy of children with visual impairments." Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness 90.3 (1996): 194. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 16 Nov. 2010. Family involvement is important when discussing children who are visually impaired. A certain home environment is needed when it comes to teaching visually impaired children. This article tells of how reading out loud, having family outings, and encouraging independent readings can help develop blind children's literacy skills. These help the children to build and better understand stories; as well as learning to "paint pictures in their heads". Finally this article provides some suggestions to parents of children who are visually impaired. Some suggestions include: Encouraging "pretend reading and writing", designating a certain spot in the home just for reading, and learn Braille alongside their children.

Toppin, Keith. "Peer Tutoring and Paired Reading: Combining Two Powerful Techniques." The Reading Teacher 42.7(1989): 488-494. JSTOR. Web. 3 Nov 2010. This article is about how peer tutoring is effective to everyone. Studies have shown that a peer tutoring relationship is more effective than just in a classroom. It has also been effective in the adult literacy area. Cross-age tutoring is proven to be less effective than true-age tutoring. The author argues how students should consider tutoring while in school and how it is a helpful tactic to their studies.

Lanter, Elizabeth, and Linda R. Watson. "Promoting Literacy in Students With ASD: The Basics for the SLP." Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools 39.1 (2008): 33-43. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 18 Nov. 2010. This article talks about how teachers are more concerned in their literacy teaching skills to people with autism. Research has found that oral language skills of autistic children are similar in their reading development. Teachers are trying to prepare children with ASD for standardized tests of literacy, and progress in higher levels of academics. Reading skills can improve their oral skills as well.