This article includes discussion about a formative study in which inquiry was used as ESL instruction for second-grade emerging bilinguals. Drawing on the literature and research surrounding English learners, comprehension, informational text and inquiry, the teachers and researcher integrated comprehension strategy instruction with inquiry and…

Comprehending expository reading material is a challenge for many students. Research has shown that students' expository reading comprehension can improve with the help of text structure instruction. The purpose of this article is to present teachers with a framework for effectively implementing text structure instruction in their classrooms.…

This article presents an engaging means for turning disfluent readers into prosody superstars. Each week students align with Poetry Power Man and his superhero friends to battle the evil Robot Reader and his sidekicks. The Fluency Foursome helps students adhere to the multidimensional aspects of fluency where expression and comprehension are…

Inference generation makes a strong, unique contribution to reading comprehension. Young children engage in many of the same inference generation processes as sophisticated readers. This article discusses instructional practices that can be used in prekindergarten through grade two to help children think beyond the words of the text. Suggestions…

This article details one teacher's implementation of reading workshop in her second grade classroom. She provided a framework for authentic reading using the five components of reading workshop: time, choice, response, community, and structure. She found that reading workshop is a highly effective practice for not only increasing students'…

As teachers and leaders move forward in implementing the Common Core State Standards within classrooms across 46 states, it is essential to consider the question of what knowledge is included in the English Language Arts Standards, and what knowledge is not present. The authors of the Common Core delineate an increasingly complex body of knowledge…

This article documents the experiences of a diverse group of second grade students during a nine week unit of study focused on graphic stories. The project begins as the class is immersed in reading graphic stories designed for young readers. Images, written text, and dialog are utilized to scaffold reading comprehension and to practice fluency.…

Elementary, middle, and high school teachers are encountering greater numbers of students who read fast, and many times accurately, but who do not comprehend what is read. The current widely used practice of using one-minute timed passages to practice and assess oral reading fluency may have limitations which will be viewed by considering rate,…

Although mental imagery's positive role in reading comprehension is clear, the means of introducing imagery to young readers is comparatively vague. Mental imagery's very nature, being nonverbal, invisible, and often unconscious, results in a mismatch with standard instructional practices. Verbal explanations of nonverbal phenomenon fall short.…

The author presents four approaches to shared reading that he used with first through third graders in a high-needs, urban elementary school with a large population of students from immigrant homes. Using sociocultural and cognitive constructivist principles, the author shows how these approaches built students' academic vocabulary and…

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…

This study describes a second-grade science curriculum designed to individualize student instruction (ISI-Science) so that students, regardless of initial science and literacy skills, gain science knowledge and reading skills. ISI-Science relies on the 5-E Learning Cycle as a framework and incorporates flexible, homogeneous, literacy skills-based…

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 examined the motivation to read of children in grades two through six. All children in the study were strong in their literal comprehension of narrative text. Some were equally strong in their ability to respond thoughtfully to the text (Blue Group); others struggled to respond to questions requiring them to think about the implications…

Despite over 25 years of research supporting the instruction of comprehension strategies, it seems that such instruction is not readily found in many classrooms or basal readers, resulting in students that struggle with analyzing and comprehending text. This is particularly true in the primary grades. Originally designed with seventh grade…