Social networking can currently be described as a mainstream youth activity, with almost half of 8-17-year-old children, who have access to the Internet, claiming to participate. As an activity it is of particular interest to literacy educators because it is enacted through the production and consumption of text. However, a growing body of…

The purpose of this research was to examine the effectiveness of teaching fifth grade students with reading difficulties a genre-specific strategy for summarizing and critically analyzing written arguments. In addition, this research explored whether learning this particular reading strategy informed the students' ability to write effective and…

In the study, we investigated effects of 2 different versions of a web-based tutoring system to provide 5th-grade students with strategy instruction about text structure, which was an intervention to improve reading comprehension. The design feature assessed varied in individualization of instruction (individualized or standard). The more…

A multiple-baseline design across subjects was used to investigate the effects of word prediction and text-to-speech alone and in combination on four narrative composition-writing skills (writing fluency, syntax, spelling accuracy, and overall organization) of six fifth-grade Hispanic boys with specific learning disabilities (SLD). Participants…

This study examined the effectiveness of instruction in a genre-specific reading comprehension strategy, "Critical Analysis of Argumentative Text" (CAAT), which was designed to help students to identify, summarize and critically analyze parts of argumentative text. Based on the premise that reading and writing require similar knowledge of text…

The WWC practice guide "Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade" presents a set of evidence-based practices that teachers and other educators can use to successfully teach reading comprehension to young readers. The guide, developed by a panel of experts, presents a set of evidence-based practices that teachers…

The basic skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic are necessary, but not sufficient for participation in a world that demands independent and cooperative problem solving of its citizens. Young children come to school with an interest in the community and the world outside their own. Social studies curricula can affirm the child's immediate…

In this study, we conducted 124 observations of 41 special education teachers teaching reading to their third- through fifth-grade students with learning disabilities to determine the extent to which and in what ways they promoted students' reading comprehension. In 42 lessons, we did not observe any comprehension instruction. In 30 lessons, the…

Children ages 2-18 spend between two and four hours per day watching TV, a calculation that is even higher if DVDs, videos and the Internet are included. Although the amount of television watched by today's children has raised concerns about their literacy development, captions could hold a key to turning television into an educational asset.…

In this review of literature we examine empirical research of individual differences in younger readers' knowledge and use of expository text structures. The goal of this review is to explore the influence of reader and text characteristics in order to better understand the instructional needs of elementary school readers. First we review research…

In this article, we describe how to help primary-grade English language learners use compare-contrast text structures. Specifically, we explain (a) how to teach students to identify the compare-contrast text structure, and to use this structure to support their comprehension, (b) how to use compare-contrast texts to activate and extend students'…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of comprehension training embedded in a program that taught science content to 2nd graders. The program included instruction about the structure of compare-contrast expository text, emphasizing clue words, generic questions, graphic organizers, and the close analysis of well-structured text exemplars. This…

This action-research case study endeavors to enhance the summarization skills of first grade students who are reading at or above the third grade level during the first trimester of the academic school year. Students read "twin text" sources, meaning, fiction and nonfiction literary selections focusing on a common theme to help identify…

Basal reading series are used in a majority of classrooms in the United States. The purpose of this study was to examine the frequency of fiction and nonfiction genres included in four recently published first and second grade basal reading series and to compare the frequencies to studies of older basal reading series. Based on the work of…

Mostly low-income African American and Hispanic teens (N = 192) were tested in (a) passage comprehension, (b) vocabulary ability, (c) cloze task performance, and (d) listening comprehension in the spring and vocabulary in the fall. Students were surveyed about reading (a) narrative, (b) expository, (c) teen culture, and (d) online texts.…