Reading Improvement Through Art (RITA) program is an interdisciplinary approach to literacy that blends visual art with reading comprehension, evaluated in nine New York City urban high schools. 240 problem readers participating in the pilot program were pre- and post-tested in the Fall 1975 and Spring 1976 semesters. The testing showed the 9th…

First- and second-grade students in two intact multiage classrooms were engaged in three read-aloud sessions with thematically related trade books, each portraying a scientist involved in authentic investigation. One group engaged in discussion of text ideas during reading, whereas the other group engaged in discussion only at the conclusion of…

The struggling second and third graders in this mixed methods study increased their reading comprehension after a 10-week Readers Theatre podcasting project. Podcasting made the students aware of a wider audience, which enhanced the authenticity and social nature of the strategy, and made their performances permanent so they could be stored and…

This study investigates the strategies and assumptions that college students entering an introductory physical geology laboratory use to interpret topographic maps, and follows the progress of the students during the laboratory to analyze changes in those strategies and assumptions. To elicit students' strategies and assumptions, we created and…

Effective instruction requires continual assessment of student understanding to identify and redirect misconceptions. This is particularly important when dealing with topics that seem straightforward to the teacher but may go beyond the personal experience of many students, such as the life cycle of flowering plants. Life cycles are a core topic…

A study was conducted to determine whether a teacher's reading to sixth grade students on a regular basis would have a significant positive effect on their reading comprehension. Twenty students, divided into experimental and control groups, were pretested and posttested using the "Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test." During the eight-week study, the…

Facts and activities related to weather and meteorology are presented in this unit. Separate sections cover the following topics: (1) the water cycle; (2) clouds; (3) the Beaufort Scale for rating the speed and force of wind; (4) the barometer; (5) weather prediction; (6) fall weather in Iowa (sleet, frost, and fog); (7) winter weather in Iowa…

This set of learning modules was developed during a project to deliver workplace literacy instruction to individuals employed in the more than 50 businesses related to the activities of the Port of Baltimore. It is intended to prepare students for the Customs Brokers examination within a 6-week course period. Actual material from past Customs…

This compilation of evaluation materials for a distance learning program for mental retardation/developmental disabilities workers is divided into pretests and posttests. Section 1, Pretests, provides instructions for participants and the job-related reading, writing, and problem solving inventory. The inventory, Communication Skills for Office of…

Developed for teachers of grades 4-8, this unit of study is intended to further students' ability to draw conclusions or predict outcomes using inferential comprehension. Student pages are given which correspond to Levels 9 through 13 in the 1976 reading series of Ginn and Company. Information is given to assist the teacher in explaining…

This manual is a guide to an interactive training program designed to address key skills necessary in today's high performance workplace. The module is intended to meet the learning needs of production workers who may have limited basic skills or literacy. This module, which addresses active listening and feedback, is meant to help workers learn…

A study examined whether writing modeled from children's picture books would improve reading comprehension of fourth and fifth graders as much as traditional skills instruction. Subjects, 69 children reading at least one year below grade level from six Chapter 1 Colorado schools, were pretested for reading comprehension levels. Subjects were then…