Proceeding from the traditional principles of the directed reading activity strategy in the classroom, a group reading approach was developed to aid graduate students in a reading methods course both to study and comprehend their textbook and to provide a teaching method for future classroom use at the secondary or junior college level. The design involved eight steps: identification of the general purpose or critical issue of the text; distribution of sections of this purpose among class groups; individual reading and notation of material; preparation of the group statement, evolved from each individual's notes; presentation of this statement to a student critic; adjustment of the statement following discussion with the critic; presentation of the statement to the class--directly, through the teacher, or in writing with parenthetical teacher comments; and assessment of the learning achieved. This approach proved effective in stimulating an intensive, sustained learning effort by students. (JM)