Argument writing is challenging for elementary students. Previous experimental research has focused on scaffolding rhetorical goals, leaving content goals relatively unexplored. In a randomized experiment, 73 students in grades 5, 6, and 7 wrote persuasive texts about difficult-to-classify vertebrates. Each student received one of three sets of…

We examined the role of a hypothesized factor in reading comprehension: morphological awareness, or the awareness of and ability to manipulate the smallest meaningful units or morphemes. In this longitudinal study, we measured English-speaking children's morphological awareness, word reading skills, and reading comprehension at Grades 3 and 4, in…

Cross-language effects of Spanish derivational awareness on English vocabulary and reading comprehension were studied in Spanish-speaking English Language Learners (N = 90) in grades four and seven. The role of cognate vocabulary in cross-language transfer of derivational awareness was also examined. Multivariate path analyses controlling for age,…