Discusses the authors' research regarding the traditional prereading element designated by beginning reading programs as "setting a purpose for reading." (Author/DB)

Investigation of the effect of establishing purposes for reading upon reading comprehension showed that neither specific nor general reading directions appeared to affect performance and that purpose-setting directions served to discriminate between intentional and incidental information only for above-grade-level readers.

Discusses instructional approaches to content area reading that are described in ERIC documents. Among the areas discussed are prereading activities; strategies to support comprehension as students read; an integrated approach to vocabulary, comprehension, and textbook organization; and kits of materials for integrating reading skills into content…

Evaluates the characteristics common to most reading programs and offers suggestions for keeping a program a learning rather than a testing situation. (HTH)

This study was designed to establish the generalizability of the claimed effectiveness of several prereading instructions in enhancing either specific types of comprehension or overall comprehension. (HOD)

Describes how teachers can incorporate the use of comprehension monitoring activities into the guided reading phase of basal reading instruction. (FL)

Thirty-six learning disabled children (9-12 years old) participated in a modified Directed Reading Activity, a modified Concept Analysis Activity, and a Worksheet Activity (control). Results indicate that evaluative reading comprehension was more affected by both the modified Concept Analysis Activity and the modified Directed Reading Activity…

This paper examines the uniqueness of poetry and classroom methodology as found in children's experiences of hearing, enacting, discussing, and making poems. Poetry offers the peculiar use of language, form, and a fresh look. Poems are useful in the classroom as they are read differently from ordinary text, are read with both the eye and the ear,…

Discusses guided reading as an approach that teachers can use to help young students better comprehend what they are reading. Notes that guided reading allows teachers to talk, think, and read through a text with children, offering questions, comments, and prompts to the children to stimulate their interest and understanding. (MDM)

Materials used in a one-day conference on teaching reading comprehension skills are summarized in this publication. Contents consist of three articles on teaching the comprehension skills, informal reading inventories in science and in geography, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address with comprehension questions, a checklist for the evaluation of teaching…

Describes a comprehension questioning strategy, based on R. Stauffer's Directed Reading-Thinking Activity, that enhances students' use of reasoning on the basis of prior knowledge. (FL)

Investigates the transfer effects of graphic organizer instruction on fourth graders' ability to use top-level structure as an aid in comprehending and retaining content reading materials and concludes that there were no discernable effects. (DF)

Discusses a study that explored the effect of a guided reading strategy on the short- and long-term comprehension of disadvantaged students in a seventh-grade geography class. (DD)

Reports a study that compared the effects of two teacher-directed prereading instructional procedures (directed reading activity versus story grammar/structured overview story mapping) on elementary students' literal and inferential reading comprehension. Story mapping produced better comprehension among third graders but no differences in…

The systems approach to learning used in the majority of classrooms today redefines reading as its component skills. Two different approaches developed by teachers to teach reading as the sum of its components are presented. (JN)