Girls and Boys Like to Read and Write Different Texts

This study explored girls' and boys' (aged 10–11) attitudes towards reading and writing. Girls enjoyed reading significantly more than boys. Boys liked mostly comics and humorous books; adventure books were girls' favourites. Poetry did not appeal to pupils. Many boys did not enjoy typical school texts. Most pupils, especially boys, did not like to read aloud. Even many fluent and motivated readers felt embarrassed when doing it. Pupils' attitudes towards writing were more negative than those regarding reading. Boys were significantly more reluctant writers than girls. To interest boys the writing task should have a meaningful purpose or a communicative function. The results suggest that pupils' interest should be a key factor in the selection of reading material; otherwise, many students will avoid reading and may develop a lifelong aversion to it.     

Using CD‐ROM ‘electronic talking books’ to help children with mild reading difficulties improve their reading fluencg

Abstract

This article explains how ‘electronic talking books’ might be used to help children who have mild reading difficulties improve their oral reading fluency. Observations made during a study of three middle primary students with mild reading difficulties are analysed in order to address some associated practical issues.

It has been suggested that CD‐ROM ‘electronic talking books’ may be used to help children improve their oral reading fluency (Ford, Poe & Cox, 1995; Glasgow, 1996–7; Lewis, 2000). However, there has been little discussion about the issues teachers may need to consider in planning, implementing and evaluating interventions using them. The purpose of this article is to describe some facilitating factors and problems that emerged during a study into the use of electronic talking books to improve reading fluency, and to present some possible solutions to the problems. Although the participants of this study were nine‐year‐old boys who experienced mild reading difficulties, many of the issues that arose should be applicable to teaching students with a wider range of reading ability/disability.     

Disrupting the 'boys don't read' discourse: Primary school boys who love reading fiction

This article disrupts dominant discourses around boys and reading that often homogenise young males as reluctant, disengaged and, at times, adversarial readers. Rather than essentialising boys, we argue there is a need for a more sophisticated knowledge base about the influences, constraints and diverse experiences of boys as readers in society today. Drawing on interviews (n = 30) with Year 4 (8 to 9-year-old) boys at six schools, we consider their personal recounts of their enjoyment in reading, their preferred reading choices and narratives related to their experiences as readers at school. Analysis highlights boys' emerging reading interests, sophisticated and specific reading preferences, and changes in reading identities over time. Boys' preferences for particular fiction authors, novel series and genres dispute the common assumption in educational contexts that boys prefer to engage with non-fiction books. This finding is significant, as negative gendered stereotypes can impact on boys' reading self-concepts. It is also critical given Jerrim and Moss's recent research highlighting the importance of fiction in the development of reading skills. We consider implications for pedagogical practices that broaden reading experiences for the diversity of emerging masculine reading identities in nations such as Australia, where there is an absence of reading for pleasure in education policies.     

Access to Books in the Home and Adolescent Engagement in Recreational Book Reading: Considerations for secondary school educators

The emphasis on schools' providing reading materials for students at home is very much on the primary school years, when the skill of reading is being acquired. Little consideration has been given to the impact of curtailing school‐mediated access to books beyond this point. Regular recreational reading offers a wide range of benefit, and is essential for supporting ongoing literacy development. Without easy access to books, it can be readily surmised that capacity for regular engagement in reading can be limited. This article adds to the body of research supporting the benefit of student access to books in the home, linking access to books in the home with improved attitudes toward and frequency of engagement in recreational book reading, particularly in boys. It also provides analysis of data on students' access to books in the home, as well as discussing alternative avenues of access to books, such as the library and devices. The implications of the findings are explored, with educators ultimately urged to support increased access to self‐selected home reading materials through the secondary school.     

A comparative study of children's concentration performance on picture books: age,gender, and media forms

The reading development of children depends on various sensory stimuli, which help them construct reading contexts and facilitate active learning and exploration. This study uses sensory stimuli provided by picture books using various forms of media to improve children's concentration performance. We employ picture books using four forms of media: conventional picture books, pop-up books, talking books, and e-books. Children in young (Grade 3) and senior elementary school students (Grade 6) are recruited as participants. The NeuroSky MindBand (electroencephalogram) is used as a tool to measure children's concentration. The results indicate that children in Grade 3 express higher concentration and interest than children in Grade 6 in picture books, and the effect of gender is greater than that of grade on the level of concentration invested in the picture book media form and exhibits a significant interaction and effects on children's concentration performance. As a result, we suggest that talking books or e-books, which provide multisensory stimuli, should be selected for elementary school boys. In addition, talking books should be selected for girls in young elementary school students, while conventional books should be used for girls in senior elementary school students to avoid distraction caused by excessive media stimuli.     

Students’ writing and reading preferences in a paperless classroom

ABSTRACT

This study took place in a school which adopted a “paperless classroom” policy. The purpose of the study was to examine whether students who learn in a paperless classroom really prefer reading and writing on computers rather than on paper and whether their preferences differ according to contextual conditions and personal differences. The findings show that students’ reading and writing preferences depended on the context in which the reading or writing was performed. The boys preferred to read and write on the computer significantly more than girls. Conversely, the girls’ handwriting skills and preference for handwriting were higher than the boys’. Reading and writing on computer was found to be favored among strong students, while weak students tended to prefer using paper. This research also revealed a rapid decrease in favoring computer over paper in both reading and writing over time. Students who had experienced the paperless classroom policy in this school for three years were less supportive of the use of computers for reading and writing than younger students.     

Exploring the Metafictive in Elementary Students' Writing

Although some researchers have examined students' literary understandings of and responses to books with metafictive characteristics, few have explored how elementary students incorporate metafictive devices into their writing. In this article I analyse the stories and books created by a class of Grade 5 students and discuss the metafictive devices evident in their work. In addition to considering how the literature students read and how the classroom interpretive community influenced the students' stories/books, I discuss some broader issues about the significance of students reading and writing metafictive texts.     

素质教育背景下学生课外阅读能力的提高研究

在素质教育背景下,积极开展课外阅读活动,能够丰富学生精神生活,帮助学生积累写作素材,提高思想境界,弘扬祖国民族文化。教师应明确课文阅读的重要性,树立正确的教育观;充分利用学校图书室,提高学生的综合素质;激发学生的阅读兴趣,培养学生良好的阅读习惯;帮助学生区分书籍的好坏,教授学生阅读的方法。     

To enter the castle of fear: engendering children's story writing from home to school at KS2

This paper describes a small‐scale writing project in which a class of KS 2 primary pupils were invited to import their own narrative interests into a task designed by their teacher and the researcher within the constraints of the National Literacy Strategy. By employing an adventure genre, based on problem and puzzle solving, pupils were encouraged to introduce familiar scenarios and characters from their favourite stories in books, comics, videos or computer games. The work produced has been analyzed to highlight the different ways in which boys and girls engaged with key aspects of narrative and how this enabled discussion of gendered literacy practices in which boys and girls held an equal stake. The author discusses the importance of developing strategies by means of which children's understanding and transformations of their preferred modes of narrative pleasures can be housed within the current literacy framework.     

Gifted learning disabled students

Abstract

Up to 30 per cent of gifted students display a learning disability, with 10 per cent reading at two or more years below their grade level. They are referred to as being ‐gifted learning disabled’ or as having the dual exceptionalities of giftedness and learning disabilities. For these students, their learning disability is more likely to be recognised and targeted in teaching than their gifted ability.

The present study reviews their learning characteristics and explains these in terms of an information processing model of learning. Nine characteristics are addressed: their superior general intellectual ability in at least some domains of knowledge, a global wholistic preference in thinking, a negative academic self‐concept, low resilience in learning, patterns in motivation to learn orientation, their use of metacognifion, their ability to show what they know, their uneven rates of development, their high standards and goals, and the quality of their interpersonal interactions.

The paper uses these characteristics to recommend a set of procedures for identifying these students. It examines the influence that a learning disability can have on the display of gifted knowledge and describes how dynamic assessment procedures can be used to obtain a more accurate diagnosis. It describes the two main types of general ability profiles that emerge. Procedures for assessing creativity and divergent thinking, a learning disability, aptitude in particular areas, an intrinsic motivation to learn, self‐concept, metacognition and self management of learning are discussed.

To his teachers, Adam was a conundrum. He was a very quick thinker, but not in the ways that would help him excel academically. He had excellent knowledge of a range of subjects but this didn't seem to help him achieve academic success. His answers to questions were unexpected, although, when analysed, creative. On excursions he could be relied on to see ways around obstacles that arose; his teachers valued his ‘native intelligence’ on these occasions. It was less valued in classroom contexts in which they were developing a topic with a group and Adam would interject with ideas and questions that were either ‘marginally relevant’ or ‘further down the track’. They wished he would put his energy more into improving his spelling and writing ability, that were extremely low, and bis recall of the times tables.

Ann, an eight year old, was also perplexing to her teachers. In class she was ‘off task’ and daydreamed a lot. She did not finish most tasks, frequently lost her place and made many careless errors. Her distractability meant that she was frequently disruptive. As a consequence, her level of academic achievement was low. Her teacher interpreted her inattention and impulsivity as a lack of interest in learning and her preference to avoid tasks. As well, however, her teacher noticed her comparatively high level reading ability and her advanced oral language capacity and had difficulty reconciling the two sets of observations.     

大学英语阅读课堂教学的开放型提问探讨

阅读是英语学习者获取知识和信息的重要手段,是英语教学的一个重要过程.大学英语阅读课堂教学,要通过有效的开放型提问,提升学生阅读动机,调动学生对阅读的兴趣,有效激活学习者的阅读情趣,促进学习者带着问题去查找资料,寻找答案,从而增加阅读量,有效提高英语教学效率.     

“Unpacking my Library”: Children's Literature in the Writings of Walter Benjamin

In recentyears as the works of Walter Benjamin, the German‐Jewish cultural critic and philosopher, have become more widely available in translation commentaries have emerged which focus on what his writings have to offer current practices of cultural history. Benjamin was an avid collector of children's books. He also wrote extensively on children's literature, forgotten children's stories, the compulsion and cultures of book collecting and about his own childhood experiences in Berlin. This essay concerns itself with Benjamin's relationship with children's literature, both a child and as a collector, and his insights into the process of engaging with the internal world of the child. In doing so consideration is given to his innovative approach to memory‐work and the relationship between “remembering”, memory, artefacts and history. In this sense, this essay is about the book and education and the writing of cultural history.

     

Adventurous Navigator of the Dimensions of High Ability: An Interview with Robert J. Sternberg

Numerous resources in book form, both fiction and nonfiction, are available to assist gifted youngsters in pursuing their interests. There are books to help students explore an identified interest with greater depth and breadth, as well as to stimulate new interests. For youngsters who are already in the process of an in‐depth investigation, there are references and indexes and how‐to‐do‐it books to give assistance in skills areas. The books reviewed in this article are identified in terms of a specific conceptual model for gifted education, the Enrichment Triad Model (Renzulli, 1977), but the materials could be used in any program which focuses on the encouragement and development of students’ interests.     

论朱熹经学与文章之学的关系

理学宗师朱熹之经学与其文章之学的关系,尚未引起足够关注。他在奏疏的写作中时常引用《尚书》经文,除了利用《尚书》的劝谕功能影响帝王,还通过对经文的阐释,引导帝王接受自己的理学体系。与北宋儒者不同,朱熹十分注重阅读经书的主观感受与趣味,并在文章中传达、显现这种趣味。在记、序这两种文体的创作中,朱熹或阐发经义以提升立意,或反思学习经书的方式,或重绘经典传承的学术谱系,使其文章具备了深刻的学术内涵。     

经典童书与中小学写作教学

我国中小学生一直害怕写作,而研究发现童书能让学生悟出“人为什么要写作”,教师稍微点一点学生就能懂得“作为一个人该怎样去写作”,再简单讲一讲孩子都能清楚“文章该写哪些内容”。这是一举多得、事半功倍的好事。在学生轻松阅读之中,教师稍微从写作方面点拨一下,就能唤醒学生,快速将其带进喜欢写作的浪潮中。     

对大学生阅读倾向的调查与思考

调查显示 ,大学生阅读倾向为 :文学作品是主要借阅对象 ;文科类图书借阅量明显大于理科类 ;与开设专业相关的借书类和量明显大于非开设专业 ;比较注重个人发展和自我完善 ,对政治哲学类理论性书兴趣较低。改变以往阅读倾向中的个人行为 ,尽早帮助大学生形成正确的课外阅读原则 ,加强图书馆软、硬件建设 ,为大学生借阅提供更加便利的条件 ,以培养出知识结构完善、合理的大学生     

Sex or gender identity? Understanding children's reading choices and motivation

The extent to which children's reading choices could be predicted by their motivation and gender identity was examined. Two hundred and twenty‐three children (average age 9 years 11 months) completed questionnaires measuring book reading choices, reading motivation, gender identity (identification with masculine and feminine traits) and a standardised reading assessment. Sex differences were found in children's reading motivation and reading choices. In addition, feminine traits were more closely associated with reading motivation and engagement with neutral books compared to masculine traits. Whilst children's sex predicted their choice of reading male‐ or female‐orientated books, the extent to which they identified with feminine traits was a better predictor in choice of neutral books. Results are discussed in relation to previous research examining sex differences in children's reading choices. In addition, implications for reading activities and choice of books available at school are discussed.     

吴伟业的痛苦内容和解脱方式

吴伟业的一生可谓憾恨繁多,其历经宦海沉浮、国破家亡、仕清失节等痛苦。面对痛苦,吴伟业采取诗书遣愁、戏曲遣闷、逃禅清悟、翠微忘忧等方式进行解脱。可是他无法超越自己所看重的价值尺度,最终仍是抱愧而终。     

研究生应学会读书——以高等教育学专业为例

立学做人是研究生的目标,而立学做人必重读书。读书有助于研究生拓展视野、丰富知识,启迪思维、增长智慧,更能提升素养、完善人格。攻读高等教育学专业的研究生,应读本专业看家书、与专业有关的书以及作为一个现代知识分子应该读的书。研究生的读书要讲究方法,应处理好博与专、快与慢、动与静以及进与出四对关系。     

Toward a Presentist Pedagogy of Interest

In this essay, Oded Zipory assigns a different meaning to presentism in education: one that signifies respect for the present, especially for the actual student in his here‐and‐now. Zipory suggests that the key component of such a presentist pedagogy is interest and argues that focusing on children's current and possible interests instead of, or at least in addition to, working toward their expected future achievement is both respectful of children as meaning‐makers and promising in regard to their autonomy. First, he lays out principles for a presentist pedagogy of interest. Following Harry Frankfurt's work on the concept of care, Zipory suggests that schools should pay attention to the fact that students care about various things in addition to focusing on children's required knowledge and desired behavior. He then shows that being interested in something is a particular form of caring about it, and that this form is closely connected to education and learning. After showing the importance of interests to education, Zipory presents the challenges to incorporating them into a curriculum, and, drawing on P. S. Wilson's work, suggests strategies for coping with these challenges. He concludes by addressing the temporal tension embedded in the word “interest” itself and suggests that, in order to distance education from instrumentalization and commodification, a present‐oriented meaning of interest should be adopted.