Reading in Basals II

Annotated Research

Question: How are reading and writing portrayed in basal readers?

Answer: “In basals, few characters are shown reading or writing, and when shown, characters are generally using literacy for pragmatic rather than for recreational or intellectual reading.” BK Grady. 1986. P. 225.

Comment: How are reading and writing portrayed in children’s literature and in trade books? Still true today? RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Real Reading in Basals I

Annotated Research

Question: How often does reading occur in children’s basal readers?

 Answer: “Acts of reading portrayed in [basal] stories comprise less than 10 percent of content, and usually show the reading of signs.” S Davis. 1987. P. 225.

Comment: FYI. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Vocabulary in Context

Annotated Research

Question: In what context do students learn new words best?

Answer: “Young children learned new words best when the words were embedded in a narrative context.” R Watson. 1987. P. 225.

Comment: FYI. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Writing in Reading Classes

Annotated Research

Question: How much time is spent in reading classes on writing?

Answer: “Little or no reading class time was spent on writing or writing instruction.” KC Howard. 1987. P. 224.

Comment: I don’t know if this is still true (2011), but if so, it’s a huge mistake. Reading  to learn activities help with comprehension among other reading skills. I wonder if this finding involved literature classes? RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

NOTE: Four-day vacation from this blog for the Thanksgiving Holiday. RayS.

Reading Interest in Families

Annotated Research

Question: What is the effect of parents who enjoy and demonstrate reading on their families?

Answer: ‘Parents who enjoy and encourage reading produce families that do.” A Lockledge and S Matheny. 19989. 223.

Comment: This may be a more complex issue than it appears. What about a parent who enjoys reading books and the other doesn’t? I don’t think the issue is that simple. What does “enjoy” mean? What does “encourage” mean? RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Learning

Annotated Research

Question: What helps students learn new content?

Answer: “Students’ ability to integrate new information with existing knowledge was more likely to help them learn new content than were their vocabularies or reading skills.” MF Shaughnessy and R Evan. 1986. P. 223.

Comment: A skill not easily taught. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Retelling and Young Children

Annotated Research

Question: What is the effect of retelling what they have read on young students?

Answer: “The effects of practice in retelling upon the reading comprehension of proficient and less proficient readers.” Both groups improved their reading. BA Kapinus. 1986. P. 222.

Comment: Retelling stories effectively is also an opportunity for teaching good oral summarizing. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Reading Process

Annotated Research

Question: How do successful graduate students read?

Answer: “Successful graduate student readers spend about 69% of reading time off the page, making connections, recasting what they had read in light of prior knowledge, critiquing themselves or extrapolating.” JC Harste. 19896. P. 222.

Comment: Someone once said that a good reader moves from  80% of the time reading the page to 20% of the time reading the page. I think that is true. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Biology and Summarizing

Annotated Research

Question: Does summarizing biology content help students learn ad remember the content?

Answer: “Expressive summary writing seems to help students learn biology better initially and to sustain this learning advantage over  students who do not summarize expressively.” JE Sharp. 1987. P. 221.

Comment: I’m not sure I understand the meaning of “expressive summary.” But I think summarizing content will help anyone learn content better. RayS.

 Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Teacher Comments on Writing

Annotated Research

Question: How well do students understand their teachers’ comments on writing?

 Answer: “Shows how one students’ background knowledge, attitudes and literacy skills led her to misunderstand teacher comments.” M Sperling and S Freedman. 1987. P. 221.

Comment: In general, students do not understand teachers’ comments on writing. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Objective vs. Essay Writing Tests

Annotated Research

Question: What is the relationship between objective and essay writing tests?

Answer: “In a direct comparison of results from essay and objective assessments of writing skills, found little meaningful relationship between the two.” Y Sabban and PM Kay. 1987. P. 221.

Comment: No conclusive evidence between studies of objective vs. essay writing tests. One study says there is a relationship. Another says there is no relationship. No accumulation of result on this question. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Audience

Annotated Research

Question: What is the effect of audience awareness on writing?

Answer: “Found a significant correlation between audience awareness and overall writing effectiveness.” H. Walker. 1987. P. 219.

Comment: The accumulation of evidence in studies indicates that awareness of audience is one key to writing effectiveness. However, exactly how that awareness is used to adapt one’s writing to the audience is not clearly defined, in my opinion. What seems to be clear is that adapting to audience comes best in the revision stage of writing. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Poets and Revision

Annotated Research

Question: Why do poets revise?

Answer: “Poets revise not only to discover what they know, or to communicate this to an audience, but also to experiment with language.” G Armstrong. 1986. P. 218.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Pre-Writing

Annotated Research

Question: What happens when students draw as a pre-writing activity?

Answer: “When students drew before writing they wrote more than when they were told to begin writing immediately.” KA Leathers. 1987. P. 216.

Comment: Since this is an annotated finding, it does not describe the type of drawing or how it’s related to the forthcoming essay. Interesting to test whether any type of pre-writing brings the same result—brainstorming, for example. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Revision

Annotated Research

Question: What happens when students receive instruction in revision?

 Answer: “Students receiving instruction about revision improved their rough drafts better than students not receiving such instruction.” J Fitzgerald and LR Markham. 1987. P. 215.

Comment: Since this finding was an annotation, it does not reveal the nature of the instruction in revision. Still, I think it’s an important finding. You have to teach students how to revise. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Pre-selected Vocabulary and Writing

Annotated Research

Question: What happens when students are given pre-selected vocabulary to use when writing?

Answer: “Found that teaching a related set of words to students before they write an essay in which the words must be used can improve the quality of the essay.” AH Duin and MR Graves. 1987. P. 215.

Comment: This idea reminds me of the absolutely worst writing assignment I have ever experienced: Given fifty vocabulary words, students must use them in a composition—in order! I’m sorry, this idea smacks of the same thing. I hate it. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Letters to Legislators

Annotated Research

Question: How do legislators regard letters from constituents?

Answer: ‘Interviews with legislators showed the importance they attach to letters from constituents.” S Stotsky. 1987. P. 215.

Comment: I wonder if this finding holds with e-mail? RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Professional and Student Writers: Purposes

Annotated Research

Question: What is the motivation for writing by professionals and students?

 Answer: “Professional often write to resolve personal conflicts, while students write mainly to report experience or summarize others’ ideas.” D. Gallow. 1987. 214.

Comment: That’s a generalization painted with a very large brush. Still, it’s something to think about. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Women and Publishing

Annotated Research

Question: How do women feel about publishing their writing?

Answer: “Women experience more discomfort about pressure to publish, feel more adversely affected by harsh reviewers, and report less confidence about their writing than do men.” R Boice and AK Kelly. 1987. P. 214.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.

Writing, Architects and Engineers: Audience

Annotated Research

Question: How well do architects and engineers understand the technical expertise of their audience?

Answer: “Architects and engineers reported they often did not know their audiences’ levels of technical expertise, and even if they did, rarely based stylistic decisions in writing on this knowledge.” JS Bocchi. 1987. P. 214.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1988), 213-227.