Prior knowledge activation is a crucial component of reading comprehension. Previous studies have examined students' prompted (or solicited) purposeful knowledge activation, which occurs when the explicit goal is to activate knowledge, as well as ancillary knowledge activation, which is when students indirectly use their prior knowledge to fill in…

Concerns about adolescent literacy continue to be highlighted in regards to the challenges of reading and learning from academic text. Recent efforts to address these concerns have led to an examination of the disciplines and their specialized ways of thinking and using language. In this article I discusses a metalinguistic protocol in a…

This qualitative case study examines how five Chinese first graders responded to bilingual English/Chinese picture books and how bilingual books used during an eight-week study session impacted their bilingual and biliteracy development. Reader response and socio-cultural theories were the theoretical perspectives that underpin this study. Four…

This article addresses critical factors that impact learning for a growing population of students in American classrooms, the English Language Learner (ELL). Even in the smallest school districts, it is common for teachers to have one or more students with limited or no command of the English language in their classrooms. Many students in schools…

By analyzing the prior knowledge of African American students, this study explored the relationship between cultural orientation of literature and reading comprehension to determine its effect on low, mid, and high level readers. Over one hundred 8th grade students from four different public schools read short stories from three different cultural…

Presents the psycholinguistic view of reading, which holds that the reader uses his/her prior knowledge of language, facts, and concepts to process language nad comprehend meaning. (FL)

Describes a procedure called Generating Reciprocal Inferences Procedure (GRIP), which teaches inferential comprehension using direct or explicit instruction, a generative process, and reciprocal questioning. (RS)

Offers teachers five suggestions for guiding classroom reading practice: (1) develop and maximize prior knowledge; (2) use familiar materials that are interesting and meaningful; (3) model fast, fluent reading; (4) accept all efforts; and (5) expect success of all students. Finds that teachers can facilitate reading as a meaning-making process or…

Discusses four classroom writing activities that can be subsumed within the content area learning environment: anticipatory questioning, notetaking, using graphic organizers, and writing summary paragraphs. (FL)

Reviews the guidelines for the construction of an advance organizer as proposed by David Ausubel and examines why the term has so many possible definitions. (FL)

Describes a study that investigated how young readers respond to text when a teacher uses an anticipation exercise within the framework of a small or large group discussion. The dynamics operating in classroom situations that use anticipation in small or large group contexts are observed and described. (FL)

Argues that the mystery surrounding comprehension development can be dispelled by an understanding of schema theory and linguistic theory and especially by an understanding of W. Kintsch's model of comprehension, which draws from those bodies of theory. Describes teaching methods based upon Kintsch's model. (FL)

Describes a teaching strategy in which teachers ask questions that help students activate their existing knowledge about a text to be read in order to facilitate the learning of new concepts. (FL)

Studies how the implementation of the K-W-L can be varied in different classroom settings to ensure that it has the desired effect on the reading comprehension and learning of elementary and middle school children. Suggests that the K-W-L approach is one strategy, among others, that should be taught thoroughly. (PA)

Examines the processing order between the comprehension of a text and the use of comprehended ideas for such thinking tasks as comparing, evaluating, and problem solving. Finds that readers with limited background knowledge read in a more linear fashion than those with extensive background, who read in a parallel manner. (RS)