Individualized reading is important to students in both elementary and secondary grades because it provides opportunities for them to find pleasure in reading, to internalize reading skills, to develop the reading habit, and to mature in book choices. Such programs are not intended to teach reading skills, but, if initiated at the elementary…

Reading programs in 3 small elementary schools are discussed and evaluated by the teachers involved. The first and second programs involved individualized multilevel reading materials and reading labs. Testing indicated, and instructors felt, that students showed more growth than they had under former methods (especially the middle and top…

Contends that it is important for students to be motivated and well prepared for class units and activities. Describes a "previews of coming attractions" instructional strategy that uses advance organizers to increase information processing efficiency. Includes a sample unit outline illustrating this approach. (CFR)

This guide was developed to assist volunteers in tutoring adult readers who read below the ninth-grade level. The following topics are discussed in the guide in either narrative or question-and-answer format: getting started as a tutor, who are the clients, getting acquainted, tutoring procedures, and teaching decoding skills. Procedures for…

Project CAPABLE (Classroom Action Program: Aim: Basic Learning Effectiveness) is a classroom approach which integrates the basic learning skills with content. The goal of the project is to use basic learning skills to enhance the learning of content and at the same time use the content to teach basic learning skills. This manual presents program…

The sequential program in the "Read On" series uses a diagnostic/prescriptive approach to teaching adults and teenagers who have little or no competence in basic reading skills. This introductory packet consists of a text and workbook that deal with adult themes ranging from grocery shopping to fishing and motorcycling and a teacher's guide…

Modern drama criticism is rebuked for taking the "closet drama approach" which reduces the theater to yet another type of philosophical and content-oriented literary genre. Group participation and discussion are suggested as means by which the student is encouraged to stage an imaginary performance leading to intelligibility and appreciation of…

This guide, designed for use by content area teachers at the junior and senior high school level in their work with students who have minor reading difficulties, contains a number of assessment techniques as well as a variety of approaches and suggestions for teaching. Included are: study guides that are developed around a topic for a specific…

Suggests an alternative understanding of imitation, according to which a student learns by imitating another person, rather than a text or process. Proposes that composition teaching works when it effectively models an identity which students can accept. (MS)

Presents the six major components of the Directed Reading Activity strategy: Developing Vocabulary, Building Background and motivation, Setting the Purpose, Guiding Silent Reading, Questioning to Determine Comprehension, and Rereading, as applied to mathematical problem solving, resulting in a directed mathematics activity. (MDH)

When non-native English-speaking elementary school students, exposed to English in the school environment only, were given high-interest, well-illustrated reading materials in English, measures of reading comprehension, English structures, word recognition, oral sentence repetition, and composition writing indicated that second-language…

Noting that children's experiences at home during the preschool years set the stage for reading success, this guide provides the initiative, principles, and activities for reading to children from early months to 7 years to improve their literacy acquisition. The nine chapters are as follows: (1) "Reading: An Overview of the Discovery…

Six weeks were spent working with a five-year-old kindergarten child who had an excellent understanding of sound/symbol relationships but did not know how to read for meaning. A variety of techniques was used to help the child develop reading strategies and increase confidence: directed reading-thinking activity in week one; student retelling of a…

Secondary and postsecondary students who use the read-answer-discuss strategy while studying read ineffectively and do not comprehend or retain main ideas. A study examined the effectiveness of (1) the Directed Reading-Thinking Activity, (2) conceptual mapping, (3) a combination of those strategies, and (4) reading and underlining main ideas as…

A review of the literature on the transfer of preservice teacher training to the classroom suggests that several definitive factors enhance transfer. A social studies methods course was developed with these factors in mind, and included directed reading activities (DRA) with a text, controversial topic discussion, and inquiry. During the academic…