Topic: Literature.

10-second review: Distinguish between re-telling a story and summarizing it.

Source: TR Haffner. Notes Plus (October 2004), 3-4. A practical secondary publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Comment: Interesting distinction. For what purpose? Can the two be separated? RayS.

Topic: Measuring Reading Fluency.

10-second review: How evaluate fluency of oral reading? Fluency should measure three components: oral reading accuracy, rate of oral reading and quality of oral reading—together, of course, with comprehension.

Source: JJ Pikulski & DJ Chard. Reading Teacher (March 2005), 510-519. A publication of the International Reading Association (IRA).

Comment: Fundamental elements in reading fluency. RayS.

Topic: Reading Fluency.

10-second review: What role does fluency play in successful reading?

Quote: “Reading fluency is one of the defining characteristics of good readers, and a lack of fluency is a common characteristic of poor readers.”

Quote: “…lack of reading fluency is also a reliable predictor of reading comprehension problems…. Once struggling readers learn sound-symbol relationships…and become accurate readers, their lack of fluency emerges as the next hurdle they face on their way to reading proficiency…. This lack of fluent reading is a problem for poor readers because they…focus on decoding at the word level that makes comprehension of the text difficult, if not impossible.”

Source: Hudson, Lane and Pullen. Reading Teacher (May 2005), 702. A publication of the International Reading Association (IRA).

Comment: A fundamental article on the importance of reading fluency. RayS.

Topic: Second-language Reading

10-second review: How prepare ESL students (English as a Second Language) or ELLs (English Language Learners) for reading? Emphasizes the importance of pre-teaching vocabulary and establishing questions to be answered for ESL students before reading.

Quote: “One technique that is helpful in supporting ELLs’ reading and learning in academic content areas is ‘frontloading’ a lecture or assigned reading with activities that highlight key language. Such activities may include discussions aimed at eliciting and linking students’ related background knowledge, hands-on experiences that invite key questions, and highlighting of key vocabulary. In this way, important concepts, vocabulary and questions are identified before a lecture or reading begins.”

Source: C Harper & E deJong. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (October 2004), 157. The secondary school publication of the International Reading Association (IRA).

Comment: The importance of preparing ESL students (or ELLs) for reading, relating what they are going to read to their background knowledge, highlighting unfamiliar vocabulary and establishing purpose for reading. RayS.

Topic: Phonemes and Learning to Read

10-second review: How does knowledge of phonemes affect learning to read? Inability to segment phonemes (i.e., unable to divide a word into its individual sounds) results in ineffective phoneme synthesis (i.e., unable to connect the sounds to form words).

Source: M Smith, et al. Reading Teacher (November 2004), 302. A publication of the International Reading Association (IRA).

Comment: Interesting definition of phonemes (sounds of letters) and readers’ need to be able to segment and synthesize them into words. RayS.

Topic: Reading in the Content Areas

10-second review: How incorporate reading in the content areas into a basal program in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades? Use chapter from a science, social studies text as a basal reading lesson.

Source: RE Sabaroff. 398.

Comment: Interesting idea. Will need to use the approach that is used in the basal, the directed reading assignment. Build students’ background information. Pre-teach unfamiliar vocabulary. Set purpose for reading by having the students survey the chapter (title, sub-title; illustrations, charts and graphs; first paragraph; first sentence of each middle paragraph; last paragraph), formulate questions to answer from students’ reading of the chapter, and, last, but not least, students apply or extend what they have learned. RayS.

Topic: Measuring Reading Comprehension

10-second review: What is the purpose of questions in tests of reading comprehension? “No question should be devised only to defeat a child or to embarrass his emerging confidence.”

Source: C Washburne. “Short Papers on Readiness, Reading Interests, Vocabulary Development and Comprehension.” 551.

Comment: What are the purposes of the questions used in the SAT’s Reading Comprehension section of the Verbal SAT? A. Purpose of reading. B. Questions on the SAT. C. Measure reading. D. Measure comprehension. E. Both C and D. In my opinion, the purposes of the questions in the Reading Comprehension (or Critical Reading or whatever they call it these days), is to trick the test-taker. RayS.