A commonly held belief among educators, researchers, and students is that high-quality texts are easier to read than low-quality texts, as they contain more engaging narrative and story-like elements. Interestingly, these assumptions have typically failed to be supported by the literature on writing. Previous research suggests that higher quality…

This report provides K-12 educators with instructional strategies that research shows have the greatest likelihood of positively affecting student learning. The 12 chapters include: (1) "Introduction"; (2) "Identifying Similarities and Differences (comparing, classifying, creating metaphors, and creating analogies); (3)…