Poor comprehenders (PCs) are characterized by poor reading comprehension despite intact decoding and general cognitive ability. Poor word meaning knowledge is one of the earliest deficits associated with a PC profile. We examined processes underpinning word learning in PCs using a category learning paradigm. Adolescent participants (20 typically…

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,…

The effects of specific directions on the reading comprehension of sixth-grade students were investigated. Two passages on different topics, each with 20 percent of the sentences relevant to the topic, were materials for two informal tests administered to 92 six-grade students. Half of the students were given specific directions to learn about the…

Reading is comprehension, it is a complex network of interrelated skills, and it involves several levels of thinking, but in a holistic rather than in a molecular response to the text. The practice of reading based on this theoretical understanding involves identifying levels of comprehension; noting that levels of comprehending are not strictly…

Comprehension levels necessary to the acquisition and retention of facts, concepts, and rules and the facilitating effects of the use of orienting directions and postadjunct questions were investigated in a study involving 105 sixth-grade students. Four treatment groups each received a version of a six-page fictional passage, differing in the use…

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)

This report documents a series of studies on how undergraduate students learn from and reason with textual information. The studies described were undertaken to produce models that could serve as the basis for designing computer systems capable of structuring and presenting text material in optimal formats. Divided into sections, the report…

Theoreticians and empiricists have stressed the importance of organization in the learning process and, therefore, the importance of instructional strategies that help develop a child's ability to organize information. Theoreticians have also stressed the importance of the student's active participation in the learning process. The Directed…