Reflecting the concerns of researchers and practitioners about children's text comprehension, this book defines and provides examples of narrative and expository text and describes research-based strategies for helping children comprehend these two types of text. The book contains the following chapters: (1) "Research on Stories: Implications…

Noting that good reading comprehension is aided by the reader's attention to text organization, this paper presents a rationale and method for teaching students to map content materials. The paper begins by noting research demonstrating that good comprehenders attend to text organization. It then briefly reviews research related to the impact on…

Learning styles-based instruction uses the strengths and preferences of disabled and at-risk students to tailor instruction to their needs. This article defines learning styles, outlines the learning style characteristics of at-risk students, presents a global/analytic reading styles checklist, and describes 11 strategies for basing instruction on…

Advances a set of five principles related to the development of independent learners and recommends the use of three types of activities effective in moving students toward greater independence in applying their ideas and skills. (NKA)

Discusses (1) strategies that make learning disabled adolescents independent in subject area classrooms, (2) the use of medieval rhetoric to help modern students expand their writing, and (3) students' opinions of sustained silent reading. (NKA)

Describes the main components of a structured program of word attack for students who have difficulty recognizing long words, noting that the most essential component of the program is a set of rules for predicting pronunciation. (HOD)

Offers a plan for organizing and implementing a schoolwide reading week entitled, "Drop Everything Else, Read" (DEER). Presents explanations and directions for eight reading activities which focus on animals. Includes materials that can be duplicated and used by students as bookmarks and certificates. (ML)

Describes in detail a procedure that teaches childen to integrate two word identification strategies--use of contexts and phonics. Reports on a study showing the effectiveness of the strategy. (FL)

Noting that all children need to write often and without criticism, this book aims to be a comprehensive guide for teaching all children to write. It proposes that the art of reading is the art of writing, and that the more students read, the more easily they will be able to write. After a "prelude" by the author, the chapters are: (1) Children…

This booklet is part of a series of seven booklets designed to introduce aspects of effective reading instruction that should be considered when teaching reading to students with disabilities. It focuses on essential skill building and teaching activities related to developing fluent reading. The methods described of teaching reading to students…

Most Americans think of the Fourth of July as Independence Day, but is it really the day the U.S. declared and celebrated independence? By exploring myths and truths surrounding Independence Day, this lesson asks students to think critically about commonly believed stories regarding the beginning of the Revolutionary War and the Independence Day…

This book is a story for and by real teachers. In the book, two seasoned veterans recount their 23-year collaboration to find ways to help students improve learning in their content area subjects. Over the years, the book explains, the two educators have developed a host of practical activities and strategies to infuse the processes of learning…

Based on the premise that by engaging parents as effective partners, teachers and students win at the reading game, this book aims to help teachers tap into all the resources of school and home to maximize children's learning potential. The book provides teachers with a concrete framework for training parents to learn strategic techniques in…

This article is based on the hypothesis that Reading Recovery teachers sometimes mistakenly reduce or withdraw their support once children have developed strategic processing capabilities and gained higher levels of text reading. It discusses structural characteristics of higher level texts and considers several types of processing demands…

This article discusses differentiating reading instruction for gifted students in the primary grades. It discusses the need for pre-assessment to guide teachers' use of curriculum compacting, authentically assessing reading comprehension, asking metacognitive questions to challenge students, using rubrics for students' self-assessment, and using…