A mapping strategy for thinking critically about expository text, focusing on the passage's main idea, major supporting points, other viewpoints, reader's conclusion, and relevance to a contemporary situation, was effective in improving reading comprehension of four high school sophomores in a remedial reading class and two mildly mentally…

Discusses pedagogical implications of recent theory and research on response to literature. Contends that now teachers must be aware of readers, the text, and the context in which a text is read and discussed. (MS)

Details events from the experiences of two young children as they learned written language. Concludes that children need to have a say in why and what they are reading. (FL)

Teaching organizational strategies to language-disordered children can improve comprehension and formulation of written language. The semantic organizer approach involves activating and organizing prior knowledge, understanding text structure, and developing organizational strategies with both a verbal component and a graphic-structure component.…

Suggests that children, even in early elementary grades, can grasp basic elements of children's literature using a spiralled sequence story curriculum, which helps them examine types of character, such as the trickster; elements of plot, such as the journey; and generally see patterns in the stories they read. (JC)

Describes liaison interpreting, a technique whereby students use bilingual dialogs to become aware of important differences (lexical, phonological, syntactical) between their mother tongue and the foreign language. They practice selecting a passage and encoding it for transmission. Examples of Italian-English dialogs and guidelines for use of…

Research on the schema theory of comprehension and cultural schemata, on background cultural knowledge, is reviewed and related to reading comprehension theory and practice. In line with the research findings, several activities for pre-reading, reading, and post-reading are described, with suggestions for teacher preparation and classroom use.…

Describes the implementation of a first-year comprehension-based Spanish language program at New Mexico State University. Includes a discussion of the history of the program and of the problems encountered in changing a traditional curriculum. Also describes the materials, classroom practice, and testing and evaluation techniques used in the…

Describes a technique for teaching students of English as a second language to understand English passages through structural and contextual clues. Gives detailed steps of the technique using Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky" as the text. (SED)

The kinds of meaning that children find in reading are discussed. When teaching young children to read, it is very important that teachers be aware of and take into consideration the child's viewpoint (RM)

Describes how news magazines were used successfully as supplements to teach civic literacy, vocabulary, and writing to college level reluctant readers. Contains two sample exercises. (HOD)

This book offers strategies to help both new teachers and seasoned veterans create dynamic classroom environments where students enjoy learning and teachers enjoy teaching. In addition to no-nonsense advice, checklists, and handouts, the book includes: (1) A step-by-step plan to make the first week of school a success; (2) Approaches for creating…

Noting that comprehension instruction is widely recognized as an essential component of developing students' pleasure and profit from reading, this book presents 25 essays on comprehension instruction that summarize current research and provide best-practice guidelines for teachers and teacher educators. Each chapter in the book presents key…

The effectiveness of explicit fluency interventions, with decoding instruction as needed, on a single subject in grade three was investigated. Fluency interventions, including choral reading, echo reading, repeated reading, audio book modeling, and teacher modeling, were conducted over a period of 8 weeks. Results indicated that using manageable…

This volume is the flagship volume in a series on cognitive strategy instruction. While strategies instruction is particularly appropriate for the learning disabled, it is also very useful for normal learners, especially inner city and minority children. The series focuses on conveying strategies instruction methods for use with these children.…