The bulletin contains suggestions for secondary level social studies teachers to improve students' reading skills in social studies while at the same time enhancing the learning of social studies content. The materials can be easily adapted for elementary grades. Chapter one describes specific procedures for determining student reading levels. Three levels of reading skills are defined: independent, instructional, and frustration. To determine these levels, the book explains the use of informal reading inventories, the cloze test procedure, and the San Diego Quick Assessment technique. Chapter two discusses ways to estimate the reading level of social studies materials based on average sentence length, average number of syllables in the words, and number of unfamiliar words. Specific readability formulas which make use of these variables are the Fry, SMOG, Flesch, and Dale-Chall. Chapter three suggests ways to improve social studies vocabulary skills, comprehension, and thinking skills. Techniques include teaching words in context; using concrete examples; and having students examine words for meaningful parts. How to administer a directed reading activity is explained, as well as how to ask questions that make use of memory, interpretation, and analysis skills. (AV)