This document presents the proceedings of the 20th Annual Research Forum held June 25, 2015, at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Included are the following 21 action research papers: (1) History Lives! The Use of Simulations in a High School Social Studies Classroom (Lydia Adkins); (2) Using Francophone Music in the High…

In two experiments, high school students read and listened to either a signaled or nonsignaled expository passage. Signals consisted of preview sentences, underlined headings, and logical connective phrases. Results indicated a pattern in which the signaled groups performed better on recall of conceptual information and on generating high quality…

Describes how the authors used process drama as a tool by which students assume the persona of characters in a literary text and improvise what the characters might say and how they might react in challenging situations. Discusses how students created modern dramatic interpretations of traditional texts in order to solve problems that parallel…

Critical reading lays a foundation for problem-solving ability and, ultimately, more intelligent behavior. A reading program designed to teach critical reading skills is briefly described. (Author/IRT)

The paper describes a pilot project in which 17 hearing impaired adolescents are participating in a program to improve thinking skills via the Instrumental Enrichment (IE) approach. IE focuses on concepts by suggesting alternative strategies by which the learner can arrive at the objective, thus allowing for opportunities to reflect on one's own…

Implies that instruction can help students improve in reader-based processing of text and that strategies for making schema-general questions story-specific are necessary for processing, storing, and retrieving information from complex short stories. (AEA)

The study investigated effects of training 12 adolescents with learning disabilities in a 7-step word identification strategy (using a general problem-solving strategy with specific substrategies) and found significant gains in word identification but inconsistent gains in comprehension. (DB) (DB)

Examines why analytical thinking should be a major focus of teaching in the reading and writing classroom. (HOD)

English teachers have given some attention to aesthetic reading, usually terming it the development of literary appreciation, but many of the classroom practices used to foster that appreciation have been counterproductive. One consideration in developing aesthetic reading has to do with the means for promoting reflection in readers. That is,…

Responses and strategies used by good and poor readers are compared in their reading of material which varied in writing style and interest. Twenty-four tenth-grade subjects described their thoughts and behavior during silent reading. From the protocols, 13 types of reader responses were identified and organized into a taxonomy of word-, clause-,…

Examines strategic differences between more and less competent novices in story-sorting, problem-solving tasks by comparing two Hong Kong primary school teachers, two competent and two less competent secondary students on problem-solving tasks. Indicates subjects used a wide variety of solution strategies. Suggests that success depended on how…

Although many of the word recognition skills needed to read narrative material are applicable to the language of mathematics, other specialized skills are also required to read mathematics materials. Among the factors contributing to students' problems in reading mathematics are the students' interest and motivational level, their readiness for…

Offers examples of lessons in conflict in reading material that can lead students to read critically, to seek further reading, and to enhance their comprehension.(HOD)

Teachers can help students develop abilities to enable them to read subject-oriented materials with better understanding. The purpose is not to conduct a lesson in reading comprehension, but to establish purposes for reading, develop word competency, search for surface and deeper meanings, and evaluate information and ideas gained through reading.…

Anchored instruction and anchored assessment are described and illustrated through a mathematics problem from the Jasper problem solving series developed at Vanderbilt University in Nashville (Tennessee). Anchored instruction is instruction situated in a context complex enough to provide meaning and reasons for why information is useful. Problems…